Editing Windows 95 (section)

==System requirements==
Official system requirements were an [[Intel 386]]DX CPU of any speed, 4&nbsp;MB of system RAM and 50–55&nbsp;MB of hard disk space depending on features selected. These minimal claims were made in order to maximize the available market of Windows 3.1 migrations. This configuration would rely heavily on [[virtual memory]] and was only optimal for productive use on single-tasking dedicated workstations.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19950924/2143253/yes-win95-runs-on-minimum-system-requirements-but-its-a-slow-road-to-travel|title=Yes, Win95 Runs On Minimum System Requirements, But It's A Slow Road To Travel|date=September 24, 1995|newspaper=The Seattle Times|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190508231111/http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19950924&slug=2143253|archive-date=May 8, 2019|url-status=live|access-date=May 9, 2019}}</ref> It was possible to run Windows 95 on a 386 SX, but this led to even less acceptable performance due to its 16-bit external data bus. To achieve optimal performance, Microsoft recommended an [[i486]] or compatible CPU with at least 8&nbsp;MB of RAM.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://support.microsoft.com/kb/138349|title=Windows 95 Installation Requirements|date=December 17, 2000|website=Microsoft Support|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041019021615/http://support.microsoft.com/kb/138349|archive-date=October 19, 2004|access-date=May 9, 2019}}</ref>

Windows 95 may fail to boot on computers with a processor faster than 2.1&nbsp;GHz and more than approximately 480&nbsp;MB of memory.<ref name="KB253912">{{Cite web|url=http://support.microsoft.com/kb/253912|title="Out of Memory" Error Messages with Large Amounts of RAM Installed|date=September 28, 2004|website=Microsoft Help and Support|publisher=Microsoft|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041110055838/http://support.microsoft.com/kb/253912|archive-date=November 10, 2004|access-date=May 9, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://support.microsoft.com/kb/184447|title=Error Message: Insufficient Memory to Initialize Windows|date=December 17, 2000|website=Microsoft Help and Support|publisher=Microsoft|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041110055120/http://support.microsoft.com/kb/184447|archive-date=November 10, 2004|access-date=May 9, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20030814-00/?p=42903/|title=Windows 95 doesn't boot with more than 1GB of RAM|author-last=Chen|author-first=Raymond|author-link=Raymond Chen (Microsoft)|date=August 14, 2003|work=The Old New Thing|publisher=[[Microsoft]]|access-date=May 9, 2019|archive-date=January 10, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190110083143/https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20030814-00/?p=42903%2F|url-status=live}}</ref> In such a case, reducing the file cache size or the size of video memory can help.<ref name="KB253912" /> The theoretical maximum according to Microsoft is 2 GB.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://support.microsoft.com/kb/181594|title=Windows 95 Can Access Up to Two GB of RAM|date=November 15, 2006|website=Microsoft Support|publisher=Microsoft|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070520214253/http://support.microsoft.com/kb/181594|archive-date=May 20, 2007|access-date=May 9, 2019}}</ref>

Most copies of Windows 95 were on [[CD-ROM]], but a {{frac|3|1|2}}-inch floppy version was also available for older machines. The retail floppy disk version of Windows 95 came on 13 [[Distribution Media Format|DMF]] formatted floppy disks, while OSR2.1 doubled the floppy count to 26. Both versions exclude additional software that the CD-ROM version might have featured. [[Microsoft Plus!]] for Windows 95 was also available on floppy disks.