1. Windows 2000 In Virtualbox

Once you have Oracle VirtualBox setup, you can proceed to create a new virtual machine suitable for your legacy application. For this article, I will be using Windows XP. Microsoft ended support in early 2014 for what some would consider to be; one of the most popular versions of Windows to date.

Although Windows 98 has been out of general circulation for well over a decade now, it might come as a surprise to some people that it’s still actively in use, especially in a business or specialized environment for running old software. There is actually a third party Service Pack for Windows 98 Second Edition which is still being updated well into 2013, even though Microsoft ended their support for Windows 98 on the 11th of July 2006! Obviously, hardware support from all major manufacturers has ended years ago so if you or your company still run Windows 98 in some capacity, it’s incredibly difficult to find compatible hardware and software for it.

As an example, a company I did some work for a while back purchased a Kingston Data Traveler USB flash drive for backup purposes on a computer that’s still running Windows 98. The problem is, due to some obsolete software that needs to run on Windows 98, the computer cannot be upgraded to newer versions of Windows such as 8, 7, Vista or even Windows XP. I’ve tried compatibility mode on Windows XP and it doesn’t work either, so it’s either upgrade the software or continue using Windows 98. Updating the old software is very expensive, so the decision was to stay with Windows 98 and try to source parts that can support this ageing operating system.

The immediate problem was getting the flash drive to work. Windows 98SE is actually not too bad at handling mass storage drivers for a USB storage device IF you have a driver disc that accompanied it or a download is available. 98SE doesn’t come with a generic mass storage driver that would install support for all standard USB storage devices like newer Windows versions, so not every device you insert will simply get recognised. Predictably, Kingston offers no support for their devices in Windows 98 so no driver can be installed to pick up the flash drive.

After much searching and testing, I finally managed to install the Kingston DataTraveler on Windows 98. This following method which I’m about to show you can work for most USB mass storage devices if your Windows 98 has detection problems. What I found was a generic Windows 98SE USB mass storage device driver

• Installing the generic USB Mass Storage driver. Download Windows 98SE Generic USB Mass Storage Device Driver to the desktop. Open Device Manager (right click My Computer - Properties - Device Manager) and remove ALL drivers for USB flash drives. This includes any drivers of removable devices previously installed from the “Disk drives” tree.
• I'm trying to install Windows 2000 from USB using WinSetupFromUSB 1.0. The USB disk is prepared without errors. The disk also boots normally. However, during the text based setup of windows 2000, I get this Blue screen of death message: 'The file usbehci.sys could not be found.'

that will work with many makes and models of the following:

– USB Flash Drives
– Digital Photo and Video Cameras (that connect to the PC via USB)
– USB Hard Drives
– MP3 Players (including Apple iPod from v2.4)
– Sony PlayStation Portable (PSP)

This driver isn’t guaranteed to work with all devices because it’s a generic driver, and you shouldn’t install it if you have no issues in the first place. It does though work well for the purpose it was intended for, it did for me and has for many other people.

Installing the generic USB Mass Storage driver

1. Download Windows 98SE Generic USB Mass Storage Device Driver to the desktop.

2. Open Device Manager (right click My Computer -> Properties -> Device Manager) and remove ALL drivers for USB flash drives. This includes any drivers of removable devices previously installed from the “Disk drives” tree.

3. Remove all drivers for any USB controllers (under Universal Serial Bus controllers). Devices in Device Manager can be uninstalled by right clicking on an entry and selecting “Remove”. Also remove any Unknown/Other devices, those which have no installed driver.

Windows 2000 In Virtualbox

4. Run the nusb36e.exe driver installer. After that has completed, reboot the computer.

5. During reboot, the computer will detect new devices and USB controllers and will ask for the Windows 98 install CD so make sure you have it to hand. The driver install window actually tells you to reboot after these controllers are installed but I didn’t have to. If you have any issues, then follow the advice and reboot a second time.

6. Then insert your USB storage device and it should get picked up by Windows. Don’t forget Windows 98 cannot read NTFS so the storage device needs to be formatted with FAT/FAT32 to be recognised with a drive letter. Open My Computer and your flash drive or device should be visible.

The 16GB flash drive above wasn’t a Kingston but still required the general USB mass storage driver to be installed for it to be detected. Do note that this driver is for English versions of Windows 98SE only and won’t work on the original Windows 98. You can visit the related MSFN forum thread for more support or updates to the driver in future.

You might also like:

5 Freeware To Fix Problem Ejecting USB Mass Storage Device ErrorDisable Removable Storage Devices such as USB DrivesWindows Requires Administrator Rights to Install USB Flash DrivesInstall XP: Setup did not find any hard disk drives installed in your computer6 Free Tools to Recover Deleted Photos from Memory Cards and Mass Storage Devices

Does not work with the following USB controllers:
Intel 82371AB/EB USB 1.0 Universial Host Controller
OPTi 82C861 (Firelink) PCI to USB Open Host Controller (USB 1.1)

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Thank you very much. I was able to use the driver in our old Win 98 computer connected to a scientific instrument to retrieve files using the usb port. Our old CD burning program was not working so I decided to use the usb in desperation. The usb port is not working in our Win 98 computer in the first place so I searched the internet for a driver. After the download I followed the instructions and it works great. This is so helpful and I am so grateful to you sir!

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This was exactly what I was looking for. Thank you for posting this information. I use an old Toshiba laptop for retro gaming. I wanted to connect my external 500 Mb HDD to the one USB port on this laptop, I was doubtful if this would work, but as soon as I installed this driver and rebooted, my external was detected as a mass storage device and works great.

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Thank you! With this information I was able to finally use a PCMCIA USB adaptor with my old Dell Latitude XPi CD Windows 98SE. I had been going around in circles beforehand. I need to retain an older PC in order to be able to program some of the older 2-way mobile and portable radio equipment which is still soldiering on.

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Thanks, I tried several times using the instructions but it didn’t seem to auto load my kingston datatraveler flash drive. However, in the device manager it showed up as ? But then when clicking and selecting update driver… Win98se found and loaded the general USB mass storage driver for it. Nice…
I can see the files as loaded under E: drive now. Very nice to have something you need work when everyone is telling you “IT WILL NOT WORK!”

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It works!!! :)
It just simply works!!! :)
Isn’t that how things are supposed to be?
It didn’t work with my camera, but that’s no problem. I just pop the chip and plug it into a card reader and it works! A Digital Concepts model CD-35 card reader is not recognized, but that’s not a problem for me.
Big THUMBS UP!!!

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Hi thanks for the wonderful help.
It works. However, strangely it never asked for the Windows CD. I am able to read a recently purchased 32 GB drive.

Thanks a ton. Would love to be in touch as I am a regular Win 98SE user courtesy my home recording setup that I started in 1997.

regards
Sumit

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okay. I think my problem had to do with the usb I was using. it was a weird capacity mp3 player/usb flash drive. anyway. I just picked up the cheapest 4gb one i could find at a nearby store and voila! it works. woohoo! thanks for this.

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hi Ive followed the instructions exactly but it wont open the flash drive. Every time I try to open it a windows pops up asking me to format it. I’ll do the format, it appears to work and then when I try to open it again the same thing happens. I get the windows telling me to format again. I’ve tried to assign a label but that doesnt work. I have tried formatting in other computer to FAT or FAT32 with no success. any help?

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Thank you!!! Fender guitar serial number decoder.

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Thank you for solving a problem I have been trying to solve off and on for 5+ years, I had tried numerous attempts via Kingston website/drivers with no success. I can now at last retrieve data from my old Laptop/s and Floppy Discs and transfer via usb ‘Stick’ to my current computers. Thank you again.

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I have a newer computer but I had 2 older computers tht wouldn’t work so I took the Windows 98 hard drive out of one and put it in the other. It tries to boot up ok but runs into a stop that displays tht it has found the USB port and needs a driver for it. I’ve been trying to get past that because I really don’t need to use the USB port on it but it won’t get by the installation Wizard, Does anyone know how I can get it by the installation Wizard? (it wants me to isert the Windows 98 CD-ROM but I don’t have one!)

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Hello,
using nusb36e with W98SE solved all the problems.
Big thanks :-)

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I tried several times with different versions of drivers, but this one did the job properly. Many, many thanks!!!

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Thank You very much! It works excellent!

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The people who give their knowledge freely are to be commended. Thank youall sooo much.

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The people who give their knowledge freely are to be commended. Thank youall sooo much. I found it all interesting & I am a volunteer who wants to set up a 98 laptop with some ukulele tutoriasl for an old (84) friend in my uke class. Problem is the USB outlet isn’t working according to my clicking on my computer – it doesn’t show any other drive when I have a USB IN THE 98 COMPUTER. My search through the settings gave me hope when I went to Add new hardware, next, Wizard asks “Is the device u want 2 install listed” “No” next, Do u want Windows search?” “No” “From a list” “Yes” Clicked on storage device – only CD ROM USB DisK & Optical – Clkd USB & next Said it finished installing Clkd finish Then read disk has to be FAT! Checked that & it is. Then selected USB controllers, next, Generic Hub, next, next, finished installing. But the USB installed still isn’t recognised. Sure wish I could do this job for the old lady. Can anyone help please. Pam Vincent

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Thank you so much this actually worked, I have tried several times trying to get information off my old IBM600E via USB before find this.

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Have installed it under Windows ME (without any prior USB-related items deletion).
After restart and after insertion of the USB flash drive it successfully installed itself.
Thank you.

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Many thanks!!!

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cool stuff!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! at last i have finally found a suitable driver for my OS…. Tnx!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

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I need a widows 98 format disc or instructions on how to format my laptop so I can install xp. can you help me?
Regards
richard

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Thank you. This software is the treasure! Regardeless of all disclaimers and warnings, it worked out just fine.

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Features Documentation Knowledge Base Discussion Forums

Using USB Devices in a Virtual Machine

The following sections describe how to use USB devices in a virtual machine:

You can use up to two USB devices in your virtual machine if both your host operating system and your guest operating system support USB. Note, for example, that Windows NT and Linux kernels older than 2.2.17 do not support USB.

Although your host operating system must support USB, you do not need to install drivers for your USB devices in the host operating system if you want to use those devices only in the virtual machine.

To take advantage of the USB support, you must create your virtual machine using the New Virtual Machine Wizard (on Windows hosts) or Configuration Wizard (on Linux hosts) in VMware Workstation.

Notes on USB Support in Version 3.2

We have tested a variety of USB devices with this release. In general, if the guest operating system has appropriate drivers, you should be able to use PDAs, printers, storage (disk) devices, scanners, MP3 players, digital cameras and memory card readers.

Modems and certain streaming data devices, such as speakers and Web cams, do not work properly.

Enabling and Disabling the USB Controller

The virtual machine's USB ports are enabled by default. If you will not be using USB devices in a virtual machine, you can disable its USB controller using the Configuration Editor.

Connecting USB Devices

When a virtual machine is running, its window is the active window and a USB device is plugged into the host computer, the device automatically connects to the guest instead of the host. This autoconnect feature can be disabled in the USB Controller panel of the Configuration Editor (Settings > Configuration Editor). If all of the virtual machine's USB ports are already occupied when it is trying to connect automatically to a new device, a dialog box gives you a choice: you can either disconnect one of the existing USB devices to free its port or ignore the new device, allowing the device to connect to the host.

Use the Devices menu to connect specific USB devices to your virtual machine. You can connect up to two USB devices at a time. If the physical USB devices are connected to the host computer through a hub, the virtual machine sees only the USB devices, not the hub.

There is a menu item for each of the USB ports. Move the mouse over one of these items to see a cascading menu of devices that are plugged into your host computer and available for use. To connect a device to the virtual machine, click its name.

If a device is already connected to that port, clicking the name of a new device releases the first device, then connects the new one.

To release a connected device, click None on the cascading menu for the port to which it is connected.

If you physically plug a new device into the host computer and the autoconnect feature does not connect it to a virtual machine, the device is initially connected to the host. Its name is also added to the Devices menu so you can connect it to the virtual machine manually.

Using USB with a Windows Host

On Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows .NET Server hosts, when a particular USB device is connected to a virtual machine for the first time, the host detects it as a new device named VMware USB Device and installs the appropriate VMware driver. On a Windows XP or Windows .NET Server host, user confirmation is required in the Found New Hardware Wizard. Select the default action - Install the software automatically. Once this step completes, the guest operating system detects the USB device and searches for a suitable driver.

When you are synchronizing a PDA such as a Palm handheld or Handspring Visor to a virtual machine for the first time, the total time required to load the VMware USB device driver in the host and the PDA driver in the guest may exceed the device's connection timeout value. This causes the device to disconnect itself from the computer before the guest can synchronize with it. If this occurs, let the guest finish installing the PDA driver, dismiss any connection error warnings, then try synchronizing the PDA again. The second attempt should succeed.

Using USB with a Linux Host

On Linux hosts, VMware Workstation uses the USB device file system to connect to USB devices. In most Linux systems that support USB, the USB device file system is at
/proc/bus/usb. If your host operating system uses a different path to the USB device file system, you can change it in the Configuration Editor (Settings > Configuration Editor > USB). Enter the correct path in the field labeled Path to usbdevfs.

Who Has Control Over a USB Device?

Only one computer - host or guest - can have control of a USB device at any one time.

Device Control on a Windows Host

When you connect a device to a virtual machine, it is 'unplugged' from the host or from the virtual machine that previously had control of the device. When you disconnect a device from a virtual machine, it is 'plugged in' to the host.

Note: On Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows .NET Server hosts, when you connect a USB network or storage device in a virtual machine, you may see a message on your host that says the device can be removed safely. This is normal behavior, and you can simply dismiss the dialog box. However, do not remove the device from your physical computer. VMware Workstation automatically transfers control of the device to the virtual machine.

Under some circumstances, if a USB storage device is in use on the host (for example, one or more files stored on the device are open on the host), an error appears in the virtual machine when you try to connect to the device. You must let the host complete its operation or close any application connected to the device on the host, then connect to the device in the virtual machine again.

Device Control on a Linux Host

On Linux hosts, guest operating systems can use devices that are not already in use by the host - that is, claimed by a host operating system driver.

If your device is in use by the host and you try to connect it to the guest using the Devices menu, a dialog box appears, informing you that there is a problem connecting to the device.

To disconnect the device from the host, you must unload the device driver. You can unload the driver manually as root (su) using the rmmod command. Or, if the driver was automatically loaded by hotplug, you can disable it in the hotplug configuration files in the /etc/hotplug directory. See your Linux distribution's documentation for details on editing these configuration files.

A related issue sometimes affects devices that rely on automatic connection (as PDAs often do).

If you have successfully used autoconnection to connect the device to your virtual machine, then experience problems with the connection to the device, take the following steps:

1. Disconnect and reconnect the device. You can either unplug it physically, then plug it back in or use the Devices menu to disconnect it and reconnect it.
2. If you see a dialog box warning that the device is in use, disable it in the hotplug configuration files in the /etc/hotplug directory.

Disconnecting USB Devices from a Virtual Machine

Before unplugging a USB device or using the Devices menu to disconnect it from a virtual machine, be sure it is in a safe state.

You should follow the procedures the device manufacturer specifies for unplugging the device from a physical computer. This is true whether you are physically unplugging it, moving it from host to virtual machine, moving it between virtual machines or moving it from virtual machine to host.

This is particularly important with data storage devices (a Zip drive, for example). If you move a data storage device too soon after saving a file and the operating system has not actually written the data to the disk, you can lose data.

Human Interface Devices

USB human interface devices, such as the keyboard and mouse, are not handled though the virtual machine's USB controller. Instead, they appear in the virtual machine as a standard PS/2 keyboard and mouse, even though they are plugged into USB ports on the host.