VMware Workstation 15 - Win9x setup problems and distorted sound

[ColdAesthetics]

Hi Community,
this is my first post on this forum, so I hope that I am right here (in this category)

I recently bought VMware Workstation 15.5.7 (build-17171714). I firstly installed Windows XP Professional (since it's my favourite OS), directly installed from my original retail disk.
Installation was going perfectly fine, without errors or anything. But after the setup, all the sounds coming from the VM were totally buggy and distorted. Even after I installed VMware Tools, nothing changed.

Then, I tried a lot of other OSs, heres the list:

Windows 95 (OSR 2): Gives a lot of error messages at setup and cannot boot after setup.
Windows 98 FE: Gives 2 or 3 errors at setup, can boot, but if I try to open a file in explorer, it shows a big message "explorer.exe is damaged or not installed. You need to reinstall Windows." After pressing "OK" it shows some distorted colors and powers off.
Windows 98 SE: Gives alot of errors at setup, and cannot even complete setup.
Windows 2000 Advanced Server: No errors, can boot, but sound is buggy and only supports 16 colors (which is horrible). When trying to install VMware Tools it shows another error.
Windows ME: Gives alot of errors while setup, cannot boot too.
Windows Whister: After setting time to 31 January, 2001, it works, gives no errors, but when I try to play audio or try to open a file, this message comes: "Bad DirectBeta / DirectSound version, please update" and it supports only 16 colors.

In the error messages from Windows 95, 98 FE, 98 SE and ME it says this:

Explorer: This program has performed an illegal operation and will be shut down. (In the log, it says: EXPLORER caused an invalid page fault in module EXPLORER.EXE at *some numbers*)
RUNDLL32: This program has performed an illegal operation and will be shut down. (In the log, it says: RUNDLL caused an invalid page fault in module RUNDLL32 at *some numbers* )
Setup_2015: This program has performed an illegal operation and will be shut down. (In the log, it says: SETUP_2015 caused an invalid page fault in module SETUP_2015.EXE at *some numbers*)

And by the way, I also installed Windows Vista and 7, and they work perfectly except the sound.

Here's a video recorded from me, which showcases the "sound problem" (all OSs):


I hope that someone can help me with this, since I do not know what to do anymore.

ColdAesthetics
*

[Cirrubec]

Use 86box.

[Winins]

VMWare is terrible when it comes to 9x emulation. Use 86box instead.

[Fanta Shokata]

Windows 2000 Advanced Server: No errors, can boot, but sound is buggy and only supports 16 colors (which is horrible). When trying to install VMware Tools it shows another error.

If you want to install VMware Tools in Windows 2000 you need to install Update Rollup 1.

[ColdAesthetics]

VMWare is terrible when it comes to 9x emulation. Use 86box instead.

Hm, that's bad. Thanks, I will try it out.
Any solutions for the bugged / distorted sound problem?

[Windows Thunderstruck]

Uh
Where did op's post go?
Its just gone now
Was there something hidden inside?

[Cirrubec]

I'm assuming that they most likely just got banned. Quite odd, to be fair.

[ljcool2006]

Uh
Where did op's post go?
Its just gone now
Was there something hidden inside?

The only trace of it was this:

Windows 2000 Advanced Server: No errors, can boot, but sound is buggy and only supports 16 colors (which is horrible). When trying to install VMware Tools it shows another error.

[ColdAesthetics]

Uh
Where did op's post go?
Its just gone now
Was there something hidden inside?

The only trace of it was this:

Windows 2000 Advanced Server: No errors, can boot, but sound is buggy and only supports 16 colors (which is horrible). When trying to install VMware Tools it shows another error.

Uh, I have no idea, since all my posts need to be confirmed from a Moderator (this is my first post), so there might be a little chaos here...

[x010]

Uh
Where did op's post go?
Its just gone now
Was there something hidden inside?

The OP edited his post, which caused it to go back to the moderation queue (and hence inaccessible to others). I've approved all the posts in this thread, and it should be fine now.

[Winins]

VMWare is terrible when it comes to 9x emulation. Use 86box instead.

Hm, that's bad. Thanks, I will try it out.
Any solutions for the bugged / distorted sound problem?

Same solution, use 86Box.

[WindowsNeptune]

Are you using a AMD Ryzen processor?

As far as I know, Ryzen processors deletes an instruction necessary to install 9x. As a result, all Ryzen computers will report errors when using VMWare to install 9x. The solution is to switch to an emulator like 86Box.

[ColdAesthetics]

Are you using a AMD Ryzen processor?

As far as I know, Ryzen processors deletes an instruction necessary to install 9x. As a result, all Ryzen computers will report errors when using VMWare to install 9x. The solution is to switch to an emulator like 86Box.

Yeah, I have a Ryzen 5 3600 (3rd Gen).

[Alphis]

vmware is terrible at 9.x emulation, i agree. on vmware 12 here, win98 runs slow, its impossible to emulate retro games with the kind of speed.

[backtofuture]

usual urban legends for people who do not know how to install Operating Systems properly
I install Windows 95, 98, 98SE, ME, 2K ... without EVER any problem ... if you want to post videos
I want to use 86Box ... ok that's fine, but to configure it we need a "life" compared to VMWare and VBox
Then if you have other errors, post a screenshot to better understand the problem, maybe the ISO file is missing

[oscareczek]

Because you don't have a Ryzen CPU.

[backtofuture]

Because you don't have a Ryzen CPU.

I was reading the same problems even without the Ryzen ...
Anyway from what I know, just use an older version of VMWare and it works perfectly even with Ryzen ... it's a version 15 Bug that will probably be fixed soon

[oscareczek]

No, it's not about VMware, it's a CPU bug http://www.os2museum.com/wp/vme-broken-on-amd-ryzen/

[ColdAesthetics]

usual urban legends for people who do not know how to install Operating Systems properly
I install Windows 95, 98, 98SE, ME, 2K ... without EVER any problem ... if you want to post videos
I want to use 86Box ... ok that's fine, but to configure it we need a "life" compared to VMWare and VBox
Then if you have other errors, post a screenshot to better understand the problem, maybe the ISO file is missing

I tried multiple ISOs, all of them showed the same errors while installing.
And I downloaded 86Box from GitHub, and I have no clue how install it. There's just a bunch of files, no applications or executable files.
Does it even have a GUI?

[TheCollector1988]

You need the right rom files and use the latest nightly build.

[backtofuture]

I tried multiple ISOs, all of them showed the same errors while installing.
And I downloaded 86Box from GitHub, and I have no clue how install it. There's just a bunch of files, no applications or executable files.
Does it even have a GUI?

because as I said earlier 86box works fine but it is very, very difficult to configure.
try using Oracle VM VirtualBox

No, it's not about VMware, it's a CPU bug http://www.os2museum.com/wp/vme-broken-on-amd-ryzen/

I read on a forum and to a user it works with Ryzen CPU and VMWare 12.5
I honestly can't prove it ... I'll never buy an AMD processor!

[ljcool2006]

I read on a forum and to a user it works with Ryzen CPU and VMWare 12.5
I honestly can't prove it ... I'll never buy an AMD processor!

Offtopic Comment

My AMD processor is an AMD FX-8350 and it works fine for me.

[Voyambar]

I read on a forum and to a user it works with Ryzen CPU and VMWare 12.5
I honestly can't prove it ... I'll never buy an AMD processor!

Offtopic Comment

My AMD processor is an AMD FX-8350 and it works fine for me.

Well an FX isn't a Ryzen so that doesn't really apply

[ColdAesthetics]

Well, thanks everyone for your helpful answers. Since VMware is not good for Win9x Emulation, I'm going to use VirtualBox, since I have no idea how to set up 86Box.

[oscareczek]

You will encounter the exact same problems and VBox is even worse for 9x.