Actually, Windows 98SE should work fine with anything up to 127GB afaik. The 32GB FAT32 limitation was put into place in XP to encourage people to use NTFS.

Also, 256MB should be fine for 98, but as for XP I wouldn't even bother with it on that system. If you really need to run an NT-based OS on there, run Windows 2000, as it's lighter on system resources. Theoretically if you upgraded it to 512MB Win98 should work fine, but I've had nothing but problems trying to run it on a system with 512MB. If you ponied up the money though, you could theoretically get 98 running with over 512MB using this patch. http://rloew.limewebs.com/Programs/Patchm01.htm

" The boot sector uses a 32-bit field for the sector count, limiting the FAT32 volume size to 2 TiB for a sector size of 512 bytes and 16 TiB for a sector size of 4,096 bytes."

32GB was a limit imposed by Microsoft when Windows 2000 came out it only applies to the Microsoft format command however. Already existing partitions and 3rd party tools can create larger FAT32 partitions. http://www.ridgecrop.demon.co.uk/index.htm?fat32format.htm

48bit LBA for larger than 127gb http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/78592-enable4 … -137gb-barrier/ (Probably not a good idea to use this....)

Also Wndows 9x doesn't require FAT32. It will work fine on FAT16.

For memory see:
http://rloew.limewebs.com/Programs/Patchm01.htm
http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/72297-wupg98-updated/
http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/145982-using- … -ram-update-fix
Win98SE and the limits of memory !

Not sure why you'd need so much memory for Windows 98 anyway. 640k errr 512mb is more than enough for 9x.

IIRC Windows 98 can use up to 512mb without having to modify vcache. Whenever I've installed it on a system with more memory than that then I would just limit the available memory with HimemX.

By my testing Windows XP needed at least 384mb to be usable for the usual desktop tasks (back before browsers required gobs of memory).

The Win98se Unofficial Service Pack solve most of the problems you speak of - memory etc. They are easy to track down. I use version 3, but 2.1 works too.

okay guys thanks a lot for the very helpful insight ! So the 32GB limit is only imposed by Microsoft (I was always wondering why there was never a FAT format option for partitions larger than 32 GB well I guess that explains it then). As for why I would need more memory, well since I installed both Win98SE and WinXP on the same harddrive and system I only experienced some drawback while browsing the internet in WinXp, with Win98SE I am fairly openminded and only use it to test some oldschool games or for nostalgia sake (for what its worth it gets the job done) 😁

I was just curious if Win98SE would run on more memory then the 512MB since the absolute memory limit of my motherboard would be 2GB (4x512MB) which is more than enough for WinXP I think even 1GB was okay for WinXp back in its times. Would it be a big problem for Win98 if I just install the 2GB of memory (can I lock away the 1.5GB of memory from the Win98 to trick it into believing that I only use 512MB if its so picky about the abundance of memory) because I believe WinXp would be fast enough with it !

Also tincup thanks a lot for pointing out the unofficial patch ^^ I wasn't even aware of that ! Truth is, I used Win98 very, very rarely back in its times when I was in school and never gave it much of a try, I am very used to XP and 7 thou (I dislike 8 so much) but now going back to Win98SE is kinda a fun experience for me seeing how things did run back then !

Also not quite sure what the best/optimal ram setup would be for 516MB 😒 4x128MB, 2x256MB or 1x516MB is there even a big difference in speed aside from the advantage that you can use more ram modules if you go for muliple 516MB ones ?

since the absolute memory limit of my motherboard would be 2GB (4x512MB)

I'm not sure where you got that idea... 2GB is not possible in that board. The P3B-F uses the 440BX chipset, which can take up to 1GB, in four 256MB low density sticks (the single sided 'high density' 256MB DIMMs will only be recognized as half their capacity).

You will run into problems with more than 512MB in Win98. There are workarounds, but before messing about with any of that, you may want to just try running 512MB in the system... as long as you're not doing anything particularly heavy (and honestly, you probably won't be, on a 700mhz PIII), then 512MB is often adequate for XP.

Ah okay thanks for clarifying this ! Well I didn't know that the BX chipset limits the Ram usage to 1GB I assumed that since the motherboard is equipped with 4 memory slots that the maximum amount would go up to 2GB if I use 4x512MB memory, 4x256MB is the maximum then ? Its actually not such a big deal since I only use XP to test some older programs and games same as with Win98 I just wanted to know the memory limits of the motherboard and the best memory usage for it !

Also what exactly do you mean with single sided and high density ? Is the BX chipset really that picky when it comes to memory ? Can I not just simply slam in a single Kingston 512SDram memory ?

One like this

Can I not just simply slam in a single Kingston 512SDram memory ?

You could, but it will only be recognized as 256MB.

Unfortunately the memory density thing is a bit complicated, but there's at least some rules-of-thumb you can use: All 512MB sticks are high density. 256MB sticks with chips only on one side (i.e., single sided) are high density. The BX chipset does not support those, and will only recognize half their capacity. The 256MB DIMMs with chips on both sides are usually low density and will be fully supported in the BX. All 128MB DIMMs are low density.

It's not that the BX picky, it's just old... when it was designed, there was no such thing as 'high density' memory.

that makes a lot of sense now, thank you a lot I wasn't even aware of low/high desnity or how the BX chipset behaves with memory itself (I guess thats one of the reasons why this board has 4 memory slots). So in this case it would be the best option to equip the P3B-F motherboard with either 2x256MB low desnity (double sided DIMMs) or 4x128MB DIMMs. Another thing that bugs me is does it matter if they are not all the same brand e.g. lets say 2 are infineon and 2 are Kingston since you mentioned that all 128MB DIMMs are low density ! There are also a lot of server SDRam DIMMS around (you know the ones that are a little bit larger than normal SDram DIMMs and have those two small buffer chips underneath the ram chips)

like this here

are they compatible with the BX chipset or even desktop motherboards or are they a big no-no ?

Unless the manual says, you probably won't know if registered memory will be recognized until you try it.

There is such a thing as low density 512MB modules. My laptop has some. I'm not really sure how you would find it, especially since memory was never advertised as being low or high density...sort of like adding a PCI card into a motherboard only to learn it's a PCI 3 card, the motherboard can only use PCI 2.2, and PCI has versions that aren't intercompatible.

In fact I rather suspect there's 1GB low density modules out there, but they would have been made at a time when 1GB was far beyond what the average system used, and therefore cost hundreds up to a couple thousand dollars. They would therefore be, in addition to being a bitch to find, very rare, and probably very expensive if the seller is selling based on the original purchase price.

Win 98 is apparently limited to 1GB in any case. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/304943
I don't think, short of memory leaks, there's any particular reason for you to have 1GB, but that's the golden standard.

I'm running 4x256 in my 440BX system. No problems here. Tbh I had no idea until reading this thread about high/low density. I just bought some very cheap PC133 CL2 memorysticks from Ebay and it worked.

are they compatible with the BX chipset or even desktop motherboards or are they a big no-no ?

There's a pretty good chance that it'll work... not a guarantee, mind you, but most BX boards do seem to handle registered memory just fine, whether they officially support it or not.

But regular unbuffered 256MB DIMMs are cheap these days... at least as cheap as the registered ones, if not more so simply due to the fact that they're more common. So unless you already have some on hand, I see no reason to bother with registered memory.

And 4x128 would be just fine too. There's no problem with mixing brands, or mixing PC100 with PC133, or different CAS latencies, or whatever. Pretty much, as long as it's normal SDRAM capable of running at 100mhz, the BX really doesn't give a fuck about the specifics. The only times you'll run into issues are if you try to mix ECC with non-ECC, or registered with unbuffered.

Old Trashbarg you were right ! I tested 2x256MB of high density (one sided) Class2 Infineon Ram with my Asus P3B-F motherboard and instead of 512MB total memory it only shows 256MB of memory in both WinXP and Win98, this means that unleast the memory isn't low density (16 chips in total, 8 on one side and 8 on the other side = double sided) that the BX chipset will indeed only recognize half of the memory ! I installed the 2x256MB Infineons in a another SD Ram system and it showed up as 512MB !

Here are the DIMMs I used !

Those are high density Class 2 Infineon 256MB Dimms, notice how they have 8 chips on the front-side ! Low density double sided 256MB DIMMs have 16 chips in total ! (8 on the front side and 8 at the backside) Thats how you can recognize low density double sided DIMMs easily !

so I would highly recommend that you go for double sided low density memory if you want to buy a 256MB DIMM and use it with P3B-F motherboard otherwise the capacity of a single sided high density DIMM will be cut in half ! There are no problems with the 128MB DIMMs as they all work I tested this as well ^^ low or high density doesnt matter or last but not least you can go with 4 high density 512MB DIMMs those will be cut in half but you will still get 1GB of memory I assume (I didnt test this because I dont have 4x512MB DIMMs right now but I will get them and post the result)

I tried using a 512MB DIMM in a 440BX motherboard once, and it wouldn't boot at all.

There seems to be a lot of weird controversy as to how far the RAM limitations of Windows 98 can be pushed. I work around the problem by using HIMEMX in the config.sys. See also >512MB with Windows 98... .

i ran into a win98se bug when using more than 512Mb of ram and Voodoo2's in SLI..

come to find out it is an issue with teh File cache in win98se..

you can read about the fix here

http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview/id/333688.html

incase the link goes dead

the short is you have to limit the systems filecache..

To warn Windows that you have more than 512MB of memory installed, add
the following line to the [VCache] section of your win.ini file:
MaxFileCache = 524288.

After doing that on my Win98SE box i'm runnign great with 1Gb of memory, no reason this shouldn't work with 2.

If you're lazy the patches/hot fixes/performance tweaks in the Unofficial SP's accomplish this too. I used to hand tweak cache settings etc., but more recently as I've gotten back into the W9x thing, found that the necessary adjustments are included in the SP.

Though it's not apples-to-apples I'm running 1gb ram with W98se: [2x] 512mb PC2700/DDR333/CL2/3-7-7 on a ASUS/Sony P4s533-VL: 533fsb with a P4/3.066ghz cpu. Obviously *NOT* a 440BX of course, but at least W98se can be cajoled into 'playing nice'.

Doesn't one of the patches or fixes included with 98SE2ME also fix the over 512mb memory issue?

I installed doublesided 256MB DIMMs and indeed the BX chipset says its 256MB unlike the one sided high density 256MB Infineons where the BX chipset only detected 128MB. I installed the unofficial SP3.25 for Win98SE and its terrific !! It even turns the interface to look like the WinME one, here is a link for people who like and want to test it !

http://www.htasoft.com/u98sesp/

even thou I encountered some errors with the instalation it did to install just fine on a fresh Win98SE installation, I didnt test it with more ram thou but so far with dual sided 2x256MB DIMMs it runs fine and even the games like Resident Evil, Dino Crisis and Metal Gear Solid run great on Win98 !

Cool. Thanks for the link

no problem, you are welcome, also try out the 2.1 unoffcial SP if you have trouble with the 3.25 (but should work smooth even if you get 2-3 errors when you install it, ignore them).