Windows 95 setup guide for the 2020s
patcher9x - all-in-one patch for numerous issues that prevent 9x from being used on newer computers, including in VMs. Note that as of 0.9.91, you have to use patch9x -unselect mem on Win95 RTM ~ OSR 2.1, because using the memory patch would cause it to stay on the boot screen forever.
About OSRs: OSR1 is said to be identical to RTM + SP1. I have yet to test this. OSR2 upgrades MS-DOS to 7.1 from 7.0, adds support for FAT32 and LBA in DOS, and comes with IE3 and Personal Web Server. OSR2.1's installer is identical to OSR2's, but the installation media comes with a separate installer (USBSUPP.EXE) that adds USB support, installing which would update a OSR2 system to OSR2.1. OSR2.5 is said to be identical to OSR2.1 + IE4 + USBSUPP, but actually, AWFXCG32.DLL and VMM32.VXD are the only files that are changed. These files are not in USBSUPP (maybe USB support is built into existing system files?), and you don't have to install IE4. According to BetaWiki: "on systems that are not compatible with IE 4, such as PCs with a 386 processor (IE4 requires at least a 486 processor), Internet Explorer 2 as seen in OSR 1 or Internet Explorer 3 as seen in OSR 2 and OSR 2.1 is installed instead." According to LoneCrusader, "95C contains a modified WELCOME.EXE in the \WIN95 folder that is used to launch the installation of IE4". If the installation wizard launched, you can simply shut down the computer without clicking next to forcefully kill it, and it will not launch again on the next boot.