![]() |
VMWare + Windows 3.1 >
https://oldos.org/howtos/installwfwinvmware/ [ 1 ]
-
doscdrom.IMA – (rename it to
doscdrom.IMA)
Introduction – Installing Windows for Workgroups 3.11 in VMware ∞
Windows for Workgroups 3.11 is identical to Windows 3.1 except in just about one way: networking.
Windows 3.1 supports networking, but only in real mode. Windows for Workgroups 3.11 supports it in protected mode. This leads to a better network driver. The two versions of Windows for Workgroups are 3.1 and 3.11. 3.11 has more network drivers, and is less buggy. It also comes in 8 floppies instead of 3.1’s 10 floppies. This article covers the installation of Windows for Workgroups 3.11 in VMware. This article also assumes that MS-DOS 6.22 has not been installed yet. I will cover this as well. The process of installing Windows for Workgroups 3.11 in VMware is nearly identical to that of in Virtual PC, but there are some differences in how the application works. I have a HOWTO on installing Windows for Workgroups 3.11 in Virtual PC as well. [ 2 ]
Part 1: Setting Up the Virtual Machine ∞
- Open up VMWare and click
New Virtual Machine. - Click
Next, and selectCustomand clickNextagain. - For Guest Operating System, choose
Windows 3.1, then hitNext. - Choose the name of your Virtual Machine, and choose the location for the Disk Images and configuration files, then hit
Next. - For memory, I would set it to 32MB. More memory = better. Except with some applications, for example, IE setup will not run with more than 40MB of memory. Click
Nextafter choosing. - For Network Connection, this can get a bit complicated. In the Networking HOWTO for Windows for Workgroups 3.11, this is covered.
- Choose the type of disk image you want. For most, creating a new virtual disk is good enough. If you are reading this, you probably don’t have a disk image already for use. Using a physical disk is dangerous. Use it only if you know what you are doing.
- For disk size, 2GB is PLENTY for Windows for Workgroups 3.11, MS-DOS 6.22, and some utilities. If you have 2GB readily available, choose
Allocate all disk space now. This enhances performance. Don’t worry about theSplit disk into 2GB filesoption. - Choose the filename for the disk. The default is usually acceptable.
-
Click
Finish, and the disk will be created. Once it’s done, you will see a summary of all the settings for your Virtual Machine.
Part 2: Installing MS-DOS 6.22 ∞
- Insert Disk 1 of the MS-DOS 6.22 set into the floppy drive and click
Start this Virtual Machine - The virtual machine will boot and the setup program will begin the load.
-
Once the setup program loads, read whatever it says and press
enter- Note: To interact with the virtual machine, you must click on it. To release control, press
control + alt
- Note: To interact with the virtual machine, you must click on it. To release control, press
- Setup will either give you two options:
Configure diskorExit Setup. Chooseconfigure disk - Keep the floppy in the drive and press
enter - Setup will once again begin to load, and eventually, it will.
- It will ask for the date, time, country, keyboard layout now. If you live in the United States, these settings are most likely correct. If not, you can change them by using the
arrow upandarrow downkeys. Then choose ‘The settings are correct’. - Now it will ask where you want to install the DOS files. Ninety nine percent of the time,
C:\DOSis perfectly acceptable. Then hitenter - The installation program will now install MS-DOS 6.22 onto your hard disk image. The installation will take a little bit since its being run off of floppies.
-
When the setup program asks for disk two, to make it recognize the second disk, do the following:
- Step 10a: Make sure the disk drive light is off and eject the floppy.
- Step 10b: In the lower right hand corner,
right clickthe little floppy disk icon, and clickDisconnect - Step 10c: Insert the next disk.
- Step 10d:
Right clickthe floppy icon again, and clickConnect - Step 10e: Click on the virtual machine and press
enter - Step 10f: Do this for the next disk-switch.
- When Setup asks for the third disk, do the same procedure as above.
- Once everything is done, remove all the disks and press
enter -
Congrats! MS-DOS 6.22 is installed. Read on to find out how to install Windows for Workgroups 3.11
Part 3: Installing Windows for Workgroups 3.11 ∞
- Boot up MS-DOS 6.22. Once it loads, insert Disk 1 of Windows for Workgroups 3.11 in the drive.
- Disconnect and Connect the disk drive to the virtual machine using the steps outlined above.
- Type
A:\Setup.exe - Once Setup loads press
enter - Ninety nine of you will use a standard setup, so choose Express Setup by pressing
enteronce more. - Setup will start copying files and ask for disk 2, just follow the above on that.
- After disk 2 is loaded, Windows will boot, continuing installation.
-
After it boots Windows, it will ask for Full Name, Company, and Product Number.
- Product Number isn’t required, so if it’s not handy, just ignore it.
- Setup will now copy even more files.
- It will keep on asking for more and more and more disks, so just keep feeding it.
- Setup will now ask whether or not you want to install a printer. Most likely, you wont, so just click Install.
-
Setup will now ask whether or not you want to install any network related things,
- if you don’t want a network at this time, click Continue,
- if you do, click Networks’ and then click ‘Install Microsoft Windows Network’, then click
OK
- The Program Manager will briefly show, and then it will scan applications. When the window comes up asking what the name of EDIT is, click
OK - A window asking whether or not you want to view the tutorial will appear. Most likely, you won’t want to sit through it, click
Skip Tutorial - Remove all floppies, and click
Restart Computer - MS-DOS will boot again, and it will sit at the
C:\>prompt. Typewinto start Windows. -
Congrats! Windows for Workgroups 3.11 is now installed!
Part 4: Installing CD-ROM Drivers ∞
- If you want to use CD’s, or use the networking tutorial for Windows for Workgroups 3.11, you’ll need the CD-ROM drivers. This is because IE 5 (in the networking tutorial) is on an ISO because its around 8MB.
-
Download the CD-ROM drivers (in VMWare image format).
- doscdrom.IMA – (rename it to
doscdrom.IMA)
- doscdrom.IMA – (rename it to
- Start the virtual machine, but DO NOT start Windows.
- Mount the image in VMware by right clicking on the floppy drive in the lower right hand corner, and click Edit. Click
Use Floppy Image, and Browse to where you stored the image. Then clickOK. - In DOS, type
A: - Then type
CDSETUP. A window will appear that you cant completely see. I don’t know why this happens, but just hitenter. You can see a portion of the status bar, so when it gets to 100%, wait a minute, and pressEnter. That exits the setup program. Restart your virtual machine by clickingPower > Reset. -
MS-DOS should load again without error. It will say
SAMSUNG CD/DVD-ROM Device Driver. If you don’t have a Samsung drive, don’t panic, the driver works flawlessly.
Footnotes
- Originally
https://web.archive.org/web/20081123042942/http://www.oldos.org/howtos/wfw311vmware.php
thenhttps://web.archive.org/web/20130602111618/http://wiki.oldos.org/Windows/InstallWFWinVMware
Then I found http://wiki.oldos.org/Windows/InstallWFWinVMware.html [ ↩ ] - Joe P.’s “HOWTO on installing Windows for Workgroups 3.11 in Virtual PC” has not been cached here. [ ↩ ]


Updated this document for formatting.
This was excellent. I had a couple of installation issues before I ran across this article. Well done. I had no issues following your guidelines.
Thanks!
I’m pleased it all worked out for you!
– poked
– made it into nice numbered lists