virtualbox.org

Is there a way to connect Windows 95 to the internet with a wireless Wi-Fi router? I've been trying to figure it out for hours, and I can't find any helpful information online.

If any of this matters, I am using Windows 8 with Vbox 4.3.6 r91406 and a Qualcomm Atheros AR9485 802.11b/g/n WiFi Adapter.

Let me know if there is more technical stuff you need to know.

So how the heck do I connect 95 to the internet?

The wireless nature of your host's network connection is not relevant, which is probably why you couldn't find information online. A VM uses a simulated network card, and in VirtualBox's case the simulation is always of a ethernet (cabled LAN) card.

Your easiest option is probably to enable NAT mode in the VM network settings. That way, if the host has a working internet connection then the guest will simply use that.

However. Win95 comes from a time way before Windows hand-held you through a network config. You will need to locate and install the correct drivers for the simulated LAN card, and then you'll need to configure all of the appropriate network parameters in the TCP/IP stack. You'll need to Google for details on how networking is configured in a Win95 guest.

Note also that Win95 is a pretty awful choice of guest OS if you intend to use it seriously. It isn't supported by GAs, and it still has all the bugs and design gotchas that didn't really get fixed until Win98SE.

I have the network attached to NAT in the Network settings on Virtual Box, and I have the adapter type set to PCnet-PCI II (Am79c970A). When I go to the Network settings in the control panel on the Windows 95 guest, the network components that are installed are:
AMD PCNET Family Ethernet Adapter (PCI&ISA)
TCP/IP (I have entered my IP Adress and the Subnet Mask address)

However, whenever I try to go on The Internet (Internet Explorer), a message will pop up saying:

Unable to find (U R L). The adress may be incorrect.
Unable to open (U R L). The item may have been moved to a different address, or it may not be available right now. Please try again later.

So I still have no idea what to do.

I'm not sure what VMware settings have to do with VirtualBox. Did you mean VM settings?

As for Win95 network config issues, please see my earlier comments.

mpack wrote:The wireless nature of your host's network connection is not relevant, which is probably why you couldn't find information online. A VM uses a simulated network card, and in VirtualBox's case the simulation is always of a ethernet (cabled LAN) card.

Your easiest option is probably to enable NAT mode in the VM network settings. That way, if the host has a working internet connection then the guest will simply use that.

However. Win95 comes from a time way before Windows hand-held you through a network config. You will need to locate and install the correct drivers for the simulated LAN card, and then you'll need to configure all of the appropriate network parameters in the TCP/IP stack. You'll need to Google for details on how networking is configured in a Win95 guest.

Also, I tried looking up how to configure a network on a Windows 95 guest, but I still didn't find what I needed. I'm sorry, but I am EXTREMELY inexperienced with this stuff, and I'm not even sure what some of this means.

Locate and install drivers for the simulated LAN card? You mean in the network settings in the control panel? I have my IP address, subnet mask address, gateway address, and DNS address entered in the Network settings on the guest.

I should've mentioned that I have no idea what a lot of this means, so I apologize. I just need you to be a little more specific.

Sorry to have to say this, but I think you have bitten off more than you can chew. It is hard enough (often impossible) to get Win95 running on a physical machine these days. We are talking about a 20 year old OS - a lot has changed in the computing world in that time (and it wasn't easy even back then). There were certainly no wireless networks or general public Internet access in 1995. (I know, I was there in the IT industry). Getting Win95 to run is not something I would recommend to a self-confessed inexperienced user. It can be made to work, but it can take a bit of fiddling (and isn't really worth the effort).

BillG wrote:Sorry to have to say this, but I think you have bitten off more than you can chew. It is hard enough (often impossible) to get Win95 running on a physical machine these days. We are talking about a 20 year old OS - a lot has changed in the computing world in that time (and it wasn't easy even back then). There were certainly no wireless networks or general public Internet access in 1995. (I know, I was there in the IT industry). Getting Win95 to run is not something I would recommend to a self-confessed inexperienced user. It can be made to work, but it can take a bit of fiddling (and isn't really worth the effort).

Well... shit.

It's a large and difficult subject, which unfortunately makes it an inappropriate discussion for here, because none of the issues relate to VirtualBox. That's why I said you need to Google for generic Win95 information. Even then you'll probably have to fiddle to see what works.

And it must be said: even if you can get a basic internet connection working, your web browser will be woefully obsolete. Most modern websites will be unusable. Win98SE is the oldest version of the WinDOS family which I'd consider using, and that only because it was supported up to Opera 10, and up to Firefox 3.x I think.