Bochs
by Christian Bayer
February 11, 2004
As I have increased difficulty getting Windows 9X to install on new hardware I have been seeking a (free) alternative to VirtualPC or VMWare to allow us to access a Netware network, IPX, mission critical, expensive to replace, legacy application that will not (as in WILL NOT) run on Windows NT/2K/XP. Today I successfully installed and configured Bochs http://bochs.sourceforge.net to run MS-DOS in a virtual machine on NT and 2K and make a bindery connection to the NetWare server.
Just like Linux, it's actually easy to use once you get a little familiar with it. Many X86 operating systems run in Bochs and Bochs can run in other environments such as Linux, even non-X86, yes, OS X, but be prepared to compile. 440FX PCI and parallel, serial and USB ports are supported and the virtual machine can access a CD-ROM and floppy drive as well as virtual disk images. Even Windows can run in the virtual machine. Finding a working DOS driver for the emulated NE2000 card was the only hard part for me (go figure).
If anyone is interested in trying this and has questions, I'll be glad to help with implementations similar to mine.
You will need to download and install WinPcap (http://www.winpcap.org/), which apparently functions as a "conduit" between the emulated NIC and your machine's hardware. Also with Bochs you can give yourself any valid broadcast MAC address you want. Your Bochs virtual machine can be configured with a simple text file or you can use a proggie that a download of the Windows binaries comes with. If you get a copy of Winimage (http://www.winimage.com) it will make things much easier, especially if you get the Pro version that will allow you to open and add/delete files from the virtual hard disk(s). This is also a significant development that could help lead to replacing Windows desktops with something that doesn't come from Microsoft.