Help:LangMaker and VirtualBox

You'll have noticed that LangMaker doesn't support 64-bit architecture. The last time it was updated was somewhere around Windows 95. So, what we're gonna do is give it a Windows 95 Virtual Machine to run in! :D There's two ways you can do this, but they both start in the same place.

Get you some VirtualBox

Now, the really nice thing is that VirtualBox is multi-platform, so you don't even have to be running a Windows machine to make this work. Go to the VirtualBox download page, and grab the latest version for your system, and install that. Go into Settings and tell it where you're going to put your VM images, so it's looking in the right place for them. This is hella important.

THE SHORT WAY

Download the preconfigured system

I built this last night. It's got:

• LangMaker (v 1.11) and all the available language files
• WinZip, in case you need to open something else
• RetroZilla, a Win95-compatible browser that can handle HTTPS with TLS
• FileZilla, an FTP client (in theory, you can set up a server on the host machine and FTP files back to yourself.)
• Foxit, a PDF reader that's less crap than the native version of Acrobat
• The Win95 install disk is already in the CD drive in case you want to install any other components

Snag Myau-95, drop it in the directory VirtualBox is looking for images in, and then we'll set it up.

Setting it up

Double-click the OVA file, which should launch VirtualBox. You can pretty much just 'Ok' your way through the setup, but double-check where it thinks it's installing the image and make sure that's the directory you want it in. It should be, but it never hurts to check.

Once it's installed, go to Settings and do two things:

• Go to 'System' > 'Advanced' and tick 'Enable VT-x/AMD-V'. Then untick 'Enable nested paging'. Then untick 'Enable VT-x/AMD-V' again. This is SUPER IMPORTANT. THE MACHINE MAY NOT BOOT UNLESS YOU DO THIS. (I'd have fixed this, but I can't enable VT-x/AMD-V on my machine, so it gives no shits, but it'll try to auto-enable it if nested paging is turned on and your machine supports it).
• Go to 'Shared Folders' and delete the one that's in there. I'm a dumbass and I forgot that was one of the things I did trying to get files to move between the VM and the host, and obviously you don't have that folder on your computer, so it'll throw a shit if you don't delete it. Also shared folders don't work because Win95.

Reboot the VM it until it works

No, actually I'm not kidding... *sighs* There's some combination of shutdown/restart actions that will eventually get you a working VM, but it'll shit out three or five times before you get it. If I knew why, I'd make it stop doing that. :|

Select the VM in the left column and click the 'Start' button (it's that big green arrow).

Note: The VM window will immediately grab keyboard control once it's started, and will take the mouse when you click into it. To get back to your regular desktop, just hit the right CTRL key. NOT THE LEFT ONE. THE RIGHT ONE. It'll give back your mouse, and once you click into another window, your keyboard will follow. If you need to CTRL-ALT-DEL inside the VM for some reason, press right-CTRL+DEL.

If it craps out while booting, your options are 'Power Off' or 'Reset'. I suggest trying 'Power Off' first, and bringing it back up in Safe Mode, which almost always works, except even in 'Safe Mode with Networking' you have no internet. That said, you don't really need the internet if all you're doing is screwing with LangMaker. You'll need to get it to boot normally to get your Lexicon off the VM, though, so get used to juggling rubber chickens and pounding reset.

Shutting down

When you're done, shut it down like you would any other version of Windows -- save and close your files and go to the Start menu for 'Shut Down'. It'll give you a few options, but that's generally the one you actually want. This will close the VM window, but not the VirtualBox window. You can just hit the 'x' on that one, once the VM's closed.

THE LONG WAY

Get you some Windows 95

Microsoft has been kind enough to release free VM images of their older operating systems for those of us who still need them to run 32-bit software. You can get a copy of Windows 95 over on the Internet Archive. Unpack the .vdi file into the directory VirtualBox is expecting to find VM images in.

Import the image into VirtualBox

Click on the 'New' button. You'll get a box that asks four questions:

• Name: Type whatever you want to call the system into this box. Make it something memorable and obvious, like 'Windows 95'.
• Machine Folder: This should already be set to where you're keeping your images. It's a dropdown, not a browse button, so if there's nothing there, go back to settings and tell it where to look.
• Type: What kind of OS is this? It's Windows. Tell it that.
• Version: Windows 95

Click on 'Next'. On the next screen, it'll suggest you give the VM 64MB RAM. DO NOT give it more than 64MB. It won't boot. I found this out the hard way... Click 'Next' again.

This is the part where we tell it which image to use. Select 'Use an existing virtual hard drive file'. There's probably nothing in the dropdown, so hit 'Browse' and go find your VM image. Select that. Click 'Create'.

Configure your Virtual Machine

Now you've got a machine listed on the left, and some info about it on the right, if you select it. It'll pretty much tell you everything you just put in that form. You'll also see some buttons across the top on the right -- New, Settings, and Start.

• Click on 'Settings'.
• Go to 'System' > 'Motherboard' and untick 'Enable I/O APIC', because it'll lag you into next week (not bad with Win95, but Win2k takes half an hour to boot).
• Go to 'System' > 'Advanced' and untick 'Enable VT-x/AMD-V'. This is SUPER IMPORTANT. THE MACHINE WILL NOT BOOT UNLESS YOU DO THIS.
• Go to 'User Interface' > 'Machine' and untick 'ACPI Shutdown'. Tick 'Power Off'.
• Windows 95 doesn't support shared clipboard or drag & drop, so don't bother. This is going to be Pure Fucking Hell.

FIRE IT UP!

Click on the 'Start' button. The first thing you'll notice is that it's grabbed your keyboard and mouse. You need to press the right-side CTRL key to get back to your host computer. Just tap it and click on any other open window, and you'll be back to normal. Click back into the VM window (not just on the menu or titlebar) to go back to it.

Windows 95 will ask you to log in. Just hit 'Cancel', and it'll load a shiny new desktop full of things you hoped you'd never see again.

Note: Every once in a while, it'll just shit out on boot. Hit that CTRL if you need your mouse back and go to the 'Machine' menu and hit 'Power Off', then start it again. You might have to do it a couple times, but it'll come around. Also DO NOT use the 'restart' option from 95's start menu, or it'll chuck you right into one of those.

Get you some LangMaker

Make a folder on the desktop called 'LangMaker'. You're about to save a bunch of crap into it.

Open Internet Exploder. Sorry about that, but it's Windows 95... Type in, because you can't copy-paste, this long-ass URL:

• http://web.archive.org/web/20020402105456/http://www.langmaker.com/langmake/index.htm

It will throw an error. Just tell it 'no', and the rest of the page will load. Scroll down to where it says 'Download it now!' but click the update link first, just so you don't lose your place. Save that to the folder you just made. Same with the Full Install it jumps to when you click 'Download it now'.

You should have two files:

• fullinst.zip
• langm111.exe

You will notice the system doesn't know what the fuck to do with the .zip file! Don't worry about it. We'll get there. While we're still here, though, grab you some base files. Personally, I suggest the Latin one, but you might as well snag them all.

Get something to open the god damn zip file with

This was less of a pain in the ass when Windows 95 was a current operating system, but we're not entirely shit out of luck, yet... I've found a version of WinZip from eighteen years ago and we're gonna install it on that Windows 95 system!

• http://www.oldversion.com/windows/download/winzip-8-1

Click on the download button, and you'll get some file with a weird-ass name. Save it as type: All files, and add a .exe to the end. You should end up with the installer for WinZip 8.1. Run that shit. You can pretty much just 'Next' your way through it. Close it, when it opens up, then right click that zip file and ... 'WinZip' > 'Unzip here'.

Installing LangMaker

It's installed. All you gotta do is unpack it. To run it, double-click on 'langm111.exe', because the only thing changed in the patch is the executable. All the other files remain the same.

Okay, so, I was supposed to be in bed four hours ago, but instead I wrote this lunatic guide, which I'll edit after I've gotten three hours of sleep and a diet pepsi. I'm relatively sure that if you follow the directions as written, this will work.