Goal: Attempting to get a Windows 98 guest running under Windows XP SP3.
My Problem: My Windows 98 SE VM does not detect my CDROM.
Background:
I want to run a windows 98 SE vm so that I can use certain software that does not function under XP compatibility mode or in Windows 7.
My OEM Win 98 installation cd would not boot in VirtualBox as indicated in the WIN98 tutorial at http://forums.virtualbox.org/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=9918, so I used a Win 98 Boot CD to boot up with CD support (which does cause recognition of the CDROM in MSDOS mode 100% of the time), then switched to my installation cd to install the OS. Took several tries, but I now have an installation that boots up to the Win 98 desktop (once Virtualbox boot order is changed so that HDD is listed first) with no apparent problems, except for the fact that there is no icon for my CD in the My Computer window.
What I have done thus far:
1. As directed by http://support.microsoft.com/kb/190303, I have added the following lines to my config.sys file:
device=c:\rmcd\oakcdrom.sys /D:mscd001
device=c:\rmcd\btdosm.sys
device=c:\rmcd\flashpt.sys
device=c:\rmcd\btcdrom.sys /D:mscd001
device=c:\rmcd\aspi2dos.sys
device=c:\rmcd\aspi8dos.sys
device=c:\rmcd\aspi4dos.sys
device=c:\rmcd\aspi8u2.sys
device=c:\rmcd\aspicd.sys /D:mscd001
device=c:\rmcd\flashpt.sys
files=10
buffers=10
dos=high,umb
stacks=9,256
lastdrive=z
and to my autoexec.bat file I have added the line:
lh c:\rmcd\mscdex.exe /d:mscd001
*These are the only entries in my config.sys and autoexec.bat files. I have compared them to the same files on the win 98 SE boot disk and, except for the menu system that enables different startup configurations, the files seem similar. I may be missing something here, though, admittedly.
2. Upon booting into Win 98 SE, these changes alone did not cause the CDROM to be detected. In the device manager, I did not see the CDROM, so I ran the Add Hardware wizard. It found an unknown PCI System Peripheral. I assumed that this must be the CDROM. To install, I chose to “Display a list of all the drivers...” From the provided list, I chose CDROM, then chose (Standard CD-ROM device). Then got the message that the driver chosen was not written specifically for the selected hardware, which seems reasonable, since it's an old OS attempting to pair with modern hardware. Hit “Next.”Location of driver was then shown to be C:\windows\inf\mscdrom.inf. Sounds correct. Hit “Next.” Got confirmation that the driver was installed properly. Hit “Finish.” Still no CDROM in My Computer. Reboot.
Still no CDROM in My Computer. However, there is now the entry (CD-Rom Drive) in the device manager under the expandable entry CDROM, and its properties indicate that it is working properly.
I'm not sure what else to do. It's been many years since I've had to troubleshoot a system like this, and I'm bound to missing something obvious that my brain has misplaced. Besides this problem, the installation seems fine.
I searched the web for people with this specific problem, read the applicable tutorials on the VB forums, but was unable to find help for it, so I finally decided to post. I've been fiddling with this off and on for about a month now. Any help you can provide would be much appreciated.