Windows 95... From Floppies 

Its actually quite hilarious that this video popped into my recommended, I work as an automation tech at a production plant and we recently JUST retired 4 of these AB 6180 industrial computers running Windows NT 4.0 and let me tell you, they didn't live easy lives. As HMI (human-machine-interfaces) they've withstood probably close to 15 years of production people tapping and beating the keys and haven't missed a beat! I have a model EXACTLY like the one you have down to the motherboard which shortly after taking out the hard-drive died in. I'd be happy to send you its motherboard to get you're going as I've already replaced it with a duel PIII motherboard. I think the reason you're second IDE channel gave out is simply due to the fragile state of the motherboard. As stated above, these units normally lived in sealed panels (the remnants is still around your unit) with little to no outside airflow in some cases. Combine that with PLC, starters, and other heat generating devices, as well as debris from the product that its original plant might have made can and do absolutely weaken solder points and PCB strength. I also still have the original driver floppies that came with these units. I'm not sure if you can still find them on the Rockwell website (Allen Bradley) but you'll need to register an account to even look. Maybe an old PLC forum might have a copy floating around. I'll have to check but I think I have disks for the Video Card, that proprietary ISA card that does the keyboard/mouse/and front panel buttons, as well as a range of industrial expansion cards we used in our plant for old communication standards like DH+ and Modbus. Let me know if you want a copy and I'll try and get them to you. While my units ran NT4 I'm pretty sure the driver disks had drivers for Win 95/98/ME as well as 2000. I absolutely loved/hated using the front panel mouse and its buttons to shutdown the unit when we had scheduled power outages since it just had that early 90s feel! And I definitely added these to my PC collection after learning they were to be scrapped. Might use one as an NT server to administer my NT domain. It'd be kinda cool. Lastly, as for adding new hardware, some sellers on Ebay DO have semi-modern motherboards that have ISA slots for upgrading these exact machines! I think the newest one I could find was a LGA-775 motherboard with two ISA slots, a CF card slot, 4 SATA, and DDR3 memory support. Not a bad little board for $250! Otherwise just be careful if you still want to use the front panel controls as that ISA card is what does that. Do they even make ISA-PCI conversion card? Love the video and hope to see more of this machine!

"Life Choices" totally has to be in the Billboard Top 10 for industrial gaming funk. 6:26 That diskette handoff was perfectly executed.

I have to say, the Mac option seems most in keeping with the shenanigans we’ve come to know and love in the channel. But any shenanigans are good shenanigans, so far as I’m concerned!

Of course you should do all three! That’ll give us at least three great videos to watch, and since the finale should be the mac option, you’ll have plenty of time to figure the pinouts out. 😁

You can sing, play guitar, fix rare vintage electronics. Impressive 💅💅💅

As a welder who interacts with 20 year old Allen Bradley products on a daily basis, and still being productive, loved this video.

I feel like, since it's already 'panel mounted' into a door, maybe you could put it in a panel booth or even turn it into a 'cocktail' table PC?

This gaming experience was insane in the membrane.

When you are done modding it, you should see if it can slide and spin around on your desk with the padding… to make a commercial for it… just like the original iMac commercials where the various colours came in from the side. Lol

You need to build that into a nice 19" Industrial cabinet with casters on the bottom so you can tow it to that LAN party.

I really have to respect the effort of actually getting a coffee table just to scratch it with an indrustrial 90's PC for a 3 seconds gag on a video!

I did the whole dos 6.22 to Win 3.11 to Win 95 upgrade (all via floppy) on a number of occasions back in the 'good old days'. Still less frustrating that installing Windows 98 and forgetting to install the SATA drivers at the beggining...

You are the best kind of RU-vidr for those videos, and it's always fun to watch and I can tell that this is really something that interests and fascinates you, you do such a very good job! You deserve beyond 100000 subscribers, alone for all the effort you put into your videos for us! I have been watching you since 2021 and never regret it! :)

I haven't used DOS in probably 20 years but I think you could boot the PC from a Win95 startup disk, then launch the Windows 98 installer from the drive plugged into the primary IDE port.

I love the antics you get up to. I could have seen myself trying to use one of these beasts if I found it discarded somewhere.

I've binged so much of your content in the last 2 days it's insane. Thank you sir.

Im mainly a PC guy, and I have a thing for industrial stuff so your videos of this are the best ones yet. And yeah, back in the day circa 1996/97 on my old AMD 486DX40, 8MB, 500MB ATA/66, Trident SVGA "garage sale parts special" I installed WIndows 95 from floppy (I wont lie it was copies) even though i had a 4x CD-ROM drive and it took forever and was quite monotonous.

I'd go with doing all of those options. I like seeing you step outside your comfort zone a bit. I'm excited to see what you'll do next.

i laughed the hardest of all your videos on the intro of this wow 2023 is off to a great start!

i was just watching your older videos and then i seen a notification for your new one and i was like yes

Ty so much i was really waiting for this!!!!!!

"Sled" is an interesting term for what is holding the floppy drive. It looks more like the kind of big hunk of metal you'd find bolted on the front of some Mad Max fire-belching killing machine. But it's very industrial, for sure.

Option No. 4: Upgrade it to Windows 98 via floppies and then dual boot it with a period correct Linux distro on as penance for wrecking that coffee table... Also, you should totally mount it on the wall behind you as some weird photo frame!

I really like the idea of shoehorning modern fairly high end components into it and making a sleeper computer.

Back in '95, I I had to re-install Windows 95 at least once a week. At least I had it on CD. I had a blazingly fast 😉 2x CD rom drive. That installation scene was hilarious!

I'd say restore it to its former glory, maxing out what is there with Win 98 SE/ME, and make it a set piece along with a few other interesting machines.

I think you should embed that industrial monstrosity into a wall (preferable outside the front door) where it belongs and then install HollyOS so that Norman Lovett can greet visitors with all kinds of pithy wisecracks. If the hardware allows, you could even upgrade it to HollyOS 89 which features Hattie Hayridge.

Hehe, I remember installing windows from floppy disks, Win3.11 wasn't too bad, I think something like 6? But Win95 was insane, took forever, and forget about reliability of install since one of those disks not working right was really common.

I've been waiting for my Saturday morning television!

"Should we do all of them", I know i'd totally 100% be up to see all of those crazy ideas.

I would love to see a sleeper build in that thing but whacking a mac in it seems way more on brand! Great vids, cheers dude.

This is a ridiculous channel and I love it 😁

A big thumbs up to Option 3. Would love to see a Mac (classic or otherwise) shoehorned into that industrial beast.

This is best retro tech video to enjoy!

love this, I would personally recommend having a custom carry case built for it,like what DJs use for their getups

ALL OF THEM! Sounds like the making of a series to me!

Have you tried downloading a Driver Pack for Windows 95? They have pretty much every driver ever made for the OS and are super easy to use.

Actually laughed out loud at the table scratching 😂

You silly goose. I like the macintosh route. Seems like a good home for Steve's AIO motherboard if he ever gets it fixed.

Amazing! Love your stuff! This is EXACTLY my kind of jam! 😃Your channel is a big inspiration to me! I literally JUST got an industrial PC the other week, though mine's low profile, and quite a bit newer! Even came in a *VERY LARGE* briefcase! It is dead as hell, but once I'm ready to start filming, I'll figure out why! I suspect an extremely dead Power Supply. It's got that signature "Video card that caught on fire at 5am and filled the bedroom with smoke" smell. (True Story) So far as I can tell, a 733mhz VIA, with a SINGLE PCI slot. I can't wait to dive in and make a mess of everything! 😁

You earned the thumbs up with the industrial joke, and you lost it when you brought shame to your inner Larry David by scratching the wood.

You are definitely crazy and it seems that we are a few to absolutely love it - totally normal computing as a result

You should buy a roll of 2" Kapton tape and just tape over those exposed contacts. Electrical tape works for rows of exposed pins, but it's a hassle for covering up more than just 1 row, which is where 2" rolls of Kapton come in really nice because you can just one-and-done the whole PCB. Highly worth it for preventing accidental shorts.

i'm full of cold and 'I'm questioning my life choices' did not let me stop laughing for 2 solid minutes, thank you.

I feel like the Macintosh idea would be the funniest, but I would love to see them all.

Ahhhhhhh 95 from floppies, I remember the joy of that. My CD-Rom hung off my soundcard back then and the installer was having none of that.

I had a P75 system as my first PC in 97 when I was 15. The PC made me back up 95's install files onto 28 (maybe 29?) floppies and for a few years that was how I did fresh installs. Just the process of Setup copying over the CAB file data took what must have been an hour, as opposed to a few minutes from a CD.

happy new year!!!! :3

All of the options sounds good

These industrial computers were in Pulp and Paper mills all over the world. As for what you should run on it, there was a nuclear plant simulator (DOS) and you should try and run that on it.

Brilliant video

Rittal is a cabinet/rack manufacturer- they are considered the best in the industry. You could build this into something else than the rittal cabinet door it’s currently bolted to

Ahh I remember setting my 13" display to something like 800x600 and ending up after a reboot with a postage stamp sized rendering, had to do a system restore :(

Back in my Arcade Days I had to bring an Allen-Bradly PLC to a location that had what was called Vertical Reality. The PLC is similar to what a Rollercoaster uses and was put into a Briefcase that was Handcuffed to me 😅

Potential future help for anything with one IDE, you can partition a drive into two with one partition containing the Windows Installer and one empty for the PC's drive. Unless my memory is failing, pretty sure I've installed Win 95/98 a couple times like that. Although then you miss out on the fun of installing via floppy!

I was about to say do the Power Mac G3 mod, but then you said “all” and I def think you should go with that!

I like the idea of cramming a mac in it. You can very likely use one of those early core duo macbooks (since they can run tiger and are pretty undesirable for most people since they max out at 10,6,8) and fit its screen into the membrane cutout. I would HIGHLY suggest that if you continue to mess around with this "totally normal computer" that you build it a box that it can mount in and put some felt feet on the sides to avoid damage to anything it touches.

That was great! Could a blindfolded speedrun be next? With that keyboard, not seeing what's happening wouldn't make the experience that much harder :)

I feel like this is the ideal computer for LAN parties. Also, I think it's perfect that you used one of those industrial disk on modules. It was a happy little accident that you killed that IDE to CF adapter. Also, I know you love your MACs, but I feel we need that sound card installed and DOOM. ;) Personally I think a Sleeper with modern components would be both ridiculous and awesome. I'm not sure how well it would play with that display though. Putting a MAC of some sort in there would be at the bottom of my list, but to be completely honest I kinda think all three options would be a lot of fun. A Mac might not like that display either though. Additionally, I know the membrane keyboard is fun because "shenanigans", but I wouldn't hate it if you plugged in a period correct mouse and keyboard into the front of the machine.

I love all the options, though I can’t wait to see it as a Mac!

I suspect we'd never be able to get the screen working with a Mac, but perhaps I just a doubting Thomas with no faith in your amazing abilities :)

Super Projekt ! Respekt

You are the most adorable tech masochist on RU-vid and perhaps the internet.

Oh the joys of installing an OS through floppy disks. I remember the 20 some odd discs it took to install Windows 3.11 for workgroups

That coffee table dramatization got you a subscription.

I scored an old (basically unused) industrial box like yours, luckily mine just has rack ears so it can sit on a table without any real issues. I'd add rubber feet, but that would stop me putting it back into my 19" rack. Mine has two front drive bays, a 3.5 floppy, and an unused 5.25" bay, probably intended to take a CD drive. I have a few plastic 5.25" removable IDE drive caddies, I probably should install one, as I did with another DOS machine I have, The removable case on that one has a IDE to CF adapter in it, making for really easy CF card access. If you can pick a few up, this makes for real quick swapping between a CF adapter and a real spinning platter HDD.

love the song of course we want it all because we love the shenanigans

great video!

Insane in the membrane!!!

Fun video, thanks for making it ^^. Regarding that behemoth; Mount it in your wall (like a safe) and put an actual safe behind it xD. Then you can install a security system like in Patric Stuarts "Safe House" movie hehe.

I have one of those hyperdisk industrial dom at 32Gbs. On my old retro computer I couldn't get the cf to ide card to work. So, I used the internal drive that came with the retro pc and found a new old stock external cf card reader to parallel port. Which makes it so I can copy files to my retro computer. I than couldn't get bios to see an SSD and got tired of using my original xbox hdd so I bought the dom. Best purchase ever it connected like normal and was instantly auto detected by the bios. I than cloned my old drive to the dom and found another tool to add the space back.

Regarding the video driver issues, try installing windows 95d lite, it comes preloaded with tons of drivers from the 90s to the early-mid 2000s and automatically installs them

I'd say keep it as a Windows PC, maybe upgrade to 98. See if you can find something to mount it in. Really shine that "diamond". I'm wondering if there's a way to fabricate a replacement to that membrane keyboard? Certainly there's someone who can do that.

I vote for option one because I want to see more of the innards.

The other video made me curious and just wowed we ever made it out of the 90’s.

Option 2 sounds awesome honestly.

I like all three options, but also consider building some sort of smart home control system as well! 🤪

Playing Wolfenstein 3D on that on-screen membrane keyboard is absolutely ridiculous. Thank you for sacrificing your hands and sanity for our entertainment

I like the idea of making that thing a DOS gaming rig, though I would also like to investigate the idea of building in some sort of amplified speaker for the sound card, or else trying to figuure out some sort of era appropriate panel mount speaker solution that may be expected in a factory environment.

My guess is that the short on the IDE port must have damaged something in that region. But these old boards sometimes have electrical problems with capacitors that don't discharge, have you ever heard of a hardman short? It consists of removing the motherboard, removing the CMOS battery, and resting it on an aluminum foil, which in turn, will be above something soft (like a cloth, or styrofoam plate), the board will have the contacts all shorted together (off of course), and this will cause the capacitors to completely discharge. It worked a few times for me.

I think you should do all of them, but you should definitely do the modern on first! That would be awesome.

Now that you've reused the same pretty-obscure KMFDM reference (Don't Blow Your Top is their best album, this is the hill I will die on), you clearly need to craft a Wax Trax! based win95 theme.

A good "middle of the road" gaming solution might be to put something like an lga1366, 1155, 1156, 775 or and am3 motherboard in there, that will give you the power to play modern games AND the legacy support for floppy drives, serial, parallel, PS2, pci, and even possibly isa with the right industrial motherboard, for all sorts of fun down the road and add ons for gaming and fun.

Never question...follow through :) ❤❤❤

Well, if nothing else. You could make the worlds most zen ASMR video by just making a video of the install without the sped up footage.. just live floppy installation of win95.. :D

Man. I love niche stuff like this.

I actually screamed when you dragged it across that table.

Somehow I expected the "whistling falling bomb with explosion at the end" sound effect when the Industrial Gaming PC™ was tipped on its face.

You may laugh, but in manufacturing we still use many of these type of machines. For work I have a dedicated laptop for each OS starting with win95 all the way to win10. That includes ME and Vista too! 5.25" floppys, SRAM, we still use em all.

In windows fashion, you need to hit apply or ok when changing settings. The mouse speed didn't increase.

Back in the day we'd probably plug the harddisk into another machine, format it bootable and copy the windows installer, drivers and software onto it and then put it back in the original machine. Or connect a special harddisk to the parallel port or possibly use laplink to transfer said files over a parallel cable. Even back then multi floppy installs were for masochists.

I am debating to recreate this system but with modern things. 3D Print the frame, use an old laptop LCD, Would say a raspberry pi but I got a Pineboard kicking around and some MX-Cherry switches instead of the membrane keyboard. Looks handy to control my CNC machine.

Dos powered system. Mounted to a wall, connected via serial to Arduino's connected to stepper motors which would raise or lower a more expensive modern display.

6:10 this was me the other day trying to install legacy nvidia HD drivers on my windows XP build FML took me 3 days

Great! You have more patience than me. I'd be lazy and mount the CF card in VirtualBox, make it bootable, and copy over the installer. Or use MS LAN Manager (ethernet) ... or a null modem cable to copy over installers!

You can connect two IDE devices to one connection on the board. Use a Cable Select style cable.

@Action Retro Bro, you could totally build the sickest, most badass sleeper ever out of this amazing unit :) But, with whatever choice you go with do try to find a new front panel if you can. Since this one is little bit cracked. It would look 100% breathtaking to feast my eyes on a fully functional refurbished or modernized sleeper such as this one :) I do really sincerely hope you will find all of the necessary components that will be absolutely most optimal for this unique and awesome computer. Best of luck and may God bless your soul and the souls of your loved ones abundantly and limitlessly for creating such amazing content! #Nerdgasm XD

I"m 10 minutes in and I've been repeating some variation of "this is horrible, why are you doing this" for at least 7 of those. I can't believe you put up with that membrane mouse, I don't think I've ever seen a worse input device.

could the ide have died when your adapter card fried? was it on the same bus? (haven't read all the comments so it might have been mentioned already) I'd love to see all three options! or how about any 8 bit micro like a commodore ? or won't they work on the lcd?

nice, i'd love one of those to play around with 😁