Rewinding Time: A Journey to 1996

Recently, I stumbled upon a picture of a game I used to play as a kid around 1996. That single image sparked a nostalgia-fueled mission to revive those childhood memories.

IBM Aptiva Kid's Room

I’m talking about this interactive game where you could explore the entire scene and play mini-games like concentration, tic-tac-toe, slider puzzles, and more.

The catch? This game came pre-installed on specific IBM PCs back in the day and wasn’t easily accessible elsewhere.

The journey begins with installing 86Box, an app that emulates older machines/architectures, so here's a list of what I needed:

1. 86Box installed and configured with all rom set
2. An image of the IBM Aptiva recovery CD-ROM (in my case I wanted for the 2159S Series)
3. A bootable image of the Windows 98 SE OEM CD-ROM, to help us getting everything installed

With all pre-requisite programs downloaded/installed, follow these stpes:

• Open 86Box and configure the emulated PC:

-- MACHINE --
Machine Type: [1996] Socket 7 (Dual Voltage)
Machine: [i430TX] ASUS TX97
CPU type: Intel Pentium
Frequency: 200
Memory: 128 MB

-- DISPLAY --
[ISA16] Tseng Labs ET4000/w32
Check IBM 8514/A Graqphics

-- INPUT DEVICES --
Microsoft Bus Mouse (InPort)

-- SOUND --
[ISA16] Sound Blaster AWE32 PnP

-- NETWORK --
Adapter: [PCI] Realtek RTL8029AS

-- HARD DISK --
Create one with at least 2GB
Channel 0:0

-- FLOPPY & CD-ROM DRIVES --
Floppy: 3.5" 1.44M
CD-ROM: ATAPI (Channel 0:1)

• Load the Windows 98 SE image into the CD-ROM drive
• Turn on the machine
• When prompted to choose how you want to load the CD-ROM, choose to load with CD-ROM support (do not start the Windows 98 installation)
• At the command prompt, type:

fdisk

Follow the prompts (always choose option 1) to create a partition

• Restart the machine. Load with CD-ROM support again.
• Once back at the command prompt, type:

format C:

• Swap the Windows 98 SE image with the IBM Aptiva ISO image in the CD-ROM drive.
• At the command prompt, type:

D:
cd RECOVERY
cd US
dir /w

You should see files like APTIVA1.ZIP, APTIVA2.ZIP, etc.

• Extract the ZIP files to the hard drive: (C:\):

PKUNZIP.EXE -smagic -$ -d -JHSR -o D:\RECOVERY\US\APTIVA*.ZIP C:\

(This might take 10–15 minutes.)

• Remove the IBM Aptiva ISO image from the CD-ROM drive and restart the machine.

Reliving the Nostalgia

If everything went smoothly, you should see the Windows 95 logo! The machine will set up the devices/drivers, and eventually, you’ll reach the desktop.

Windows 95 Desktop

To start the game I mentioned in the beginning, just go to:

Start > Programs > 7th Level > Kid's Rom

And there you have it! Nostalgia unlocked 📺

Troubleshooting

• If you have issues opening the game due to the requirement of at least 256 colors:

Right click on the desktop > Properties > Settings:

- Color palette > 256 Color
- Desktop area > 800x600

• If you don't see the 256 color option, make sure you have selected the "Tseng Labs ET4000/w32" monitor in your machine configuration and the driver is installed:

Right click on the desktop > Properties > Settings > Advanced Properties > Change

Look for the driver of the monitor "Tseng Labs ET4000/W32" and install it