Win98 in Qemu

Computing: Software: Qemu: |hosting Win98This page is about installing and running Windows 98SE inside the Qemu hardware emulator.

The User-Mode Network
The qemu documentation often mentions a "user-mode" network ability, but doesn't really explain in a nutshell what can be done with it. (Although the user-mode network is also useful for guest operating systems besides Windows, this explanation is in here because of its Windows-specific details. If anyone knows how other OSs are affected, please feel free to document.)
 * Allows internet access (ping is blocked because that would apparently require root privileges, but you can still use ping for DNS lookup)
 * Does not share your virtual machine in Network Neighborhood
 * Does allow your virtual machine to access a selected folder on your real machine via Network Neighborhood (see the -smb option)

Sound Emulation
Windows did not notice that I had enabled the SB16 emulation. It did notice the "ENSONIQ AudioPCI ES1370" emulation, but could not find a driver for it. I found a driver at DriverGuide, and was able to use BugMeNot to bypass the free compulsory signup process. I allowed Windows to re-detect the device, then used the "have disk..." button, rather than running the setup program included with the driver. As soon as installation finished, I heard the Windows 98 startup sound – no reboot necessary.