Hello, I'm currently running a 98SE/XPMCE/VistaUltimate triple-boot system, but that isn't the issue; using the 3xstart patch, I've managed to get Windows 3.1 installed in a directory on my Win98 directory (FAT32, 15gb partition, so I have no shortage of space for it). The only problem is, I have no drivers suitable for my motherboard. Yes, Windows 3.1 runs at a decent speed without them, but as I'm hoping to use it somewhat regularly I'd like sound capability, as well as CD/DVD-ROM support (playability of video DVDs would be nice, but hey I'm not trying to be picky). A nice resolution and colour depth would be nice, but once again I'm not trying to be picky. As it might be easy to tell, my computer is reasonably recent (relative to 3.1 of course) and I have no drivers to try and accomplish my means with (I have a DVD-ROM driver but it's from DOS and I haven't a clue on how to use it, nor if it will affect my 98 install in any way), so my question is this; are there any sorts of legacy/general drivers I could employ to use sound/CDs/DVDs/a better resolution, or would I be best suited to just installing 3.1 on a separate partition or perhaps even a separate computer? (For the record, my sound card is a SoundMAX ADI AD1888 AC97, and my video card is a WinFast A180B/GeForce4 MX 4000. If needed, I can supply the makes of my DVD drives. Also, my sincerest apologies if I have posted this in the wrong place; I'm new at this. :P) Messing up computers, one dual-boot at a time.

You will likely have issues even running Windows 98 (let alone 3.1 over 98's DOS) on anything that new without some serious tweaking. Windows 9x starts having problems on processors faster than 2.1 GHz and with more than 512 MB of RAM. Even assuming you have taken these issues into account, you may have difficulty finding proper video and sound drivers for 3.1 if the devices are too "new." I am not saying it's impossible (heck, I can get 1600*1200 resolution in Win 3.x on a certain Pentium 3), but you will have more hassles on something as new as yours compared to my P3, for instance. You may want to try experimenting with an older machine, but then again, there aren't many out there that will run both 3.1 and Vista reliably well (natively, that is) without the use of emulation. In summary, Vista isn't going to mix too well with 3.1 (or even 98 for that matter) on the same PC, simply because their respective system requirements do not overlap much at all.

Thanks for the reply; I've managed to get Win98 and Win31 running surprisingly reliably, by restricting the MaxPhysPage in their System.ini files to 10000 (256mb iirc) despite that being over the reported maximum RAM for 3.1. (My computer does strange things.) Also, just a heads-up; the article you posted regarding the processor speed applies only to 95 and 98 Standard, so I think I'm safe for now. It just makes me wish I didn't throw out that old 3.1 machine all of those years ago... (btw I am aware of the typo in the thread title) Messing up computers, one dual-boot at a time.

Strangely enough, some people have had issues with fast processors even on 98SE, despite the MSKB article's lack of reference to it. That is why I mention it, just in case. Anyway, on my P3 with 512 MB of RAM, I also disable the swap file altogether in Win 3.x running over DOS 7.1 (using the same 3xstart patch and similar SYSTEM.INI tweaks.) Consider disabling the swap file if your applications do not require it, as you are far more likely to run out of GDI and user resources before running out of RAM. You might also consider the so-called unofficial service pack for Windows 98 SE. I cannot vouch for it personally, but it resolves certain limitations such as the 512 MB barrier. Good luck on the driver hunt. I have only been successful getting Win 3.x drivers for older 16-bit sound cards and video cards with up to 4 MB of RAM or so. I don't think Vista would be too happy with those, though. ;)

For CDs and DVDs, you have to install the DOS drivers. Also, it would be good to install something like a cacheing software(as I doubt 32-bit file access is very happy in your gig), smartdrv is nice but you should try something like XDMA or UIDE, which uses UDMA. As for the sound, you'll have to look for something like an old AudioPCI. To install those without affecting Win98, I suggest using a startup menu in config.sys, so you can have multiple configurations.

Sounds like a plan, but in my search for drivers for Win3.1 I appear to have messed up my installation to the point of no return; I changed a display driver through Setup.exe in DOS, and I cannot change it back through Windows OR DOS; Windows refuses to start with the new driver, and the DOS Setup utility tells me I lack sufficient memory to even get to the memory. >_< I was trying old nVidia drivers, in the hope that one of them would just click with my graphics card. Is there any way to fix this without reinstalling Windows? (Also, found an useful article by Microsoft regarding config.sys regarding start-up menus, so I think I might be able to figure that out. It's for MS-DOS 6.x, though, though to be honest I can't see there being too much difference in terms of stuff like this.) Messing up computers, one dual-boot at a time.

Have a look at http://www.win31.de/edrivers.htm