[PROBLEMCHYLD]

I want to create a room with every OS on a different computer
but i need to know the max specs for each one
graphics cards, monitor,sound card,ram,cpu,hard drive etc...

so far i have all disk except NT4/2003/Vista that won't be a problem
getting them. Then i will work on asking for a service pack for each one including
tweaks/hack/patches etc...

1st thing 1st i need to know the Maxium Specs for each OS.

Mods when you get a chance can you move this to software
because i'm targeting all system not just Win98SE

This post has been edited by PROBLEMCHYLD: 23 December 2006 - 06:11 AM

[awergh]

max specs?
anyway
the fastest computer i have seen nt4 run on was an intel desktop board with a p4 1.7 256mb ram and an nvidia tnt2 32mb i think.
NT4 is sort of horible to for drivers and you need to install atlest service pack 4 before you can have it recognise hdd's over 8gb and i would assume it doesnt support 48bit lba.
77.72 nvidia driver was released for nt4 sp6 which probably includes the highest video card of choice,
besides you dont need a video card which has lots of ram because nt4 only comes with directx 3 (you can have dplay 6.1).

nvidia drivers
http://www.nvidia.co...innt_77.72.html

nt4 service pack 6a
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details...;DisplayLang=en

edit: the nt4 windows update site still works

This post has been edited by awergh: 23 December 2006 - 06:18 AM

[jaclaz]

PROBLEMCHILD said:

so far i have all disk except NT4/2003/Vista that won't be a problem getting them

Just out of curiosity, do you also have - or it won't be a problem to get - FULL licenses for all of them (OEM wouldn't be good, otherwise you should already have the hardware)....?

jaclaz

[McTavish]

Rather than having 9 computers, it could be done on 3 with dual/multiboot setups.

95a/b/c and NT on one machine.
98/SE/ME/2000 on another.
XP/2003/Vista on a third.

This would still give you the best hardware for each system.

It could probably be done on just one machine with a little compromising in the hardware stakes. Vista might be the one exception.

[PROBLEMCHYLD]

jaclaz, on Dec 23 2006, 07:56 AM, said:

PROBLEMCHILD said:

so far i have all disk except NT4/2003/Vista that won't be a problem getting them

Just out of curiosity, do you also have - or it won't be a problem to get - FULL licenses for all of them (OEM wouldn't be good, otherwise you should already have the hardware)....?

jaclaz

Are you trying to say if i have legit copys or not
yes every copy of Windows i have so far are legit not OEM but full versions
bought with my hard earned money
i don't support bootlegs but do you?

This post has been edited by PROBLEMCHYLD: 23 December 2006 - 04:24 PM

[jaclaz]

PROBLEMCHYLD said:

yes every copy of Windows i have so far are legit not OEM but full versions
bought with my hard earned money
i don't support bootlegs but do you?

Well, no, I have my software (Win2K) legal, rest assured.

I was actually talking about the won't be a problem getting them as referred to "disk" rather than "license".

If the "no problem" is instead referred to license, I do however envy you.

Everyone has of course his own metods of measurement, for me finding a NT4 License on sale, say $50, plus spending about $160 for a Server 2003 license, plus (probably) $399 for Vista Ultimate, sum up, including package, postage and handling to an estimated $630 problem.

jaclaz

[luke.mccormick]

jaclaz, on Dec 24 2006, 11:13 AM, said:

PROBLEMCHYLD said:

yes every copy of Windows i have so far are legit not OEM but full versions
bought with my hard earned money
i don't support bootlegs but do you?

Well, no, I have my software (Win2K) legal, rest assured.

I was actually talking about the won't be a problem getting them as referred to "disk" rather than "license".

If the "no problem" is instead referred to license, I do however envy you.

Everyone has of course his own metods of measurement, for me finding a NT4 License on sale, say $50, plus spending about $160 for a Server 2003 license, plus (probably) $399 for Vista Ultimate, sum up, including package, postage and handling to an estimated $630 problem.

jaclaz

:|...where can u get a server 2003 lic for 160? and is that SBS? or web? or wat

[awergh]

95a/b/c and NT on one machine.
98/SE/ME/2000 on another.
XP/2003/Vista on a third.
wouldnt work

1. 95a/b/c
2. NT
3. 98/98SE/ME
4. 2000
5. XP/2003/Vista

would work better

[os2fan2]

You can readily do NT4/2000/XP/2003/vista on a single box (done this). You can add something like PC-DOS 6.3 and Windows 98SE or ME to the kit as well. Here goes.

The boot disk should be less than 137 GB = 128 GiB, because of bios problems not fixed until XP2.

You should create partitions as follows. You should use different sizes, because this may be all you have to see in fdisk.

c:\	 fat16	496 MB		dos 6.22 + win3.1  
   =	  bootmgr  7 MB	   OS/2 boot manager
  d:\	 fat16	496 MB	   data (work around a DOS bug)
  e:\	 fat32   1 GB			win98SE works here
  f:\	  hpfs	 2 GB		   OS/2 here.
  f:\	  ntfs	  1 GB		   WinNT 4  (service pack 6a + fixes)
  g:\	 ntfs	  4.1 GB		   Win2K
  h:\	 ntfs	  4.2 GB		WinXP
  i:\	  ntfs	  8 GB		   Win2K3
  j:\	  ntfs	 16 GB		  Vista.
  []	   ntfs	 20 GB		  install partition (ie dir for copying software installs)

  r:\	ram disk   8 MB
  s:\	cdrom 1
  t:\	cdrom 2

If you get hold of bootpart.exe from http://www.winimage.com/ you can pretty much install in any order. You also need something like the 2k3 versions of ntldr + ntdetect.com on the c-drive, along with a batch to copy the stuff to the root directory.

NT4 must be primed. Look at www.msfn.org/board/lofiversion/index.php/t82169.html for the guide here. It needs to be in the first 8 GB. I normally give it 1 GB.

W2K/XP will generally install as desired. It can go anywhere. I normally give it 4 GB, eg 4.10 GB for W2K and 4.20 GB for XP.

W2K3 will generally go anwhere. I normally give it 8 GB

Vista normally gets 16 GB, anywhere.

DOS 6.x should see the c:\ drive, and prehaps the d:\ drive.

NT4/2K/XP/2K3 all use ntldr + ntdetect.com as loaders, although an earlier version will not load a later windows. You can load DOS 6.x and Windows 9x into this start menu with bootpart.exe

Vista uses a new boot-loader, "bootmgr". It regards NT4/2K/XP/2K3 as legacy systems, while DOS, OS/2, Win98 are not. You can do certain hacks to bring XP, 2K3 to the front page, but not nt4/2k.

OS/2 requires its own boot manager in a separate primary partition (6 MB is plenty). You set this to zero-time out, and get bootpart to create a bootsector that boots that partition. You can boot bartpe this way too.

The ramdrives can be set using (for dos), XMSDSK, for OS/2, place the driver first after a RESERVELETTERS=Q in config.sys, and for other systems, use ARAMDISK, which allows you to set the drive.

The cdroms can be configured by DOS by the MSCDEX /L:S in autoexec.bat, in OS/2, as for ramdisks, and for Windows systems, in the ramdrive.

If you set W2k up properly, and then install the rest from there, you need only configure the system once, because a file migrate.inf ought be set up in the directory c:\$win_nt$.~BT.

Use a batch file like, to set the windows drive icon to a win-flag + drive icon (most versions of Windows) - it does not work in NT4. It makes it clear what drive your disk is on.

for /F "usebackqdelims=: " %%f in ('%systemdrive%') do set sysdrv=%%f
set hkey=HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer
set hkey=%hkey%\DriveIcons\%Sysdrv%\DefaultIcon
echo %hkey%
reg add "%hkey%" /f /ve /t reg_expand_sz /d "%%Systemroot%%\system32\shell32.dll,39"
set sysdrv=

An alternate is to create another small partition, and under it, create directories like 1381, 2195, 2600, 3790, and 6000, and then proceed to remount un-used windows partitions in these folders, eg p:\1381 is where f:\ is mounted.

Wendy

[McTavish]

Wow, too complicated for my liking Wendy. Much simpler if you use a third party bootmanager.

Quote

95a/b/c and NT on one machine.
98/SE/ME/2000 on another.
XP/2003/Vista on a third.

wouldnt work

It works alright but I was never trying to maximise the hardware for each OS. Why do you say it won’t work awergh?

[Drugwash]

Please excuse my slightly off-topic request. I would like to install Win98SE, Server2003 and Linux (K/Ubuntu, openSUSE or similar) all on a 160GB HDD [...]

[EDIT]
As suggested by McTavish below, I posted my request in this thread. I welcome whoever may offer some help on the matter. Thank you.

This post has been edited by Drugwash: 25 December 2006 - 10:04 AM

[McTavish]

Hi Drugwash, as it is a little off topic I would say probably best if you started your own new thread. It will get more attention that way as well. I’ll watch out for it.

[LLXX]

Hmm... x-in-1 (DOS 3.3/4/5/6/7, Windows 1.x,2.x,3.x,95,98se,ME,2000,XP,Vista) Blu-Ray install disk?

[awergh]

well it would work but it didnt meet the needs of PROBLEMCHYLD.

[thul]

I'll through my 2 cents in here... stay away from Win95A and B. A doesn't support FAT32 at all and B has FAT32 support but lacks USB support plus there is the infamous OSR2 bug that disables dual boot to older operating system (if you plan on using MS-DOS with Win3.1). At least with C you can use FAT32 volume and has USB support. Apply the unofficial patch that reactivates dual boot (I have W95BOOT.ZIP or the OSR2FIX.EXE if you want them.)

I don't think you'll run all versions of 95, are you? It was Win95, Win95a OSR1, then Win95b OSR2 (FAT32 Support but not you can't go back to MS-DOS since it only works with FAT16), Win95c OSR2.1 and OSR2.5 (USB support). If you want them all to see each others files on the same PC without tweaks or addons I'd recommend you make One 2gb FAT16 partitions to have all your boot files on.

Install MS-DOS 6.22 first if you plan on using it. Not sure if it'd be better to install NT 4 before or after 98SE.

C:\ = MS-DOS (if you want it... NT 4.0 doesn't understand FAT32 for it's boot drive), 2GB FAT16
C:\ = Win95c (installed after MS-DOS)... Apply either above patch. 2GB FAT16 Test it

D:\ = Win98SE (Windows 98 is smart enough to know that Win95 is installed, maybe?) FAT32 (untried it may screw up)
E:\ = WinNT 4.0 (you may have to rerun the patch with w95boot -NT switch), 4GB NTFS or 2GB FAT16
(4GB FAT16 partition with 64kb cluster size or format disk as 8GB NTFS before installing NT 4.0 O/S)

F:\ = Windows 2000 NTFS OR FAT32
G:\ = Windows XP NTFS OR FAT32
H:\ = Windows 2003 NTFS OR FAT32

I'm guessing this might work. I could be wrong. As far as drivers go... good luck with NT 4.0.

http://brianlivingston.com/windowmanager/a...st/980119bl.htm
http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:l5EiI...=clnk&cd=17
http://www.thenakedp...s/osr2.faq.html
http://support.micro....com/kb/224526I
http://www.e-tech.net/~pbetti/mirrors/gaby...n3x/osr2fix.exe
http://www.ing-steen...app/w95boot.zip
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/archive/c...ps/11-8-99.mspx

[os2fan2]

The example i gave is for all different OS versions at once. If you want a subset, then simply remove the unused bits.

One should note that without third party help, one can only have one version of DOS to ms-dos 3.x to 6.x or pc-dos 3.x to 7.x, and only one version of MS-DOS 7.x - 8.x or Windows 9x. So if you want to have two versions of Windows 9x, you need a third-party boot-manager OR separate machines.

You can run different Win9x versions, if you do the "replace-DOS" trick, and multi-boot Windows through a DOS menu. This is only partially successful, but you can have Win3.1/Win95/Win98, running on the Win98 DOS version.

[Marius '95]

Highest specs for a Win95b OS are these:
-CPU = any single-core, <400MHz during setup, <1500 MHz after AMD K6 patch
-MB = any single-CPU; PCIe not tested.
-Memory = any, 512MB max. (there is a separate topic about this problem)
-graphics = any, including AGP, but you need drivers. Best I know of are Matrox G200, GeForce MX and ATI Xpert@ series.
-HDD = ATA133, < 127GB without the patch; if you have drivers you can use RAID, SATA, SCSI too, any size supported by the driver.
-sound = any, if you have drivers; most onboard codecs don't have drivers.
-Keyboard = PS/2
-Mouse = PS/2 or serial
-CD-RW = any
-DVD = can read but I'm not sure you can write
-Network = Ethernet - any, if you have drivers; wireless - no; bluetooth - no; IrDA - only if not USB.
-Modems = any serial; any internal if you have drivers.
-Partitions = FAT16 - 2GB max. or FAT32 - 2TB max. (2TB not tested, 220GB works)

Win95 OSR2.5 (v4.00.950c) is the same thing as Win95 OSR 2 (v4.00.950b). The only difference is that OSR 2.5 CD contains IE4 and some updates. These updates are also available on M$ web site and can be installed on OSR 2.


For Win98:
-CPU = any single-core, any freq.
-MB = any single-CPU, not tested with dual-CPU, not tested with PCIe
-Memory = same as Win95
-graphics = any, if you have drivers
-HDD = same as Win95
-sound = any
-Keyboard, mouse = any
-CD-RW, DVD = any
-Network = any, if you have drivers
-Modem = same as Win95
-Partitions = same as Win95b

For Win3.11 (Windows for Workgroups):
-CPU = ???; it works on Athlon XP @ 2GHz
-MB = ???; it may work with PCIe too (won't even know it's there... )
-Memory = ???; it works with 256MB DDR400
-graphics = any, including AGP, if you want just standard modes (VGA). Best I know of is Matrox G200 AGP.
-HDD = any accesible in MS-DOS.
-sound = any, if you have drivers; that means all ISA cards, some PCI (like SB 16PCI, SB Live maybe...)
-Keyboard = any, including USB if BIOS offers support for legacy OS
-Mouse = PS/2 or serial
-CD, DVD = any drive accesible from MS-DOS will also be accesible in Win3.11.
-Network = most Ethernet cards, including onboard adapters, have Win311 drivers. TCP-IP can be installed as an add-on.
-Modems = any serial or any ISA card that creates a virtual serial port during POST; any other internal modem if you have drivers. Software modems don't work.
-Partitions = FAT16, 2GB max.. Only short file names are supported.

For Win3.10:
-same as Win3.11, but without network.

For MS-DOS 6.22:
-CPU = any; HIMEM.SYS and EMM386.EXE may not load on dual-core, I never tested.
-MB = any
-Memory = any type, any size. EMM386.EXE can only provide 64MB EMS.
-graphics = any, but I noticed that some newer cards don't support VESA graphic modes anymore, especially hi-res modes. SciTech UniVBE does't work with cards created after 2002.
-HDD = Any drive accesible through INT 13h, 127GB max. That means any drive supported by BIOS. (If the drive is larger, you can access files stored in the first 127GB but DON'T WRITE!!!) There are generic mass storage drivers for USB. Card readers don't work - I did try!
-sound = any, if you have drivers. PCI cards usually don't work very well.
-Keyboard = any, including USB if BIOS offers support for legacy OS
-Mouse = PS/2 or serial. There are generic mouse drivers for MS-DOS.
-CD, DVD = any. You need to load (generic) CD-ROM drivers for MS-DOS and MSCDEX before windows starts. For SCSI writers there are MS-DOS programs for CD burning.
-Network = most Ethernet adapters, including onboard, have a "packet driver". Load this driver and use Arachne to browse the web! :
-Modems = any serial modem; any internal modem with a MS-DOS driver that creates a virtual serial port.
-Partitions = FAT16. MS-DOS 7.1 supports FAT32 and there is a driver that adds support for long file names. Don't run any defrag utilities on a partition with long file names, or you won't have them anymore!


Win3.x and Win95 can be installed on the same partition as Win98.
1) Create a FAT16 partition.
2) Install Win95. You can use the default \Windows directory. Also, create a system disk. You never know what might happen...
3) Install Drive Compression Tools (DriveSpace).
4) Compress C:
5) Copy ATTRIB.EXE to DriveSpace host drive. You will need it later. Don't forget!
6) Boot into DOS (F8 or Restart in MS-DOS mode).
7) Go to DriveSpace host drive, unset hidden system and readonly attributes for DRIVESPACE.000 and rename it to something like WIN95.VOL
8) Install Win98 on the same partition. Repeat steps 3,4,5 and rename the file WIN98.VOL
9) Install Win311 on MS-DOS 7.2 left on the partition by Win98.

To boot Win31 just start the computer.
To boot Win9x rename WIN9x.VOL to DRIVESPACE.000 and reboot. These files can be renamed even if they are currently in use by DriveSpace. Create a .BAT file to switch them.

This post has been edited by Marius '95: 02 January 2007 - 04:07 PM

[Camarade_Tux]

Nice post but
1) Win95 OSR2 does not only contains IE4 and some patchs but also USB support!
2) Size limitation on harddisks is 137GB, not 127GB!

[awergh]

windows 3.xx has a supervga mode you could use
but it doesnt work on all chipsets

this driver specifically says 95 on it
http://www.nvidia.co...in9x_66.94.html

this driver just says 9x
http://www.nvidia.co...in9x_81.98.html

This post has been edited by awergh: 02 January 2007 - 05:45 PM

[LLXX]

Marius, on Jan 2 2007, 04:03 PM, said:

For Win3.11 (Windows for Workgroups):
-CPU = ???; it works on Athlon XP @ 2GHz
-MB = ???; it may work with PCIe too (won't even know it's there... )
-Memory = ???; it works with 256MB DDR400
-graphics = any, including AGP, if you want just standard modes (VGA). Best I know of is Matrox G200 AGP.
-HDD = any accesible in MS-DOS.
-sound = any, if you have drivers; that means all ISA cards, some PCI (like SB 16PCI, SB Live maybe...)
-Keyboard = any, including USB if BIOS offers support for legacy OS
-Mouse = PS/2 or serial
-CD, DVD = any drive accesible from MS-DOS will also be accesible in Win3.11.
-Network = most Ethernet cards, including onboard adapters, have Win311 drivers. TCP-IP can be installed as an add-on.
-Modems = any serial or any ISA card that creates a virtual serial port during POST; any other internal modem if you have drivers. Software modems don't work.
-Partitions = FAT16, 2GB max.. Only short file names are supported.

LFN and FAT32 support is available if running on top of MS-DOS 7.1 with DOS LFN support.

Google "PMWIN3" for an unofficial livefloppy image of MS-DOS 7.1 with (Chinese) Windows 3.2 and the abovementioned additional features. Creator is Wengier Wu.