Have you looked at the MGDX site for 98/98SE patches just for this yet ?

http://www.mdgx.com/web.htm#98SE

I patched both 98SE and ME to run on a machine with 1GB of RAM.

I'm running 1024MB on my 440BX system with Win98SE and Win95 (limited to 768MB through settings), no problems whatsoever.

Why someone need more then 512 Mb RAM in Win9x?
For me - Windows ME is rebooting at the msmouse.vxd loading with >512 Mb RAM.

Gamecollector wrote:

Why someone need more then 512 Mb RAM in Win9x?

To dual boot with Windows XP/Windows 2000?

vetz wrote:

Gamecollector wrote:

Why someone need more then 512 Mb RAM in Win9x?

To dual boot with Windows XP/Windows 2000?

1) Install Win9x with 512 MB RAM.
2) Run msconfig.exe and set /maxmem=512 parameter.
3) Install any amount of the RAM, Win9x will see only 512 Mb.
4) Profit...

Gamecollector wrote:

1) Install Win9x with 512 MB RAM. 2) Run msconfig.exe and set /maxmem=512 parameter. 3) Install any amount of the RAM, Win9x wil […]
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1) Install Win9x with 512 MB RAM.
2) Run msconfig.exe and set /maxmem=512 parameter.
3) Install any amount of the RAM, Win9x will see only 512 Mb.
4) Profit...

I'm sure this is good for people who experience issues, but for us where everything works, I don't see any reason to limit Win98 to not run with the installed memory in the computer.

Just install the unofficial SP3, works with 2GB. Or Virtual Machine.

By the way, the msconfig with /maxmem is just editing the MaxPhysPage value in [386enh] section of system.ini. So - just set this value to 1FFFF (512 MB). This method is working even with the Win9x installation process. Now I don't need to remove DIMMs if I want to reinstall WinME...

Gamecollector wrote:

By the way, the msconfig with /maxmem is just editing the MaxPhysPage value in [386enh] section of system.ini. So - just set this value to 1FFFF (512 MB). This method is working even with the Win9x installation process. Now I don't need to remove DIMMs if I want to reinstall WinME...

The unofficial service pack (as early as v1.2 ) already includes the memory fix, so i'm thinking maybe my motherboard or even the Powerleap adapter isn't playing nice with the RAM maxed out? I'm now running 512MB with no issues at all... It would mainly crash when copying large files (especially from USB sticks) when i had more than 512MB RAM.

Stojke wrote:

Just install the unofficial SP3, works with 2GB. Or Virtual Machine.

Can it be installed over the older Service Pack 2.1a? Or do i need to do a clean install of Windows 98se again?

I like this thread on the subject

http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/145982-using- … ram-update-fix/

Look for posts by someone named 'gosh' who claims to be a former tech support rep for MS and how his comments are responded to by the community. His comments are basically of the "Windows 98 sucks so you should upgrade to XP" type and he gets smacked down for his lack of knowledge of the current (unofficial) state of Windows 98 before the mods step in to diffuse the situation before it explodes into a 9x vs NT flame war.

sliderider wrote:

I like this thread on the subject

http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/145982-using- … ram-update-fix/

Look for posts by someone named 'gosh' who claims to be a former tech support rep for MS and how his comments are responded to by the community. His comments are basically of the "Windows 98 sucks so you should upgrade to XP" type and he gets smacked down for his lack of knowledge of the current (unofficial) state of Windows 98 before the mods step in to diffuse the situation before it explodes into a 9x vs NT flame war.

The thread would have been better off without his posts... I don't want XP on this machine (ever!). I also don't fancy spending $20 on a "Ram Limitation Patch" by R. Loew 😒.

I'm thinking maybe i should just do a fresh install of Win98 again and then install the latest/LAST unofficial service pack 3-b4. I can install Windows 98se fine with all 768mb RAM installed.

It is annoying that there is these ram limitation issues with 9x, even dos back in the early days could have addressed up to 2GB provided it was "contentious".

To make W98SE run OK with 768MB of RAM, just add this line to system.ini , below [VCache] :

[VCache]
MaxFileCache=262144

Then add this line to system.cb (for safe mode):

[VCache]
MaxFileCache=65536

TELVM wrote:

To make W98SE run OK with 768MB of RAM, just add this line to system.ini , below [VCache] : […]
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To make W98SE run OK with 768MB of RAM, just add this line to system.ini , below [VCache] :

[VCache]
MaxFileCache=262144

Then add this line to system.cb (for safe mode):

[VCache]
MaxFileCache=65536

Thanks, but the unofficial service packs do this automatically. It seems people have different results depending on the figures used and hardware setup. I also read somewhere that the amount of VRAM and even certain Ethernet drivers can affect the overall RAM limit too (all about available memory address space afaik).

I use HIMEMX in the config.sys on my machine to restrict the available memory, and it works excellently. (I have also read that HIMEMX may also be necessary if you want to use certain nVidia drivers with Windows 98, simply because HIMEMX is just that much more awesome.)

The only catch with HIMEMX is that when you try to launch Windows 98 in safe mode, it will still try to use HIMEM instead and the system may hang. There was some talk over at MSFN about editing IO.SYS (I think) to change the relevant reference to load HIMEMX instead, or you can just rename the old HIMEM and replace it with HIMEMX directly.

I think i've discovered the problem, and it appears to be CPU related! My motherboard/Powerleap combo doesn't like the A1 stepping Celeron (random crashes), but it appears to work fine with a B1 stepping Celeron. I find this quite odd.

Both A1 and B1 stepping Celerons are in perfect working order as a friend and i tested them thoroughly with other systems (with and without the Powerleap adapter, of which i have 2). I can only guess it's down to the SE440BX2 bios. It's all working fine so far using a B1 stepping Celeron (SL6C6). I'll just sell my other Celeron chip along with my spare Powerleap adapter (all fully working) seeing as i won't be using it.

Stojke wrote:

Just install the unofficial SP3, works with 2GB. Or Virtual Machine.

Mhm, its true that I havent played with Win98 in a while, but I remember applying every single patch I could find including all possible solutions listed here already and I never got Win98 to wake up with 3GB RAM. I dont remember if I tried with 2GB though 😒

Well, maybe some day I'll try again when I get bored enough.

I never got more than 1gb working. But I rarely try more than 512mb anyway. I usually setup a machine with 256-512mb and run stock 98se.

I've only once tried a machine with 2gb actually. My Asrock 775i65g with Core 2. I ended up installing with 512mb and then using the MaxPhysPage setting to restrict it to 1gb.

With more than 512mb you also need the Vcache tweaks too AFAIK. Otherwise Vcache will eventually use too much RAM. As others have said already.

vetz wrote:

I'm running 1024MB on my 440BX system with Win98SE and Win95 (limited to 768MB through settings), no problems whatsoever.

Really? I thought 440bx was limited to 3x256mb? The i440bx RAM FAQ says:

"No 512MB module will work in a board with the bx chipset, regardless what a vendor might tell you on the website."