Windows 3.0 was available in both Retail and OEM editions, except for Windows 3.0a with Multimedia Extensions which was available only through OEMs.

OEM editions may include and default to different drivers in SETUP for things like video and sound.

There are already some guides to installing Windows 3.0 in DOSBox, and those guides will also work with DOSBox-X. Some examples:

This guide does not look to replicate those guides. Instead, this guide will have some install guidance and hints and tips not covered on those pages, or that are specific to DOSBox-X. It is not intended to be a comprehensive guide.

Also called Windows 3.0 Multimedia Edition

There are several ways to extract the contents of disk images, such as 7zip on Windows or "Disk Image Mounter" on Linux. In this example, DOSBox-X itself is used to mount a disk image, copy its contents into a folder, unmount the disk image and do the next.

Your new INSTALL directory now holds the contents of all 5 disks in this example.

If you have a "Windows 3.0a Multimedia Edition" CD-ROM image, you can simply mount it in DOSBox-X, and run the SETUP program. e.g.,

The installer is normally found on the CD as \MWIN\SETUP.EXE.

Starting with DOSBox-X 2022.08.0, there is optional support to dynamically convert a host folder mount to an emulated FAT harddisk for use when you need to boot a guest OS, such as MS-DOS. This can be accomplished in one of two ways. Either when you issue the boot command, you add the option -convertfat. e.g. boot c: -convertfat.

Or by setting the following option in your DOSBox-X config file:

When you now boot from a real image file, it will attempt to convert ALL folder mounts at the time of booting to emulated FAT Harddisks.

One thing to note, is that there is no way to specify the FAT type to use for the conversion. The FAT type will be automatically selected based on the aggregate size of files in the folder, plus 250MiB (this can be adjusted with the convert fat free space option in the DOSBox-X config file). If the total space of files + 250MiB does not exceed 2GiB, it will convert it into a FAT16 disk. Otherwise, it will become a FAT32, which in turn will require a guest OS with FAT32 support.

Alternatively, you can also make the emulated FAT drive read-only by using the -convertfatro option with the boot command. Or by setting convert fat free space=0 option in the DOSBox-X config file.

The first step is to create a DOS HDD image, for which you can follow the PC DOS and MS-DOS Installation Guide. You need at least DOS 3.1 for Windows 3.0. However, it is recommended to use a newer version such as DOS 6.x

Once you have a DOS HDD image, temporarily mount it in DOSBox-X to transfer your INSTALL folder into your DOS HDD image, together with any drivers and add-ons you might need (preferably already unzipped, such that you don’t need to do that in DOS or Windows 3.0, as they lack support for that by default).

Something like:

Adjust paths in the above example as needed.

Now edit your win30.conf config file and in the [autoexec] section at the end, add the following lines:

Now start DOSBox-X with your win30.conf config file from the command-line:

It should boot to the C: prompt, and you can start the installation process.

After the installation is finished, you can install your drivers and add-ons.

DOSBox-X also supports the VMware mouse protocol. There is a 4rd party Windows 3.0 mouse driver VBMOUSE.DRV by @javispedro, including support for the scroll wheel.

If you are running Windows 3.0 directly in the DOSBox-X integrated DOS environment, do not load the VBMOUSE.EXE driver. Only install the VBMOUSE.DRV in Windows 3.0.

For scroll wheel support, you will also have to set the following setting in your DOSBox-X config file:

By default, the SBPro Windows drivers will emulate MIDI playback using the dual OPL2 chips.

However, DOSBox-X has built-in support for General MIDI emulation (which is normally enabled by default), and which sounds much better.

To set it up, in Windows 3.0 Multimedia Edition, go to "Control Panel" and open "MIDI Mapper".

In the "MIDI Mapper" dialogue box click on the "New…​" button. You will be asked for a name and description. You can name it anything you like, for instance "SBPro Ext MIDI", and click the "OK" button. You do not have to enter anything for the Description.

You will then get a "MIDI Setup" window. The only thing you want to change here is the "Port Name" to "SB MIDI Out" for all 16 lines. You may also notice that for each line the active checkbox gets checked, this is correct. Once finished click the "OK" button and confirm the save.

You should now be able to open the Windows 3.0 Media Player and playback something like C:\MWINDOWS\MMDATA\CANYON.MID.

For the best print quality, you will want to print to a PostScript printer in Windows 3.0.

First, set up your DOSBox-X config to print to a file as such:

Next in Windows 3.0, select any PostScript printer such as the "QMS ColorScript 100", during printer setup connected to LPT1.

When you print, a .prt file in your captures= directory will be created, which despite the extension, is actually a PostScript file.

On Linux and macOS, PostScript files are natively supported and can be viewed and printed. On a Windows host, it is necessary to install a separate PostScript viewer such as GSview.

As an alternative, you can use the integrated Epson printer emulation, but the output quality will be significantly less compared to PostScript.

First, set up your DOSBox-X config to emulate an Epson printer as such:

Next in Windows 3.0, select the "Epson LQ-850/950/1050" option, connected to LPT1.

When you print, a PostScript file with the .ps extension will be created in your current working directory. The emulated Epson printer settings can be adjusted as documented on the above linked wiki printing guide.