A. Hardware requirements
Although Firefox 2 can work on old operating systems, your hadware has to meet some criteria:
If you plan to watch Flash video, the requirements should be even greater (probably a Pentium 4 with 256 MB RAM or higher). So, don't use these softwares on typical computers from Windows 95 era !Mozilla ([url=http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/2.0/system-requirements/]relevant for Firefox 2 and SeaMonkey 1.1[/url]) wrote:Pentium 233 MHz (Recommended: Pentium 500MHz or greater)
64 MB RAM (Recommended: 128 MB RAM or greater)
=> That guide is intended for relatively fast computers running older operating systems (multiboot or virtual machines).
B. Softwares
Officially, Firefox 2 requires Windows NT 4.0, Windows 98 or higher. SeaMonkey supports Windows 95 and even NT 3.51. However, there are some bugs with older operating systems. Nowaydays, Youtube refuses to play videos if a version of Flash older than 8 (like 7) is detected.
Fortunately, Nathan (alias ToastyTech) made custom builds of Firefox 2.0.0.22 and SeaMonkey 1.1.20pre, specifically optimised for Windows 95 and NT. A working version of Flash is also available.
=> http://toastytech.com/files/95browsing.html
If you have problems to access this website, here some alternative links (Internet Archive):
- Firefox95 = http://web.archive.org/web/201305150653 ... efox95.zip
- SeaMonkey95 = http://web.archive.org/web/201305150741 ... nkey95.zip
- Tweaked Flash 7 = http://web.archive.org/web/201305150804 ... _spoof.zip
To add Flash support, simply extract the archive containing Flash and copy the NPSWF32.DLL file to "plugins" directory of Firefox or SeaMonkey. Restart the browser.
C. DLL files
The presence of some DLL files is compulsory. The latter are localized in %systemroot%\system (Windows 95) or %systemroot%\system32 (Windows NT)
In Windows 95, you have to take into account these files...
- MSVCRT.DLL
- OLEAUT32.DLL
- WININET.DLL
In Windows NT 3.51, you have to take into account these files...
- COMCTL32.DLL
- IMM32.DLL
- MSVCRT.DLL
- OLEAUT32.DLL
- WININET.DLL
In Windows NT 4.0, you have to take into account these files...
- OLEAUT32.DLL
- WININET.DLL
D1. Guidelines for Windows 95
The simplest way is just installing Internet Explorer 5.0x or 5.5, as these browsers include all DLL files needed by Firefox (what an irony, aren't you?), SeaMonkey and Flash. Installing Microsoft Office 2000 is enough too.
If you don't want to install Internet Explorer 5.x or Office 2000, there is an alternative path:
- Check the version of oleaut32.dll located in %systemroot%\system directory. If the number is lower than 2.40.4275, you have to replace it by a newer file.
The DCOM95 component contains an updated oleaut32.dll
http://web.archive.org/web/200107150406 ... DCOM95.exe - If Internet Explorer 4 is natively included with your operating system, msvcrt.dll and wininet.dll should have already been on your computer. In fact, installing DCOM is enough to make Windows 95 C - aka OSR 2.5 - compatible with Firefox, SeaMonkey and Flash ! Apart from the last edition, no msvcrt.dll was shipped with Windows 95. If you actually need to download this file, here a link:
http://web.archive.org/web/201011280431 ... -v6sp3.zip - msvcrt.dll (6.0.8397) from Visual Studio service pack 3 - If Internet Explorer 3 or higher is natively included with your operating system, wininet.dll should have already been on your computer. That means that file is present on Windows 95 B/C (aka OSR2.x editions). If you use Windows 95 RTM or A (aka SP1 or OSR1), you can install Internet Explorer 3.0+. An alternative way is getting wininet.dll from Office 97/2000 Viewer.
PowerPoint Viewer 97/2000 32-bit = http://web.archive.org/web/200308061938 ... View97.exe
Word Viewer 97/2000 32-bit = http://web.archive.org/web/200407020059 ... 7vwr32.exe
D2. Guidelines for Windows NT 3.51
- Firstly, you should install the latest Service Pack (SP5) :
http://download.microsoft.com/download/ ... 5_351i.exe - Newer version of comctl32.dll and imm32.dll can be downloaded here:
http://web.archive.org/web/200703182033 ... 351dll.zip
Please note comctl32.dll is locked by Windows, so you have to rename the previous version (for example, by comctl32.old) and copy the newer one in %systemroot%\system32 directory. - Check the version of oleaut32.dll located in %systemroot%\system32 directory. If that number is below 2.40.4275, you have to replace the file by a newer file.
The Microsoft Libraries Update version 2 contains an updated oleaut32.dll
http://web.archive.org/web/201401280125 ... SPEU20.exe
Installation is mostly silent. You have to reboot manually. Despite the upgrade of hard disk content, the older versions of comctl32.dll and oleaut32.dll remain in memory as long as you don't reboot. Wait one minute after the start of installation and then restart your computer. - Check the presence of msvcrt.dll in %systemroot%\system32 directory. If there is no a such file, you have to add it on your computer.
http://web.archive.org/web/201011280431 ... -v6sp3.zip - msvcrt.dll (6.0.8397) from Visual Studio service pack 3 - Finally, you need to add wininet.dll in %systemroot%\system32 directory, for Flash and Youtube. That file was shipped with Office 97.
PowerPoint Viewer 97/2000 32-bit = http://web.archive.org/web/200308061938 ... View97.exe
Word Viewer 97/2000 32-bit = http://web.archive.org/web/200407020059 ... 7vwr32.exe
D3. Guidelines for Windows NT 4.0
The simplest way is just installing the latest Service Pack, as the SP6 includes newer oleaut32.dll (version 2.40.4277) and wininet.dll. Note: wininet.dll needs to be extracted from SP6 if you don't have a previous version).
If you don't want to install latest Service Pack or Office 2000, there is an alternative path:
- Check the version of oleaut32.dll located in %systemroot%\system32 directory. If that number is below 2.40.4275, you have to replace the file by a newer file.
The Visual Basic 6.0 SP3 Runtime contains an updated oleaut32.dll
http://web.archive.org/web/200204051607 ... n60sp3.exe - In addition to Service Pack 6, Internet Explorer 3 and later include wininet.dll. Because Windows NT 4.0 was shipped with Internet Explorer 2 in most variants (even with SP6 installed), that file can be missing. Installing Internet Explorer is a solution. An alternative way is getting wininet.dll from Office 97/2000 Viewer.
PowerPoint Viewer 97/2000 32-bit = http://web.archive.org/web/200308061938 ... View97.exe
Word Viewer 97/2000 32-bit = http://web.archive.org/web/200407020059 ... 7vwr32.exe
E. Improve the experience
In 2014, Youtube website looks terrible on Firefox 2 and SeaMonkey 1.1, due to the engine used by these browser (Gecko 1.8.1), which is pretty old. Fortunately, ToastyTech adressed that issue by creating a small fix. Copy that CSS file to the "chome" directory of your profile (that name is nothing to do with Google Chrome, lol) and restart browser.
- Firefox => %systemroot%\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\[random generated name]\Chrome
- SeaMonkey => %systemroot%\Mozilla\Profiles\default\[random generated name]\Chrome
Alternative link = http://web.archive.org/web/201305150845 ... 122712.zip
Finally, if you like, you can install AdBlock and AdBlock Plus for Firefox 2 and SeaMonkey 1.1.
Download link = http://toastytech.com/files/95browsing.html
Alternative link = http://web.archive.org/web/201305150702 ... lock95.zip