# JHRobotics/patcher9x

Patch for Windows 9x to fix CPU issues

Repository: https://github.com/JHRobotics/patcher9x
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/patcher9x
Language: C
License: MIT
License Family: permissive
Topics: patch, virtual-machine, windows-98, windows-me, windows-95
Last push: 2026-05-03T13:11:19+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 74/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 80, release rhythm 50, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 1567, "days_push": 122, "days_rel": 254, "gap_med": 36.5, "n_releases_24m": 3}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1211, forks 58 (observed 2026-08-28T04:04:00.054215+00:00)

## What it is
A command-line utility that patches Windows 3.11/95/98/98 SE/Me installations to fix CPU-related bugs that prevent them from running on modern hardware or in virtual machines. It can be booted from a floppy disk to patch an installed system or to patch installation media before setup.

## Use cases
- run Windows 98 in a VM on modern AMD Ryzen or Intel 11th gen+ CPUs
- fix the TLB invalidation bug in Windows 9x
- install Windows 95/98 on CPUs faster than 2 GHz
- allow Windows 9x to use more than 512 MB of RAM
- create patched Windows 9x installation media
- boot a patch from a floppy disk to fix an existing Windows 98 install

## When to choose
- you need to run Windows 9x in a virtual machine on modern hardware
- you want to install Windows 95/98 on a fast CPU or with lots of RAM
- you need to patch an existing Windows 9x installation from a bootable floppy

## When to avoid
- you are running Windows NT/2000/XP or newer
- you need a GUI tool rather than a command-line patcher
- you are working with non-Windows 9x legacy operating systems

## Facets
- artifact type: cli-tool
- maturity: active
- function: developer-tools
- domain: operating-systems
- platform: windows, cli
- tags: windows-9x, windows-98, windows-95, windows-me, cpu-patch, virtual-machine, retro-computing, boot-floppy, system-patching, patcher, virtualization, linux, macos

## Member repositories
- JHRobotics/patcher9x (main) score 74

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:00.054215+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T06:18:02.305394+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/JHRobotics/patcher9x (fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:00.054215+00:00, sha 582424ac86af)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.