Installing sound drivers in Windows 95

Products

• VMware Desktop Hypervisor

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

• No sound in Windows 95.
• The Windows virtual machine fails when installing sound drivers.
• Windows shows a blue screen with an error when sound drivers are installed.

Environment

VMware Workstation 6.x (Linux)
VMware Workstation 7.x (Windows)
VMware Workstation 11.x (for Linux)
VMware Workstation 11.x (for Windows)
VMware Workstation 10.x (Linux)
VMware Workstation 10.x (Windows)
VMware Workstation Pro 12.x (Windows)
VMware Workstation 8.x (Linux)
VMware Workstation 9.x (Linux)
VMware Workstation Pro 12.x (Linux)
VMware Workstation 7.x (Linux)
VMware Workstation 6.x (Windows)
VMware Workstation 9.x (Windows)
VMware Workstation 8.x (Windows)

Cause

This issue occurs because Windows 95 sound drivers are not supported in virtual hardware versions 6 or later. For more information, see Virtual machine hardware versions (1003746).

Resolution

If your virtual machine was created in VMware Workstation 6.x or later, you need to downgrade the hardware compatibility to make it compatible with Workstation 5.x (virtual hardware version 4).

To downgrade your hardware compatibility:

1. Shut down the virtual machine.
2. Navigate to VM > Change version.
   
   Note: In Workstation 8.x and above, Navigate to VM > Manage > Change Hardware Compatibility.
   
   
3. Click Next.
4. Select Workstation 5 from the Hardware Compatibility dropdown, then click Next.
5. You can either change the hardware version of the existing virtual machine, or create a new and identical virtual machine with the earlier hardware version.
   
   
   • To change the hardware version of the existing virtual machine, click Alter this virtual machine and then click Next.
   • To create a new virtual machine, click Create a new clone of the virtual machine, select a location to save the new virtual machine, and then click Next.
     
     
6. Click Finish.

After downgrading the virtual hardware version, you can install the sound drivers in Windows 95.

To install sound drivers in Windows 95:

1. Download the required Sound Blaster PCI 128 drivers for Windows 9x from the manufacturer's website.
   
   
   1. Under All downloads : Manual Selection.
   2. Choose these dropdown options.
      
      1. Choose English.
      2. Choose Windows 95.
      3. Choose All.
         
         
   3. Click Submit.
   4. Find the driver labeled Sound Blaster PCI128 (Drivers Only - Windows 9x) and click Download.
      
      
2. Run the . exe file to install the drivers.
3. When the installation completes, restart the virtual machine when prompted.
4. Install Windows Media Player 6.4 for improved sound compatibility. You can download it from Microsoft.

Note: The preceding link is correct as of March 04, 2015. If you find the link is broken, provide a feedback and a VMware employee will update the link.

Additional Information

Virtual machine hardware versions