Three layers: v86 — src/vmware.js gains the legacy text-clipboard backdoor commands (GETSELLENGTH/GETNEXTPIECE/SETSELLENGTH/SETNEXTPIECE, 6–9). The host stages bytes via the vmware-clipboard-host bus event; the guest pushes via 8/9 and the device emits vmware-clipboard-guest when the buffer fills. Same wire protocol as open-vm-tools' pre-RPC copy/paste. Committed on the windows95-base fork branch; libv86.js rebuilt here. renderer — src/renderer/clipboard.ts polls Electron's clipboard (no change event exists), translates host UTF-8/LF ↔ guest CP-1252/CRLF, and bounces bytes through the two bus events. Echo-suppressed so a value we just wrote does not come back as a change. guest — guest-tools/agent/W95TOOLS.EXE is a 22 KB hidden-window agent that joins the Win32 clipboard-viewer chain (push-on-copy) and polls the backdoor on a 250 ms timer (pull-from-host). Win9x runs ring-3 with the I/O bitmap wide open, so a plain IN EAX,DX from a user process reaches the port — no driver needed. Named for growth: time sync and host-initiated shutdown will live here too. Built with Open Watcom v2 inside Docker (Makefile + Dockerfile alongside the source); subsystem 4.0, no msvcrt, runs on Win95 RTM. Install: copy \\HOST\TOOLS\agent\W95TOOLS.EXE into the guest and drop a shortcut in StartUp. Text only, 64 KB cap.
guest-tools
Files and folders in this directory are exposed read-only inside the VM at
\\HOST\TOOLS (alongside the synthetic _MAPZ.BAT and README.TXT).
Drop drivers and utilities here that you want available from within
Windows 95.
mouse-driver/ — seamless mouse (VBADOS)
VBMOUSE.EXE (DOS TSR) + VBMOUSE.DRV (Windows 3.x/9x driver) from
VBADOS by Javier S. Pedro,
GPLv2. Talks to v86's VMware mouse backdoor (port 0x5658) so the Windows
95 cursor tracks the host cursor pixel-for-pixel without pointer lock.
Install inside the guest:
- Copy
\\HOST\TOOLS\mouse-driver\VBMOUSE.EXEtoC:\and add aC:\VBMOUSE.EXEline toC:\AUTOEXEC.BAT. - Windows Setup (or Control Panel → Mouse → General → Change → Have
Disk) → browse to
\\HOST\TOOLS\mouse-driver→ pick VBMouse int33 absolute mouse driver. - Reboot. The app detects the driver and stops grabbing pointer lock; ESC still toggles lock for games that want raw relative input.
agent/ — W95TOOLS guest agent
W95TOOLS.EXE is a hidden-window agent that talks to the emulator over
the VMware backdoor (port 0x5658). Currently it does one thing: bridges
Windows 95's CF_TEXT clipboard to the host (legacy backdoor commands
6–9; host side is src/renderer/clipboard.ts, which polls Electron's
clipboard). It's also where time sync, host-initiated shutdown, and a
tray icon will live when those land.
Install inside the guest:
- Copy
\\HOST\TOOLS\agent\W95TOOLS.EXEtoC:\WINDOWS\. - Drop a shortcut to it in
C:\WINDOWS\Start Menu\Programs\StartUpso it runs on login.
Copy text on either side and it appears on the other within ~250 ms.
Text only; conversion is Windows-1252 ↔ UTF-8 with CRLF ↔ LF, capped at
64 KB. Built from w95tools.c with Open Watcom v2 — make -C guest-tools/agent (needs Docker).