You can run Windows 98 on Linux in a virtual machine with Oracle VirtualBox, provided your Linux computer uses an x86_64 processor and you have your own Windows 98 installation media and product key. The important caveat is that Windows 98 is now a legacy guest: Oracle's current VirtualBox 7.2 support matrix does not list it as a supported guest OS, so expect more manual setup than with a modern version of Windows.
As of October 22, 2026, Oracle lists VirtualBox 7.2.22 as the current stable release. This guide uses the current VirtualBox 7.2 workflow rather than the obsolete 6.1 package links in the older instructions.
Install VirtualBox from your distribution's package manager if it offers a suitable current build, or use Oracle's package for your distribution. Avoid hard-coding an old DEB or RPM download because those version-specific URLs expire quickly.
On Debian- and Ubuntu-based systems, VirtualBox may need matching Linux kernel headers so its host kernel modules can build. Systems using UEFI Secure Boot may also require those modules to be signed. Oracle documents both requirements in the VirtualBox 7.2 User Guide.
Windows 98 does not benefit from modern VM-sized hardware allocations. A practical starting point is 64 to 128 MB of RAM, one virtual CPU, and a 2 GB dynamically allocated VDI disk. These values are intentionally modest to reduce legacy compatibility problems; they are not limits imposed by your Linux host.
If you later need a larger disk for old software or games, increase storage carefully rather than giving the VM a huge modern disk from the start.
Open the VM's Settings, select Storage, and attach your Windows 98 ISO to the virtual optical drive. Using an ISO is usually simpler than passing a physical CD drive through to the guest.
For old Windows guests, an IDE optical controller is a sensible compatibility choice. If your original Windows 98 CD is not bootable, you may also need a bootable Windows 98 startup floppy image attached to the virtual floppy controller.
Current VirtualBox 7.2 Guest Additions do not list Windows 98 as a supported Windows guest, so features such as automatic display resizing, shared clipboard, and modern shared-folder integration should not be assumed to work. For moving retro software into the VM, mounting a small ISO that contains the required files is often the simplest option.
Once Windows 98 is stable, take a VirtualBox snapshot before installing old drivers, games, or utilities. That gives you a quick rollback point if a legacy installer destabilizes the VM.
With those limitations understood, a small offline Windows 98 VM remains useful for running old applications and games that do not behave correctly under Wine, while keeping the legacy operating system contained inside your Linux desktop.
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Install Dropbox on Linux from the official package, sign in, sync a local folder, manage selective sync, and check status from the command line.
Install Inkscape from your Linux distribution’s repositories, the Ubuntu stable PPA, Snap, or Flathub, with current commands and notes for choosing a package source.
Use FSlint to scan selected Linux folders, review duplicate groups, and safely delete redundant files or learn when hard-link merging is appropriate.
Install SABnzbd on Ubuntu or Debian, or run it in Docker on another Linux host. Then open the web interface and configure your provider and download folders.
Install the Paper GTK theme from supported Linux repositories, enable it for GTK apps in GNOME Tweaks, and see what the legacy theme can and cannot change.
The old OpenMediaVault Plex plugin is archived. Set up Plex on OMV 8 with OMV-Extras, the Compose plugin, persistent storage, and Plex’s official container.
Clean and speed up Ubuntu with safe APT cleanup, storage checks, and startup controls that help free space and troubleshoot a sluggish desktop.
Install Hiri on Linux with its Snap package or official tarball, add a desktop launcher, and check supported accounts plus a warning about Hiri’s old Snap release.
Use Fastfetch and built-in Linux commands to check your distro, kernel, CPU, memory, graphics, storage, and connected devices, then save a clear report.
