old win95 computer

hifijohn

Junior Member
Dec 7, 2015
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I got a classic windows 95 computer today, strickly for nostalgia , it came from some auto repair place, the problem is when i boot it up i get windows 95 splash screen then it goes to some dos program.I can exit to dos but cant get win95 to run im assuming its running in the background, i have found a window(s).exe file at 54M which is the right size for windows95 but it doesnt do anything when i try to run it.its no big deal the computer is just for fun but it would be nice to get it going.
 

Fardringle

Diamond Member
Oct 23, 2000
9,200
765
126
It sounds like the computer is booting to Safe Mode with Command Prompt. When you first turn the computer on, repeatedly press the F8 button until you get the boot options screen. Use the arrow keys on the keyboard to choose "Start Windows normally"
 

hifijohn

Junior Member
Dec 7, 2015
6
0
36
It sounds like the computer is booting to Safe Mode with Command Prompt. When you first turn the computer on, repeatedly press the F8 button until you get the boot options screen. Use the arrow keys on the keyboard to choose "Start Windows normally"

tried it safe mode gets me DOS, tried all the advice ive gotten off of the internet and nothing works,
 

Ketchup

Elite Member
Sep 1, 2002
14,558
248
106
It's been a while, but you might want to look and make sure MSDOS.SYS and WINBOOT.INI are present.
 

lakedude

Platinum Member
Mar 14, 2009
2,772
524
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Our work computers are locked down to only run a particular app, could be that the auto place did something similar. Sometimes you just need to type the word "explorer" at the command line, (similar to the way you might need to type xwin on Linux). You might also go to msconfig and see what is going on with startup items.
 
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Steltek

Diamond Member
Mar 29, 2001
3,294
1,040
136
Our work computers are locked down to only run a particular app, could be that the auto place did something similar. Sometimes you just need to type the word "explorer" at the command line, (similar to the way you might need to type xwin on Linux). You might also go to msconfig and see what is going on with startup items.

That could very well be the case, especially if it came from an auto shop. I've seen several old computers from auto shops in the last few years that are set up to run specific single applications which have oddball DRM, hardware dongles, or are written to require direct hardware access that won't work either modern Windows or a virtualized system. Most of them tend to be really specialized stuff that is expensive (or impossible) to upgrade as well.

The last one I worked on was a Win98SE box running some absolutely ancient tire balancing software from Germany. It was going to cost the company $20,000+ to replace the software, so they paid me a lot of money to fix it for them and also to provide them a suitable backup system it would run on when the current one dies. In the end, it was the most money I ever made for essentially selling what was previously the junk from the back of my closet....

If you don't have the Windows installation media for the computer, you might as well just pick up a Win98SE disc on eBay for $10 and do a wipe and reinstall.
 
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xgsound

Golden Member
Jan 22, 2002
1,374
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It's been a while even for me! Look (read with notepad) at the files in the C: drive root. autoexec.bat, config.sys, win.com, and io.sys. These may help define your next steps. If the sysedit.exe command is available use it to look
(I said look) at the boot files.
Computers of that era use those files to complete the bootup process. Look for something calling up the program that boots.
You should have ready win95 boot disks (3 1/2 inch) to explore the hard drive.

If you change these boot files always create a backup of the old, somewhat working , file by making the extension .bak or similar.

Jim