Restore disks plus Virtual PC equals disaster?

[CrossLOPER]

I want Windows 98 on my computer, but all I have is a restore CD from another computer. What will happen if I apply it to a virtual machine?

[Ramses II CP]

Err, there's simply no way to know. Restore disks are usually compiled by the end manufacturer (Like Dell) and are often hardware specific. While it's possible for this approach to work, I would not consider it reliable.

Win98 is no longer support either. It's unwise to have a Win98 machine out in the wild (Which is to say connected to the 'net).

Good luck!

[CrossLOPER]

My theory was that installation would go through fine, and that I would only need to change a few drivers for things to work smoothly. There are a couple of things I want to try with Windows 98, but connecting to the internet is not necessarily one of them. Among the things I do want to try is this: I want to see how 3D games that once relied on cards such as old ATI Radeon models and Voodoo react when working with a more modern card. Chances are, this will fail, but I see no reason not to try. Hopefully a modern HP and older Compaq are similar enough to work together.

If this fails, it would probably be because I am trying to use a desktop's restore CD on a laptop. I imagine since I am using a virtual machine and system restore, a total catastrophe can be averted.

EDIT: ...or I can sift through the endless options on Ebay and Amazon and hope I get what I want. I saw one or two one stars from the reviews...

[R'as al Ghul]

I don't see how you could do any harm to your laptop.
After all, the virtual machine is supposed to simulate the behaviour of a real machine, including reboots. Therefore it should be possible to fool the Win98 CD to install. Unless the restore CD needs something that can be restored (which you don't have), that could be a problem.

[caravel]

I want to see how 3D games that once relied on cards such as old ATI Radeon models and Voodoo react when working with a more modern card. Chances are, this will fail, but I see no reason not to try. Hopefully a modern HP and older Compaq are similar enough to work together.

I'm not sure if you'll get 3D acceleration working properly through a virtual machine. For the games that were designed to run on Voodoo cards you will need a glide wrapper.

[CrossLOPER]

I'm not sure if you'll get 3D acceleration working properly through a virtual machine. For the games that were designed to run on Voodoo cards you will need a glide wrapper.

Do you know of one, perchance?