Ran 8.6 on a 6300 with 48 MB and RamDoubler.
But that was when chips were well over $100.
Much better to have physical RAM as Jennie quotes.
No, you can't install the system folder from one of those utility disks. If you try you will probably come up with either a message saying the system cannot be copied or you'll get a question mark on startup. You will need an install CD with 8.5 or 8.6 or another drive, disk with a valid system folder installed onto it. Many of those machines had zip drives and you can get an 8.6 folder on a zip.