How to Create a Windows 98 ISO for VirtualBox

Running Windows 98 inside VirtualBox is a surprisingly practical way to revisit legacy software, test old games, or explore how computing worked in the late 1990s. But before VirtualBox can do anything, it needs an ISO file — a single disc image that contains the entire Windows 98 installation. Creating that ISO correctly is where most people run into trouble.

What Is a Windows 98 ISO and Why Does VirtualBox Need One?

VirtualBox is a virtual machine (VM) application that simulates hardware inside your current operating system. To install any OS inside a VM, VirtualBox needs to "boot" from something — traditionally a physical disc or, more practically today, an ISO file.

An ISO file is a bit-for-bit copy of an optical disc stored as a single .iso container. When you attach an ISO to a VirtualBox VM, the software treats it exactly like a physical CD-ROM spinning in a drive.

Windows 98 originally shipped on CD-ROM, so the goal is to create an ISO from that disc — or to locate a disc image you legally own and prepare it correctly.

Do You Legally Own a Windows 98 License?

This matters before anything else. Microsoft ended support for Windows 98 in 2006, and the OS is no longer sold commercially. However, owning the original installation disc and license key means you have the right to create a personal backup copy for use in a virtual machine.

Downloading ISO files from third-party sites for software you don't own is a different situation entirely and carries legal risk regardless of the OS's age. This guide assumes you have the original disc or a legitimate personal backup.

Method 1: Creating an ISO from a Physical Windows 98 CD 💿

If you have the original Windows 98 CD-ROM, you can rip it into an ISO using disc imaging software on your current machine.

Tools commonly used for this:

• ImgBurn (Windows) — free, straightforward, widely trusted for disc-to-ISO work
• dd command (Linux/macOS) — command-line tool built into Unix-based systems
• Brasero or K3b (Linux) — GUI-based options with ISO creation built in

Using ImgBurn on Windows

1. Insert the Windows 98 CD into your optical drive
2. Open ImgBurn and select "Create image file from disc"
3. Set the source to your CD/DVD drive
4. Set the destination to a folder you can find easily, with a .iso extension
5. Click the read button and wait for the process to complete

The resulting file will typically be between 250 MB and 500 MB depending on whether you have Windows 98 First Edition or Second Edition (SE).

Using dd on Linux or macOS

dd if=/dev/cdrom of=~/windows98.iso bs=2048 

Replace /dev/cdrom with your actual optical drive path (check with lsblk on Linux or diskutil list on macOS). This creates a raw ISO copy with no compression or modification.

Method 2: Converting an Existing Disc Image

Some users have older .bin/.cue, .img, or .nrg disc image formats from backups made years ago. VirtualBox works best with standard .iso files, so conversion may be necessary.

Common conversion tools:

Most conversion tools follow the same pattern: open the source file, select ISO as output format, choose a save location.

Preparing VirtualBox for Windows 98 🖥️

Once you have a valid .iso file, the VM setup itself has specific requirements. Windows 98 is a 16/32-bit hybrid OS that predates modern hardware assumptions, and VirtualBox needs configuration adjustments to run it properly.

Key settings that affect Windows 98 compatibility:

• VM Type: Set to "Microsoft Windows," version "Windows 98"
• RAM: 64 MB to 512 MB is a typical working range — too much RAM can actually cause issues with Windows 98's memory management
• Storage Controller: Use IDE rather than SATA; Windows 98 has no SATA drivers
• Graphics: VirtualBox's default VGA works; avoid allocating excessive VRAM
• Audio: AC97 is generally the most compatible option for period-accurate audio
• USB: Disable USB 2.0/3.0 controllers — Windows 98 doesn't support EHCI/xHCI controllers

One consistent sticking point is that Windows 98 was never designed to run as a VM, so you may encounter driver limitations, display resolution caps, and installation quirks regardless of how clean your ISO is.

Variables That Affect Your Experience

The same ISO can produce very different results depending on several factors:

• First Edition vs. Second Edition: Windows 98 SE includes more drivers, USB support improvements, and general stability fixes — it tends to run more smoothly in VirtualBox
• Host OS: VirtualBox behaves slightly differently on Windows, macOS (especially Apple Silicon), and Linux hosts; some features and workarounds are platform-specific
• VirtualBox version: Older VM software versions sometimes handle legacy OS quirks better than recent releases optimized for modern guests
• Technical comfort level: Getting Windows 98 fully functional — with working display drivers, sound, and networking — often requires manual driver installation and registry edits that go beyond the initial setup

Whether this process is quick and clean or involves troubleshooting largely depends on which edition you're working with, what your host machine is running, and how far you need the VM to go beyond basic installation.