Archive Utilities (Windows 95)
7‑Zip (Windows 95) — ver. 3.05, ver. 3.10, ver. 3.12, ver. 3.13
Notes: Last supported version is 3.13. Works on all Win95 editions and VM setups.
WinRAR (Windows 95) — ver. 2.00, ver. 2.01, ver. 2.03, ver. 2.04, ver. 2.50
Notes: Stable RAR/ZIP support. No RAR3 or AES encryption.
PKZIP (Windows 95) — ver. 2.04g (DOS), ver. 2.50 (GUI), ver. 2.60 (OEM)
Notes: DOS version lacks long filename support. GUI version ideal for Win95.
Info‑ZIP (Windows 95) — UnZip ver. 5.32, Zip ver. 2.2, WiZ ver. 4.0
Notes: Open‑source ZIP tools. Supports long filenames.
ARJ (Windows 95) — ver. 2.50, ver. 2.60, ver. 2.62
Notes: Popular in BBS era. DOS‑based but works in Win95.
LHA / LHArc (Windows 95) — ver. 2.55, ver. 2.67, ver. 2.76
Notes: Required for many Japanese PC titles.
Graphics & Multimedia (Windows 95)
IrfanView (Windows 95) — ver. 2.32, ver. 3.17, ver. 3.25, ver. 3.36
Notes: Lightweight viewer. Plugins limited on Win95.
QuickTime (Windows 95) — ver. 2.12, ver. 3.0, ver. 4.0
Notes: Required for many multimedia apps. QuickTime 5+ incompatible.
RealPlayer (Windows 95) — ver. 5.0, ver. 6.0, ver. 7.0, ver. 8.0
Notes: Early streaming formats. RealPlayer 9+ requires Win98/2000.
GIMP (Windows 95) — ver. 1.0, ver. 1.1.x, ver. 1.2.x
Notes: Requires GTK 1.x runtime. Slow but functional.
Paint Shop Pro (Windows 95) — ver. 3.0, ver. 4.12, ver. 5.0, ver. 6.0
Notes: Popular 90s editor. PSP 7+ requires Win98.
Codecs & Media Packs — Indeo ver. 3.2, ver. 4.1, ver. 5.0; MS Video ver. 1, ver. 2; Radium MP3 ver. 1.0
Notes: Indeo required for many Win95 games.
Internet & Networking (Windows 95)
Netscape Navigator / Communicator — ver. 3.04, ver. 4.08
Notes: Most stable browser for Win95.
Opera (Windows 95) — ver. 3.62
Notes: Last Opera version supporting Win95.
Mozilla Suite (Windows 95) — ver. 0.9.x series
Notes: Early builds run on Win95 with limited stability.
WS_FTP LE (Windows 95) — ver. 5.08
Notes: Popular FTP client for dial‑up users.
Dial‑Up Tools — Trumpet Winsock ver. 2.0, Microsoft Dial‑Up Networking ver. 1.3
Notes: Required for early internet access.
Telnet / Terminal Tools — QVT/Term ver. 5.0, CRT ver. 2.x
Notes: Used for BBS and early server access.
Productivity Software (Windows 95)
AbiWord (Windows 95) — ver. 0.7.x, ver. 0.8.x, ver. 1.0
Notes: Lightweight word processor.
OpenOffice (Windows 95) — ver. 1.0
Notes: Early office suite supporting Win95.
Microsoft Works — ver. 3.0, ver. 4.0
Notes: Commonly bundled with OEM PCs.
Lotus SmartSuite — ver. 97, ver. 98
Notes: Compatible with Win95 OSR2.
WordPerfect — ver. 7.0
Notes: Requires Win95 OSR2 for stability.
Adobe Acrobat Reader — ver. 3.0, ver. 4.0
Notes: Last versions supporting Win95.
Microsoft Runtimes & System Components
DirectX (Windows 95) — ver. 2.0, ver. 3.0, ver. 5.0, ver. 6.1, ver. 7.0a, ver. 8.0
Notes: DirectX 8.0 is the last version supporting Win95.
Visual Basic Runtime — ver. 5.0, ver. 6.0
Notes: Required for many legacy apps.
Visual C++ Runtime — ver. 4.0, ver. 5.0, ver. 6.0
Notes: Needed for many installers.
MDAC (Data Access) — ver. 2.1, ver. 2.5
Notes: Required for database‑driven apps.
Internet Explorer — ver. 3.0, ver. 4.0, ver. 5.0
Notes: IE4 Desktop Update changes shell behavior.
Windows 95 USB Supplement — ver. 1.0
Notes: Adds basic USB support to OSR2.1/OSR2.5.
Drivers (Windows 95)
GPU Drivers — ATI Rage ver. 2.x, NVIDIA RIVA ver. 1.x, 3dfx Voodoo ver. 1.x
Notes: Essential for gaming and DirectX.
Audio Drivers — Sound Blaster 16 ver. 4.x, AWE32 ver. 1.x, Realtek AC’97 ver. 1.x
Notes: Win95 supports most ISA/PCI cards.
Chipset Drivers — Intel ver. 2.x, VIA ver. 1.x
Notes: Required for proper IDE/AGP support.
Network Drivers — 3Com ver. 3.x, Realtek RTL8139 ver. 1.x
Notes: Common NICs for retro builds.
Storage Drivers — Adaptec SCSI ver. 3.x
Notes: Needed for SCSI CD‑ROMs and HDDs.
USB Drivers — Windows 95 USB Supplement ver. 1.0
Notes: Limited USB support; mass storage often unstable.
VMware / VirtualBox Retro Setup
VMware Tools (Windows 95) — ver. 3.x
Notes: Provides SVGA driver, mouse integration.
VirtualBox Additions — ver. 1.x (experimental)
Notes: Limited support; SVGA only.
VBE9x Display Driver — ver. 1.0
Notes: Enables high‑resolution video modes.
SCSI Drivers — BusLogic ver. 2.x, Adaptec ver. 3.x
Notes: Required for VM SCSI disks.
Shared Folder Tools — Win95 does not support native shared folders
Notes: Use ISO images or floppy images.
USB in VMs — Only works with Win95 USB Supplement
Notes: Very limited functionality.
Games & Game Tools (Windows 95)
Doom (Shareware) — ver. 1.9
Notes: Runs in Win95 DOS mode.
Quake (Shareware) — ver. 1.06
Notes: Requires DirectX and proper GPU drivers.
Descent (Shareware) — ver. 1.4
Notes: Works well on Win95 OSR2.
Game Tools — GLSetup ver. 1.0, DirectX ver. 6.1
Notes: Required for many late‑90s titles.
OpenGL Installers — ver. 1.1
Notes: Basic OpenGL support for Win95.
Joystick Drivers — Microsoft ver. 3.x
Notes: Supports most 90s gamepads.