Windows 98 MAX Memory

[gonaads]

Originally posted by wingman411
Strange memory problem. I have 3 slots for memory. When I put just my two new 512 2700 MB cards in it (Winxp), won't boot. But when I put in my old 256MB 2100 card in and the 2 two 2700 521 cards, it (win xp), boots fine and shows 1.25GBmem. Why can't I just put in the two 512 2700 cards and make it work. Is there a bios setting I am missing.

I want to try just 1 GB to see if I can get win98 to work with just that. My processor is a amd 1600 + and my board says it can take the 2700 cards, but it should just run at 2100 if i read it right. I have the FSB set at 133 in the bios.

It depends on yer MoBo...

Check your mobo manual again and see what it's rated for (max of ?MB stick of RAM per slot and RAM speed). Exceeding the MoBo Manufacturer's recommendations is not recommended and can lead to problems.

 

[gonaads]

I found this on the MicroSquish Knowledge Base:


Computer May Reboot Continuously with More Than 1.5 GB of RAM
The information in this article applies to:

* Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition
* Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition
* Microsoft Windows 98

This article was previously published under Q304943

SYMPTOMS

If your computer has more than 1.5 gigabytes (GB) of memory (RAM), the computer may reboot continuously when you try to start Windows Millennium Edition (Me) or Windows 98.

Or, when you try to install Windows Me or Windows 98 with more than 1.5 GB of RAM installed, Setup may stop responding (hang) or reboot continuously.

CAUSE

Windows Me and Windows 98 are not designed to handle more than 1 GB of RAM. More than 1 GB can lead to potential system instability.

WORKAROUND

To work around this issue, add the following line to the [386enh] section of the System.ini file:

MaxPhysPage=40000
This limits the amount of physical RAM that Windows can access to 1 GB. To add this line, use the following steps:

1. Use any text editor (such as Notepad) to open the System.ini file in the Windows folder.
2. Add the following line in the [386Enh] section of the file:

MaxPhysPage=40000
3. Save the file, and then restart your computer.

For additional information about the MaxPhysPage entry, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

181862 Specifying Amount of RAM Available to Windows Using MaxPhysPage

STATUS

This behavior is by design.

MORE INFORMATION

For additional information about memory limitations in Windows Me and Windows 98, click the article numbers below to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

253912 "Out of Memory" Error Messages with Large Amounts of RAM Installed

184447 Error Message: Insufficient Memory to Initialize Windows

Note that decreasing the size of VCache as mentioned in Q253912 does not resolve this particular issue.

 

[wingman411]

My friend came over and set the bios settings and now I can just use the 2 2700 sticks and windows is also booting fine. I did change the sys.ini file from within xp to max of 512.

Anyway now windows 98 works. I shows ram as 1023, go figure. Thanks for everyones help.

 

[muzikool]

wingman411, I'm glad that you got it working. Apparently, many people have problems with this, so it's good to see a solution of some kind. Some people also seem to have no problem at all, but they just criticize the ones trying to help instead of giving help themselves. Anyway, I hope you continue to have good luck with that.

 

[RogerPhillis]

Yes the max is 512 Mb.
There is a sysedit adjustment to adjust the mem caching to tweak the system. to this amount.
You would first remove excess memory sticks