Win95: two questions

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I recently revived my 1997-vintage beige box Win95 machine, and despite the fact that I use it very little, I enjoy it very much when I do (I am using it to write this post, in fact.) It has a 10/100 Ethernet card, and therefore broadband Internet (yay!)

There are just three improvements I want to make to it.

1.) I want to put an IBM Model M keyboard on it. Easy enough to do- just plug the keyboard in and it works (espiecially considering the fact that this comp actually has an AT keyboard connector on it.) I'm gonna buy one off eBay eventually (they're actually ridiculously cheap.)

This leads to my questions:

2.) I want to add more RAM to this machine. How do I determine how much and what type RAM this machine will support?

3.) I miss being able to use a trackball on a mouse. How do I get Win95 to recognize (and respond to) a mouse with a trackball?

EDIT: Not trackball, but scroll wheel. Sorry.

Last edited by Stevopedia on 24 Mar 2008, 6:56 am, edited 1 time in total.

If you still have the manual for your PC it should have details about the configuration and also tell you how much ram it can have and what type it needs. Make sure you buy only the kind of ram your PC uses, because there are lots of kinds but only one will work for it. And since your pc is over 10 years old you can't expect too much more you could upgrade it to. My guess is probably 64mb or 128 mb of ram at the most.

hello stevopedia,(like that name hehehe) about your win 95 box, when it boots up does it give you an option to enter configuration or setup (BIOS) somewere in bios it gives you ability to see what type of ram the computer accepts and how much is currantly installed.


about the rollorball mouse, although some newer mice with trackballs need software drivers or firmware to operate, have you maybe looked about on ebay for any older trackballs?? my grandfather used to have a win 95 on a tandy sensation (pent 1 or 2??) and he had a trackball attached but it used a differant style port i believe.

wow, you are using that win 95 to make this post!??!? careful with browsing with it, i dont think many antivirus and antispyware programs support anything older then win 98/me

i mean in my case, norton (symantec protection utilities, not my closer) will not support win 2000 pro workstation, so please, careful with the old computer stevopedia

I will be, I promise!

I was afraid of the whole driver thing. I have a Sony Vaio mouse that I got second-hand hooked up to it right now (and no, I'm not using that computer at the moment. I've got three computers at home; the 95 machine is the oldest and least used.) It's got a scroll wheel, and I have no idea where to get the driver for it.

You realize how much you like things you take for granted like that when you suddenly can't use them anymore...

Another option to determine the right kind and amount of memory could be done by opening the computer and look at the writing on the motherboard. Then type it in Google.

About security... I hope you have upgraded Win95 as far as possible and a good anti-virus program on it? Also a good firewall will be necessary. A win95-install plugged straight into the internet is probably infected within 10 minutes. Another safe option would be to use a proxy-connection, it is a bit more difficult but limits direct contact.

scroll wheel mice, I believe, require drivers for windows 95 in order for that to work

they only introduced the drivers in the os for such mice with win98

the RAM, best refer to the bios and (if you have one) the manual

If you want to get a modern operating system to run on your old PC I would suggest grabbing a Linux distro that is designed for older hardware. The best one I can think of offhand would be Puppy Linux. With that you should be safe from viruses and most problems that are associated with Windows 95, and you can also get modern web browsers and other programs for it. For example, I don't think Firefox or IE are updated for Windows 95 anymore, so you have to stick with an outdated version, but Linux won't let you down in that respect.

1.) I'm not that familiar with the IBM Model M Keyboard, though if it's a generic PS2 style keyboard it should work with no problems. The keyboards that would be problematic with that system are modern multimedia keyboards with lots of useless buttons, USB Keyboards, and wireless keyboards.

2.) Your machine should be able to accept either 128 or 256 MB Ram. On a machine from 1997, it would be either EDO, EDO w/Parity, SDRAM, or SDRAM w/Parity. One of the best ways of checking this out without popping the case open is to enter the BIOS as your system goes through it's POST routine.

3.) The scrollwheel that you get for your system may have legacy Win95 driver support. If not, check for the proper driver at the mouse manufacturer's website. In a pinch, you might possibly get away with using a Win98 driver.

Also, another thing that I would want to do with that machine is see if there is a BIOS update for it. With a BIOS update, you may be able to use a larger hard drive, as well as take care of any potential Y2K clock issues the system may currently have.

Nobody makes viruses for WIN95 anymore. I have a Genuis Trackball mouse that will work on that rig. I even have the driver for it on CD and Floppy.AVG Antivirus is also a good antiviris to use along with SyGate Firewall. [Both are free from the internet.]

A PC from 97 should be able to handle windows 98 without too much difficulty. If you don't like my suggestion to upgrade to Linux then upgrading to Windows 98 is still a good idea. 98 isn't supported either, but you'll be able to get more modern stuff to run on it than you can with 95.

I've considered putting Win98 on it (I have a Win98 CD that came with a secondhand laptop that I got for free). I'm not too keen on running Linux on it, because I've never actually used Linux before. Besides, I have to admit, the computer as it is has great sentimental value for me.

I'm gonna try the BIOS RAM-check thing now. I'll return with my results. Stay tuned...

EDIT: BIOS excursion results:

The closest thing I found to what RAM type this thing takes was a mention of 60 ns DRAM, with no mention of maximum capacity. Is that what I was supposed to be looking for?

Also, since the clock backup battery failed a long time ago, the computer thinks it's 4:41 AM on Wednesday, January 1, 1997...

And as far as the browser thing goes, it actually runs Opera (which I'm using right now.) It's probably the most modern browser I can get this thing to run...

Last edited by Stevopedia on 24 Mar 2008, 6:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I would check out any surplus computer shop, somplace where they recycle used computers, I have also dumpster dived for old computers, it how I built my first computer for school, I even built a couple for classmates who couldn't afford buying one, over the years I have collected 5 moving crates full of used computer parts, I really should sell it all on eBay

You can try some Linux distros without installing them because theyl load and run directly off the cd. Puppy Linux lets you try it without having to install it, and Puppy is designed for older hardware.

There is also Damm Small Linux, might be quite usable, I havent tried it yet Damm Small Linux

Yeah, Damn Small Linux is another good one, but I may be more partial to Puppy because it has a better name and mascot (in my opinion).

If you have a Win98 SE that would be better than Win95. The same DOS-backend, so great for games. And there are custom-made updates on the Internet, so a bit more security.