OED CD 1 goes to "Wing Ding" fonts after restarting XP VM

I have the original Oxford English Dictionary CD from 1992. It's 16- bit, so on 64-bit Windows I run it virtualized. On Windows 7, it works great in Windows XP Mode.

But now I've just installed it on 64-bit Windows 8.1 Pro Update 2. It works fine after I install it, but then after closing and restarting the VM, the dictionary definitions and word list appear to be in "Wing Ding" fonts and so unreadable.

If I just reinstall the OED, it's okay again. But that means reinstalling every time I start the VM. The only reason for that VM is to host that old OED, so it's looking like I'll have to reinstall it every time I use it.

Any idea what the problem might be and what I might be able to do about it?

The OED program requires the CD itself to be in the optical drive; it doesn't work with the dictionary data file copied to the hard drive. So I have an ISO of the original CD on my host computer, and the VM's DVD drive is pointed to that ISO.

Again, works great until I close and restart the VM; then I have to reinstall the OED again, and then it works great until the next time the VM is restarted.

Any suggestions?