In this article, we will examine how to set up Windows Me (Millennium Edition) on a new virtual machine using VMware Fusion 12 Pro in macOS operating system on an Apple Mac computer.
How to Run Windows Me (Millennium) on Mac / macOS using VMware Fusion 12
If you want to experience the Windows Me (Millennium Edition) operating system, which Microsoft released on September 14, 2000, and ended its extended support on July 11, 2006, on your personal computer, you can use one of the virtual machines programs.
If you intend to run the Millennium version of Windows, an old operating system, on an Apple Mac computer, you can use the Fusion virtualization program developed by VMware.
It is difficult to install and run such old operating systems on desktop or laptop computers with current and new technologies used today. Therefore, you can try old systems by using a virtualization program such as VMware Fusion on a computer with the virtualization feature.
How to Create a New Virtual Machine for Windows Me
After installing the Fusion software on your Mac, you can create a new virtual machine and run Windows, Linux, or macOS on your host computer virtually.
You can quickly create a virtual machine by dragging and dropping the ISO file of the operating system into the Fusion software, but we recommend that you continue with a special VM option to configure the settings of the system you will install more accurately.
Step 1
After running the Fusion 12 Pro software on your macOS system, select Create a custom virtual machine in the installation options window, and then click the Continue button.
Step 2
Since you will create a Windows virtual computer in the Guest operating system selection window, select Microsoft Windows / Windows Me and click Continue again.
Step 3
If you have installed Windows Me before, you can make your virtual computer ready by adding the disk of the virtual machine again from this window. Since you will be installing Windows from scratch, continue with the Create a new virtual disk option in the virtual disk window.
Step 4
In the window showing the summary information of your virtual computer, first, click on Customize Settings, and then if you want to change the location where the virtual machine will be installed by default in the Fusion program, you can change it from the Where section. Otherwise, click Save to accept the default location.
Step 5
When the settings of the Windows Me virtual machine are opened, click on the Processors & Memory hardware and configure the memory size of your virtual system as 512 MB.
Step 6
Select Ethernet in the network adapter settings to add your virtual computer as an external computer to the local network your Mac is connected to and obtain an IP address from the same DHCP server.
Step 7
If you leave the disk size of your Windows Me system too high, you will get an error during the system setup. Therefore, open the settings of the Hard Disk device and enter the value in Disk Size as 3 GB and click the Apply button.
Step 8
After opening the CD/DVD device settings, click Choose a disc or disc image from the drop-down list to add a Windows Me ISO file to the virtual machine.
Step 9
Select the Windows Millennium Edition ISO file you downloaded to your computer from the table below the article and click Open.
Step 10
To increase the system performance of the virtual operating system, configure the Troubleshooting feature as None in the advanced settings and disable the Side Channel Mitigations feature.
Step 11
After making the necessary settings, run your virtual machine and start the Windows installation.
How to Install Windows Me (Millennium) on macOS
When your system boots with the ISO file you added after running your virtual computer, you can now continue as if you were installing Windows Me on a real computer.
Step 1
Press Enter on the Boot from CD-ROM option to start the installation on the Microsoft Windows ME CD-ROM Startup Menu screen.
Step 2
After choosing to boot from CD-ROM, press Enter in the Start Windows Setup from the CD-ROM option on the screen that opens.
Step 3
When the Microsoft Windows Me installation wizard opens, press Enter to start the installation. You can press F1 if you want to learn more about the installation, or press F3 if you want to exit the installation.
Step 4
Press Enter on the recommended option as you need to prepare the unallocated disk space for installation.
Step 5
Enable large disk usage as your virtual disk has a disk size larger than 512 MB.
Step 6
After enabling large disk usage, start the installation again from CD-ROM as your virtual computer will restart.
Step 7
When you start the installation again, your virtual disk will start to be formatted automatically.
Step 8
After your virtual disk is formatted, press Enter for the setup wizard to perform a routine check on your system.
Step 9
When your virtual system restarts, you will see the Windows Me Setup screen this time. At this stage, you will be able to choose which directory the system files will be copied to and provide information about your system.
Step 10
Select the default C:\WINDOWS directory where you will install Windows and click Next.
Step 11
Select the commonly used Typical option in the Windows Me installation options and click Next.
Step 12
In the Windows components window, check the Install most common components option and continue.
Step 13
Type a different computer name from other computers on your network and continue.
Step 14
In the country and region settings, select the country you live in and click Next.
Step 15
Configure your system clock according to the time zone of the country you live in.
Step 16
After providing the necessary information, click Finish to start the installation of the guest operating system.
Step 17
Wait while Windows Me system files are copied.
Step 18
After the system files are copied, your guest system will reboot.
Step 19
Wait while the setup wizard updates the configuration files.
Step 20
Wait while Setup detects your virtual computer’s hardware to configure your system’s final settings.
Step 21
After the hardware scan is complete, type your name or company name and click Next.
Step 22
Accept the license agreement of your Windows Me virtual system and continue.
Step 23
Enter the Windows Me product key and continue.
Step 24
After completing the required information, close the setup wizard.
Step 25
Wait while Windows adjusts the control panel, start menu programs, help tool, and system configuration.
Step 26
When your virtual PC restarts, type your network username and click OK.
Step 27
The first desktop view of your Windows Millennium operating system when you log in will be as follows.
How to Install VMware Tools in macOS Windows ME VM
After installing Windows Me (Millennium Edition) with VMware Fusion on macOS, you need to install VMware Tools in order to use your virtual computer more efficiently and effectively.
After installing VMware Tools, you can use your virtual machine in full-screen mode and transfer files with your host computer.
Step 1
To install VMware Tools on your Windows Me virtual system, click Virtual Machine / Install VMware Tools from the tool menu.
Step 2
When the VMware Tools installation wizard opens, click Next to continue.
Step 3
If you are going to use your virtual computer with other products developed by VMware, select Complete in the installation type options and click Next.
Step 4
Click Install to start the installation of virtual machine tools.
Step 5
Wait while the drivers for your guest operating system are installed.
Step 6
After installing VMware Tools, restart your virtual computer.
Step 7
You can transfer files when you drag and drop a file or folder from your Mac to your virtual computer.
Step 8
You can also click View / Full Screen from the tool menu to fit your virtual system into full-screen mode.
How to Test and Configure Internet Connection in Windows ME
You need to configure and check the Internet connection settings of a guest operating system you have installed on your Mac.
Step 1
Open MS-DOS Prompt on your Windows Me guest machine and test your Internet connection by pinging Google servers by executing the ping 8.8.8.8 command.
Step 2
If the ping is successful, double-click Internet Explorer from the desktop location and click Next in the MSN Internet Access window that opens.
Step 3
Click Cancel when the new modem add wizard opens.
Step 4
Click on Lan/Manual to manually configure your network settings in the MSN wizard.
Step 5
To connect your virtual system to the Internet, tick the option Connect using LAN (Local Area Network) and click Next.
Step 6
Enable auto-discovery of the proxy server and continue.
Step 7
If you plan to use an Internet mail account in your virtual system, you can continue with Yes. If you are not going to use an e-mail account, select the No option and click Next.
Step 8
After completing the Internet connection wizard, click Finish and close the window.
Step 9
Open Internet Explorer again and try to visit the Google homepage.
How to Install Drivers
Some drivers of older Windows operating systems that you installed with the Fusion software may not be installed automatically. Therefore, you can automatically install drivers for some devices by changing the hardware version of the guest system.
Step 1
After right-clicking on My Computer, open System Properties and check the drivers that are not installed on your system in the Device Manager tab.
Step 2
To be able to change the hardware version, you must shut down your virtual computer. After shutting down your system, open its settings and then click Compatibility.
Step 3
After clicking the advanced options in the compatibility settings, set the hardware version to 6 in the Use Hardware Version section, and then click Apply.
Step 4
When you power up your virtual machine again, click Don’t Upgrade in the window that prompts Fusion to automatically upgrade your hardware version.
Step 5
While your virtual system is booting, the drivers for the hardware will be installed, but if some drivers cannot be installed automatically, you need to download their drivers and install them manually.
How to Install USB 2.0 Drivers
In order to use the USB 2.0 feature of the Windows Me operating system, you need to install the drivers manually. You can easily install the USB 2.0 drivers from the table at the bottom of the article after downloading them to your computer.
Step 1
While your Windows Millennium virtual machine is running, click Virtual Machine / CD/DVD / Choose Disc or Disc Image from the tool menu.
Step 2
Select the Windows Me USB 2.0 Driver ISO file you downloaded to your computer and click Open.
Step 3
After double-clicking the PCI Universal Serial Bus device from Device Manager, click the Reinstall Driver button in the window that opens.
Step 4
When the driver update wizard opens, check the Specify the location of the driver option and continue.
Step 5
Check the Specify a location option again and click Browse to show the location of the driver. Specify the location of the ISO file containing the USB 2.0 drivers and click OK.
Step 6
After specifying the location of the USB driver, click Next and complete the installation.
Step 7
Click Finish after installing the USB Enhanced Host Controller driver.
Step 8
You can see that the process has been successful when you check the USB drivers from Device Manager.
How to Use USB Flash Memory
After installing the USB 2.0 drivers on your Windows Me guest machine, you can now connect a USB flash memory or storage device to your system.
Step 1
When you insert a flash drive into your Mac’s USB port, connect your device to your Mac first.
Step 2
Open Disk Utility and change the file format of the flash disk to MS-DOS (FAT).
Step 3
To check your USB disk on the guest machine, create a folder named Backup in it.
Step 4
Remove your USB flash drive from your Mac and when you plug it back in, connect it to your Windows machine this time and check its contents.
How to Increase the RAM Size of Windows Me System to 1 GB
While preparing your Windows Me virtual computer, we have configured the memory size as 512 MB. If we set the RAM size to 1 GB, we would encounter errors during system setup.
Step 1
First of all, open the system properties of your guest machine and check the available RAM size in your system.
Step 2
After clicking My Computer, view the WINDOWS folder and open the SYSTEM file.
Step 3
Add MaxPhysPage=7C6FF under [386Enh] in SYSTEM.INI and save the file.
Step 4
Turn off your virtual PC and increase the RAM size from 512 MB to 1 GB.
Step 5
When you open your Windows Millennium system, you can see that the memory size is 1 GB this time.
Video
Windows Me ISO and USB Driver
TolgaBagci
Hi, I'm Tolga, a computer expert with 20 years of experience. I help fix computer issues with things like hardware, systems, networks, virtualization, servers, and operating systems. Check out my website for helpful info, and feel free to ask me anything. Keep yourself in the loop about the newest technologies!
