When you try to install Windows 95 or Windows 98 on a virtual machine, the Windows installation CD-ROM cannot be found after the system restarts during Setup (825252)

SYMPTOMS

When you try to install Microsoft Windows 95 or Microsoft Windows 98 on a virtual machine, after the computer restarts and Windows Setup continues you are prompted to insert the Windows installation CD-ROM. However, a drive letter may not be assigned to the CD-ROM drive and the CD-ROM cannot be found.

CAUSE

This problem occurs if the primary and secondary integrated device electronics (IDE) controllers are configured during the second part of Setup (after the restart). As a result, you cannot find the CD-ROM drive.

WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, copy the Win95 folder or the Win98 folder from the Windows installation CD-ROM to the Virtual PC's guest drive C, and then start Setup from the C:\Win9x folder on the guest drive C. By default, when Windows Setup looks for a file, it looks in the install location. To copy the Win95 folder or the Win98 folder to the guest drive C, follow these steps:

Insert a Windows 95 or Windows 98 startup disk in the 3.5-inch drive, and then start your Virtual PC.
Use the startup disk to start your Virtual PC with CD-ROM support.
At the command prompt, type the following commands and press ENTER after each command, where x is either 5 or 8, depending upon the version of Windows that you are installing:

c:\
MD win9x
copy e:\win9x\*.* c:\win9x
After the files are copied, type the following commands and press ENTER after each command, where x is either 5 or 8, depending upon the version of Windows that you are installing:

cd c:\win9x
setup