Windows 95 OSR2 ('B' version) added support for FAT32. It bundles IE 3, Personal Web Server, and MS-DOS '7.1'. OSR2.1 is identical to OSR 2, but includes a seperate USB update installer, that adds the ability to use USB devices. Windows 95 OSR 2.5 Addon: CD Key: 24796-OEM-006 Windows 95 plus pak: 28876-0003490 Windows 95 v4.00.950: 24264-4-06468. The Windows 95 OSR2 (OEM) (ISO) option seems to be missing some files. I've just noticed this when I tried to install Windows 95 on a virtual machine and it reported a lot of missing files during the final part of the installation, plus the ISO file seems to be lighter than the one written on the file size section of the table above (382MB instead of 400MB).
Does anyone know if any of these known images match up with an MSDN copy, or an official MS build of any capacity?Was OSR 2.5 ever on MSDN?
But Windows 95 was not a pure '32-bit' OS: It was still based around the framework of Windows 3.x, 2.x and 1.x. It still ran on top of DOS, but bundled its own special 'Windows 95' DOS (AKA MS-DOS 7). It could even still make use of DOS drivers. Windows 95 ISO images are available through our downloads listed below in each release. Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented operating system developed by Microsoft as part of its Windows 9x family of operating systems. The first operating system in the 9x family, it is the successor to Windows 3.1x, and was released to manufacturing on August 15, 1995, and generally to retail on August 24, 1995.
(I know that Windows 95 was allegedly on MSDN for download until 2003, but I don't know details of what version was hosted there. Can anyone manage to find an archived download page on Archive.org, or have some other way to verify? I can't seem to).I keep looking and can't find a definitive answer.
I've performed some detailed comparisons of the contents and images of the following ISO's:
- Disc #1 (found on BetaArchive FTP)
File: win95c_osr25.iso
Size: 596,140,032 bytes
MD5: 63D344A46010E85871C79DCA32F17FCB
SHA1: E050106B59520BABB64295041E44287B0E29A17F
CRC32: DD09CE03
Notes:
- Likely IS an 95C/OSR 2.5 disc, although ISO contains files modified 8/24/1996, but they are bytewise identical with almost all files on discs #2/#3/#4 (which are dated 11/26/97), with the following differences.
- These are the only differences that exist between this ISO and Discs #2/#3/#4:
Additions: contains 'AUTORUN.INF' file in the root of the disc and an 'AUTORUN' folder (which contains 'AUTORUN.EXE' and 'WIN95CD.ICO').
Deletions: does not contain 'ohare.inf' in the 'WIN32' folder.
Alterations: modified files: 'GOODTIME.AVI', 'WELCOME1.AVI', 'WELCOME2.AVI', 'WELCOME3.AVI'. All four are smaller in size (same content, reduced bitrate).
- This image IS NOT bootable. - Disc #2
File: Windows95CISO.iso
Size: 617938944 bytes
MD5: 429F1F3DB1EE6C385CD2EECBA1138F7A
SHA1: D0108F98F4D08EE7335606CE229A2FEBE6737004
CRC32: 55538854
Notes:
- Likely IS an 95C/OSR 2.5 disc, as ISO contains files modified 11/26/1997.
- Identical contents as Disc #3 and #4 (no differences whatsoever inside ISO image), but the ISO image itself is different.
- This image IS NOT bootable.
- This image is byte-for-byte identical with Disc #3, except has padding ('00') at the end of the image. - Disc #3 (This appears to be the 'best available copy', IMO. Also, a better name might be 'en_win95_osr2.5.iso' to match the MSDN naming convention.)
File: Win95_OSR25.iso
Size: 617308160 bytes
MD5: 912DB741210BC04CB8591EDEEC3FA0A0
SHA1: 97F66E77445CD4B1AC55508C36D0FDBC17F17F25
CRC32: 115C1EC4
Notes:
- Likely IS an 95C/OSR 2.5 disc, as ISO contains files modified 11/26/1997.
- Identical contents as Disc #2 and #4 (no differences whatsoever inside ISO image), but the ISO image itself is different.
- This image IS NOT bootable.
- This image is byte-for-byte identical with Disc #2, except has NO padding ('00') at the end of the image. - Disc #4
File: Win95_OSR25.iso
Size: 596627456 bytes
MD5: C7B9A6DD79C262E2C287E26110EA6153
SHA1: 02FB6BB9A6163868A2FA4069FD05BACF1F196ED2
CRC32: B7F18C7C
Notes:
- Likely IS an 95C/OSR 2.5 disc, as ISO contains files modified 11/26/1997.
- Identical contents as Disc #2 and #3 (no differences whatsoever inside ISO image), but the ISO image itself is different.
- This image IS bootable.
- This image is significantly different bytewise as compared with Disc #2 and Disc #3, the ISO was likely created by a different program (or modifications to insert the boot sector may have altered the structure somehow).
Windows 95 Image File
- If your setup complains about missing disks, it is likely that your CDROM driver was not loaded when the computer rebooted after the first setup process. If after formatting the C: drive you copy your CDROM drivers (MSCDEX) to C:, and add the appropriate line in AUTOEXEC.BAT for your cdrom to load, then reboot... then the setup should go without a hitch.- If or when the Internet Explorer Active Setup hangs (RealPlayer hanging at 78%), you can kill the process 'slfxtr' to make the setup complete successfully. With that, everything else will install except RealPlayer.
Windows 95 offered, at long last, a well designed document-oriented desktop shell that worked much like the 1984 Macintosh Finder. It also included a new way of finding installed applications through a 'Start' menu. And it included the same networking abilities as Windows for Workgroups.
It integrated the ability to run 32-bit applications similar to Windows NT or Windows 3.1 with Win32s. It no longer ran on a separate DOS product. But Windows 95 was not a pure '32-bit' OS: It was still based around the framework of Windows 3.x, 2.x and 1.x. It still ran on top of DOS, but bundled its own special 'Windows 95' DOS (AKA MS-DOS 7). It could even still make use of DOS drivers. The 95 architecture was continued with Windows 98.
Most 95 CDs are NOT BOOTABLE. If a download does not include a boot floppy, please see Microsoft Windows Boot Disks
If the listed serials below do not work for a specific release, please see the Serials thread
You may also override the install type (no serial needed) by creating a file name MSBATCH.INF with the lines '[Setup]', and then 'ProductType=1', placing that in the Win95 setup folder, and then running setup.
Screenshots
Windows 95 Osr2
Release notes
Windows 95 Iso Microsoft
Windows 95 OSR2 ('B' version) added support for FAT32. It bundles IE 3, Personal Web Server, and MS-DOS '7.1'.
OSR2.1 is identical to OSR 2, but includes a seperate USB update installer, that adds the ability to use USB devices. Installing the downloadable USB update brings any OSR 2 system to the level of 2.1.
The OSR 2.x media was ONLY available from OEMs. It was not sold retail.
Installation instructions
Important: Windows 95 CDs are NOT bootable, and require an appropriate Windows 95 Boot Floppy. (A 98FE or 98SE disk will also work fine)
To speed up installation, and to avoid numerous problems, copy the win95 folder to a folder on the hard drive (such as c:win95) and then run setup from there.