Windows 95 in your browser. Fancy a blast from the past? Curious about the Microsoft Windows release that introduced such familiar concepts as the Desktop, Start Menu, Taskbar and Notifications Area? Well, now thanks to the wonders of Emscripten and DOSBox, and modern JavaScript runtimes, you can try it out in your browser.
As the years goes by, more and more Windows games are added on the website. Some of them still work quite easily, others are lucky enough to have an active community developing patches and fixes to make them run on the most recent versions of Windows.
Almost all Windows games are available as ISO version, meaning a verbatim copy of the game disks. If you don't know how to use these files, read our tutorial.
PCGamingWiki
Late 90s and 2000s titles may have a game page on PCGamingWiki, a wiki dedicated to fixes and workarounds for PC Games. We try to add a link to the right wiki url on every game page, so you should check out the game links below the game description. You can also make a search on the wiki, or through Google by searching the name of the game + 'site:PCGamingWiki.com' (without quotes).
PCem Emulator
PCem is versatile IBM PC emulator, which allows you to properly emulate a whole computer, including late 99 Pentium computer. You also get a Voodoo2 3dfx card and many other drivers. This emulator can be very effective for Windows games until early 2000s generation. You can read this tutorial and watch thesevideos. Additional information and resources can be found on Emugen.
Alternatively, you can use 86Box, a forked project from PCem which supports Pentium up to MMX 300 MHz. You can watch this video tutorial.
Windows 3.1 Games
Some games were made for Windows 3.1 instead of DOS, you will need to install Windows 3.1 in DOSBox. You will find a copy of Windows 3.x on WinWorld. Follow these tutorial to get it running: VirtualBox forum, Vogons, Sierra Help or this blog post.
Windows 95 Games
Many of the Win95 games won't run on recent Windows versions, but you can install Win95 in DOSBox. The procedure is a bit complicated, hopefully dada_ and some folks over Vogons and #dosbox@freenode set up a guide to do this, check it out in the Google doc.
You can also install Windows 95 in VirtualBox, follow this tutorial to do it.
Another promising solution would be this project made by Felix Rieseberg, which runs on Windows, Mac and Linux.
Windows 98 Games
Some of the recent abandonware games were made for Windows 98. You can still get Win 98 working on your computer using VirtualBox. You will find a guide to the installation here, then a second guide to setup properly Windows. You should read BOTH of them before installing Windows 98. You can also use pre-configured Win98 VMWare images, available at WinWorld.
Windows XP Games
Some will work perfectly, some won't. We rarely have all the resources necessary to get these games to install and then be played. You may have to look over the web for a x64 setup file or fixed exe file. If you find a good tutorial, please post the url in the comment or drop us a message.
Installing Windows 98 In Dosbox
3dfx Games
The second half of the 90s was very exciting as video games would start to benefit from 3D acceleration hardware. The 3dfx company released the Voodoo Graphics cards in 1996, which provided 3D acceleration for games that supported the technology. Performances and graphics were way ahead of the competition (Riva, Matrox, S3, ATI...) but came at a price. 3dfx released its last Voodoo card in 2000, marking the end of 3dfx supported games.
Hopefully, 3dfx can be emulated nowadays using nGlide, a free 3Dfx Voodoo Glide wrapper made by Zeus Software. Very easy to use, just install and play for most games, but you should visit the compatibility page, as many games require a patch or some tweaking.
Windows 98 Dosbox-x
Another great glide wrapper is dgVoodoo2, which allows you to play not only 3dfx games, but also DirectX (1-7) and Direct3D games. Both programs are very useful, as one may work better than the other.
Dosbox Windows 10 64 Bit
DirectX Games
Windows 98 Emulator Dosbox
As written above, dgVoodoo2 is great for old windows games which often use DirectX. You can also try these alternatives: dxwrapper, an on-going project which may prove difficult to use. WineD3D will convert DirectX to OpenGL, see the readme file in the utility folder.