Why Windows 3.1 Is My Favorite Operating System for My Raspberry Pi

Raspberry IPs are generally associated with light Linux operating systems, such as Raspberry Pi OS, but they are not. You can use heavy desktop variants, or, if you feel particularly daring, old versions of Windows. Here is why I started using Windows 3.1 on my PI.

Seriously, why use Windows 3.1?

Windows 3.1 (or, if you feel a little more modern, Windows 95) comes with familiar user interfaces, many applications or “programs”, and no bloating, unless you count the notepad. Even under emulation, these old versions of Windows fly – they are very responsive, and the menus open instantly, probably because they are not returned using ineffective HTML5 or trying to download news content and recommendations to display next to your list of programs (looking at you, Windows 11).

You can also keep your privacy, because there is no telemetry, no “improvement of experience”, advertising identifiers or all this nonsense. Your operating system is just an operating system, a practical way to manage your files and open the software you really want to use. The 90S software also predates the current trend to add around 20 padding pixels to each menu element and the window border (ostensibly for touching users, even on operating systems which are rarely seen on tactile screen devices). Information is denseAnd The whole text is daring and crisp in its pixelated glory.

Many of these advantages are also shared by Linux Linux distros for the Raspberry Pi (including Raspberry Pi OS), but in addition to being a kind of kitsch and cool, the inherited versions of Windows have tons of software and games. Abandonware abounds (depending on the legality of this one in your country), and you can find the first Windows and Dos of almost all productivity or online productivity or office tools (once again, to win if it is legal, or you have an old license that has lagged behind your desk 35 years ago). There is also a destiny.

Brand

Raspberry Pi

Storage

8 GB

Processor

Cortex A7

Memory

8 GB

It is only recommended for warned users of technology, but Raspberry Pi 5 is the dream of a handyman. Inexpensive, highly customizable and with superb on -board specifications, it is a solid base for your next mini PC.

I am sold, how do you establish Windows 3.1 on a Raspberry Pi?

Dosbox is an emulator that allows you to run MSDOS software on Linux, and as Windows 3.1 is a back application, making it work is quite simple. Although there are images of raspberry pi pre-made for that, like the Dosbien, I always be wary of simply executing any code from the Internet and prefers to assemble things.

So, first things, I installed Raspberry Pi OS (with office) on my Raspberry Pi 4, connected to Wi-Fi and Ran Sudo Apt Aptracher && Sudo Apt Update To prepare everything. The office blocking must be activated by default. Otherwise, it can be activated using the Raspberry Pi configuration tool.

I chose to start on the desktop before launching Dosbox mainly for simplicity, especially because I want to automatically control the USB sticks so that they can be read by back or windows. Raspberry Pi OS does it by default, but I don’t want it to display the automatic contextual window each time a device is connected. This is disabled by opening the preferences of the file manager, then in volume management, uncheck “Display the options available for removable supports when inserted”.

Then I installed Dosbox by running sudo apt install dosbox -Y. I use the dosbox version available via the Apt package manager, but if you want to use it beyond it, a little new, you can get more precise emulation and better performance with Dosbox-X.

I created a new repertoire named Win311 in my home folder, and added the following bash script file named launch.sh::

#!/bin/bash
# Wait 3 seconds for any connected USB drives to mount
sleep 3
exec dosbox -conf /home/pi/win311/dosbox.conf

This script is waiting for a few seconds for the USB discs to finish assembly after starting the system, then launches Dosbox with the configuration file dosbox.confCreated in the same repertoire (if you follow, you will have to update the path to reflect your own user name rather than by default “PI”).

[sdl]
fullscreen=true
fullresolution=desktop
windowresolution=original
output=texture
[dosbox]
machine=svga_s3
memsize=16
[cpu]
core=auto
cputype=auto
cycles=auto
cycleup=10
cycledown=20
[render]
aspect=true
scaler=none
[mixer]
rate=44100
blocksize=1024
prebumer=20
[sblaster]
sbtype=sb16
irq=5
dma=1
hdma=5
oplmode=auto
oplrate=44100
[autoexec]
@echo om
REM --- Map USB parent directory as U: so all plugged-in USB drives appear as sub-folders.
mount U "/media/pi" -t dir
path Z:\\;C:\\DOS;C:\\WINDOWS
REM --- Expect a Windows 3.11 install present in WINDOWS within c_drive
mount C "/home/pi/win311/c_drive"
C:
noshare /install
win

Most of these elements are only the configuration of Dosbox that you can ignore, except the bit under the [autoexec] double. Here, the paths should be updated with your username instead of “PI”. The Noshare / Install command solves a small dosbox problem discussed later, and Win is the command that will launch Windows during its installation.

While you are in the Win311 directory, create a new repertoire named C_Drive. It will be the hard drive of your emotional Windows box.

To automatically launch Dosbox after loading your desktop, create the file ~ / .Config / autostart / win311.desktop And add the following:

[Desktop Entry]
Type=Application
Name=Windows 3.11
Exec=/home/pi/win311/launch.sh
Terminal=false
X-GNOME-Autostart-enabled=true

Installation of windows on a Raspberry Pi

Now when your PI has finished starting on the desktop, the script launched.sh will run and the Dosbox configuration will automatically launch Windows. All that is necessary now is Windows! You can either use your own Windows 3.11 media, or find it online from somewhere that legally provides it. I use Windows 3.11 for working groups, supplied on 8 distinct 3.44 MB floppy images. It is also possible to simply copy the files from an existing Windows installation, but I wanted a clean slate.

The easiest way to perform the installation is to create a repertoire named Winstup in the C_Drive directory and extract all installation images to him using the command 7Z XY -0 ” / Home / Pi / Win311 / C_DRIVE / WINSETUP” ~ / Win311 / SETUP_DISKS / DISK01.IMG And restart the command for each disk image until they are all extracted.

Then run the launch script from the terminal with the command sh launch.sh. Once dosbox launched, install Windows by accessing the Winstup directory with commands C:monitoring CD Winstupthen execute the FACILITY order.

Then, it is a question of following the bouncing ball and entering the required information when invited.

Once Windows has succeeded, you should be able to restart your Raspberry Pi and be taken directly to the Windows 3.11 desk. Neat!

If you open the file manager in Windows, you will even see your USB sticks under the U: (depending on the configuration above), so that you can easily transfer programs and files from your other devices.

There is a small hitch with this method: Dosbox does not include the Share command, some of which require. If you decide that you really want to use your retro Windows configuration for more than the handyman, you can either go to Dosbox-X, use a real version of MSDOS in Dosbox. I chose to use Noshare, a program that makes fun of the Share command, as a bypass solution because I am lazy. You can find noshare available for download on the Vogons forum, but note that I cannot guarantee it, although any damage it could do would be quite limited in Dosbox operating on a Raspberry Pi which is not connected to your network.

I have downloaded and extracted the Noshare.com file in the C_Drive directory so that it can be called by Noshare / Install which was reported in the Dosbox.Conf file earlier. Note that even if this allows programs that require the execution of the Share command, it does not really carry out its goal (locking files). This will not really present a problem for single user systems, but can still cause poor driving of software.

And that’s it! There is a lot of obsolete Windows software archived online, and remember that you also have the entire Dos à Explorer library (including Doom!). All this software works as well as when it has been published, and is often held for light tasks and a little fun.

There is also DOOM (illustrated on my crash pip test bench).

Raspberry Pis is always the dream of a twist

Looking for more Raspberry Pi projects for rainy weekends? Here are 7. If that doesn’t suit you, here are 7 others that you can finish in less than an hour.

It should take care of you!