Machine setup

This is a Pentium PC from the late 1990s, emulated in your browser: a PC with nothing on it yet, like a new one. You bring the operating system and install it, from your own Windows 95 or 98 CD, or DOS and Windows 3.1 floppies. Choose the machine to set up below, give it an empty hard disk, then start it and put the CD or floppy in. Everything stays in this browser and is never sent anywhere.

Machine

Set up for Memory

Hard disk (C:)

Each machine keeps its own hard disk in this browser, saved as programs write to it. Export it now and then to keep a copy: clearing the site's data deletes it.

Network

Relay

A web page can't connect to the internet directly, so the PC's network card reaches it through a relay: a server that passes the PC's network traffic on to the internet and back. No relay comes with this page. You need to set one up yourself, or enter the address of an existing one you trust. Leave it empty for no network.

The easiest way is the ready-made relay for Docker in this project's relay folder: run docker compose up -d there and enter ws://localhost:8086/. It also runs WebOne, a proxy that lets Windows 98's Internet Explorer open today's secure (https) web sites. The networking guide explains it step by step, including setting up Windows.

With a relay set, the PC has a network card: an NE2000 compatible at I/O port 300h, interrupt 9. In Windows, Control Panel's Add New Hardware finds it and installs its driver, which asks for the Windows CD. Any relay for the v86 emulator works (WebSocket, one Ethernet frame per message). The relay sees everything the PC sends, so only use one you run or trust.

A: Empty

CD-ROM: Empty

C: No hard disk Machine setup... has its options

Drop files anywhere on the page: a CD image (.iso) goes in the CD-ROM drive, a floppy image (.img, .ima, up to 2.88 MB) in drive A:, and a larger .img, or a .vhd, .vmdk, .vdi or .qcow2, can become the hard disk. Zips work too.

Release to insert

Click the screen to type and use the mouse (Esc lets the mouse go). Ctrl+Alt+Del is on the toolbar, since your own computer keeps it.

Starting...