Your first machine

This page takes a Windows 98 machine from nothing to a desktop with 3D drivers. Windows XP and 7 go the same way. Windows 11 has its own page.

Where your machines go

The first time 2ksbox starts, it asks for a folder to keep your machines in. Each machine gets its own folder inside it, with its disk. Click Choose Folder… and pick a folder or make a new one, for example 2ksbox in your home folder or on another disk, or click Use Default Folder to keep them in 2ksbox’s own data folder.

On a Mac with the App Store version there’s no default folder: click Choose Folder…, or Later to be asked again next time.

Help > Choose Machines Folder… picks another folder at any time. New machines go there, and the list shows the machines in that folder. Machines you already made stay where they were, and show again if you choose their old folder.

The shader presets

The first time 2ksbox starts, it asks to download CRT shader presets (about 50 MB). Say yes. They make the picture look like the monitor the game was played on, and they come with three ready-made profiles: CRT Aperture, CRT Royale and Apple II. Every machine uses CRT Aperture until you pick something else. The CRT look has the details.

If you said no, you can download them later from Shader Profiles.

Create the machine

1. Click New Machine. It’s in the File menu (on Linux, the main menu at the top of the sidebar; on KDE Plasma, New on the toolbar). A settings window opens.

2. On the General page, pick the Family (Windows 98) and type a Name.

3. Look through the other pages if you like. Every setting starts at what suits the family, and the note under each one explains it. You can change any of them later.

4. On the Storage page, the machine gets a new 10 GB disk. Under CD in drive, pick your Windows 98 CD image.

5. Click Create.

The machine appears in the library. Select it to see its settings. Double-click it, or click Start, to turn it on.

Install Windows

Windows setup runs from the CD the way it did on a real PC. Nothing about it is special to 2ksbox. When setup restarts the machine, it boots from the hard disk by itself.

Note

Windows 98 is always emulated, never run on your computer’s hypervisor. Under virtualization its setup and Explorer break. Emulation runs it at about the speed of an early 2000s PC, which suits it fine.

Note

Windows XP and 7 under hardware virtualization can have more than one processor (Processors on the System page). Set it before you install XP: XP uses more than one only if it was installed with more than one. Emulated machines always have one.

Install the guest tools

The guest tools disc has the drivers that give the machine 3D, a sharp desktop at any resolution, and the disc shelf inside Windows.

1. With the machine running, open its Discs window.

2. Click Add and choose Guest tools ISO. It joins your disc shelf.

3. Click Insert next to it. The disc goes into the machine’s drive.

4. In Windows, open the Run box (Start > Run) and type D:\SETUP.EXE /ALL. Use your CD drive’s letter if it isn’t D:.

5. Restart Windows when it asks.

SETUP on its own shows a menu where you pick what to install. SETUP /LIST lists what’s on the disc, and the disc’s README.TXT explains every folder.

On Windows 7, confirm the prompt about an unsigned driver with Install this driver software anyway. SETUP also turns on Aero.

Take a snapshot

Now is the moment to save this state. Open the machine’s Snapshots window, click Take snapshot, and call it “fresh install”. When a game install goes wrong later, you can come back here in a few seconds. Snapshots and clones explains more.

Before you install games on Windows 98

Install DirectX 9.0c in the machine first. Windows 98 SE comes with DirectX 6.1, which gives games DirectDraw but no Direct3D.

Where things are in the launcher

The launcher uses each system’s own controls, so it looks a little different on each.

macOS

Your machines are in the sidebar. The toolbar has Start and buttons for the selected machine’s Settings, Discs, Snapshots and Clone. New Machine, Disc Shelf and Shader Profiles are in the File menu, and this manual is Help > User Manual. Help > Open Machines Folder shows where your machines are kept, and Choose Machines Folder… changes it. Right-click a machine for the same commands.

Windows

Your machines are listed on the left, and the selected one’s details on the right. The menus are in the title bar: File has New Machine, Disc Shelf and Shader Profiles, Machine has the selected machine’s Start, Settings, Discs, Snapshots and Clone, and Help has User Manual, Open Machines Folder (where your machines are kept), Choose Machines Folder… and About. The details have Start and a More menu with Settings, Discs, Snapshots and Clone. Right-click a machine for the same commands.

Linux

Your machines are in the sidebar. The toolbar has Start and buttons for the selected machine’s Settings, Discs, Snapshots and Clone. New Machine, Disc Shelf and Shader Profiles are in the main menu at the top of the sidebar, with User Manual, Open Machines Folder (where your machines are kept), Choose Machines Folder… and About. Right-click a machine for the same commands.

On KDE Plasma, the launcher lists the machines as on Windows, with New, Shelf, Shaders, a ? button for this manual and an i button for About on its toolbar instead of menus.

Keyboard shortcuts use Ctrl on Windows and Linux, and ⌘ on macOS:

Command	Key
New Machine	Ctrl+N
Start	Ctrl+R
Settings	Ctrl+I
Discs	Ctrl+E
Snapshots	Ctrl+Shift+S
Clone	Ctrl+D
Disc Shelf	Ctrl+Shift+D
Shader Profiles	Ctrl+Shift+P

Machine families

Family	Good for	Starts with
Windows 98	Games from about 1996 to 2003. DOS games also run, but some may need you to restart in DOS mode. The guest tools’ SETUP can create a desktop shortcut to make that easier	256 MB, 10 GB disk, emulated, Sound Blaster 16
Windows XP	Games from about 2001 to 2008	512 MB, 20 GB disk, AC’97 sound
Windows 7	A look at the Aero desktop, for nostalgia. It isn’t meant for games	2 GB, 40 GB disk, HD Audio. Install from a 32-bit ISO
Windows 11	Today’s Windows	4 GB, 64 GB disk, UEFI and a TPM. See Windows 11 machines
DOS	DOS games that need a slower PC	64 MB, 2 GB disk, a 486DX2-66
Other	BeOS, a period Linux, OS/2	512 MB, 10 GB disk, standard hardware, no 3D