> If the amount of available memory in DOS is too little, how can I increase this?

As it says on the box: Free = Total - Used. Total = 640, used = 167, free = 473 KB. So you need to (re)move some of the stuff that is using up memory. But it is a major art to optimize DOS memory. I am afraid you need to do some serious googling to learn about it.

Bleh...Windows 9x..

Go to a command prompt in Windows and type: "Mem /C > file.txt"

Then post the contents of file.txt to this board.

Also post the contents of your c:\autoexec.bat and c:\config.sys files.

So you need to (re)move some of the stuff that is using up memory.

I'm afraid I know too little of computers to know which programs are using up DOS memory. But as I said before, I even tried formatting my comp and installing only Windows and the drivers, and even then did it not work. I'm lost on this point.

Go to a command prompt in Windows and type: "Mem /C > file.txt"

Well, that didn't work for me, but I used the search funtion of the comp and did come up with a file.txt file. I suppose that's the one you need to see?

Either way, I have uploaded the content of all three files and will put the link to it here, rather than put the entire content here and have one huge post. I reckoned that'd be better.

File.txt: http://hagen.let.rug.nl/~s1395270/stuff/file.txt
autoexec.bat: http://hagen.let.rug.nl/~s1395270/stuff/autoexec.txt
config.sys: http://hagen.let.rug.nl/~s1395270/stuff/config.txt

But eh, the file.txt is in Dutch, though. I hope you can make something out of it or I'll be happy to translate words. :s

Try this:

1Device=%systemroot%\system32\HiMem.Sys /TestMem:Off
2DOS=HIGH
3DOS=UMB
4
5; Buffers=80
6; Files=240
7
8Buffers=20
9Files=60
10
11Country=031,850,C:\Windows\Command\Country.Sys
12DeviceHigh=C:\Windows\Command\Display.Sys CON=(EGA,,1)
13
14DeviceHigh=C:\Samsung\SSCDROM.Sys /D:SSCD000 /V

1C:\PROGRA~1\GRISOFT\AVGFRE~1\BOOTUP.EXE
2
3mode CON Codepage prepare=((850) C:\Windows\Command\EGA.CPI)
4mode CON Codepage select=850
5
6LoadHigh C:\Samsung\MSCDEx /D:SSCD000
7
8set tvdumpflags=10
9
10PATH=%PATH%;C:\SSHSEC~1

It took me a while to get back, but I haven't been near my own computer for the last few days. I tried the suggestion made, but it wasn't much help for (at least) Pinball Fantasies.

When I tried to launch Pinball Fantasies - I have to do so from MS DOS - I get the following error:

"Pinball Fantasies requires at least 555 kbutes (568000) free base memory or 520 kbytes (530000) for 'Gravis Ultrasound' or 'nosound' drivers. Please look in Your manual how to free up DOS memory!"

The setsound.exe I had run previously had detected a Soundblaster 16 card on my PC, by the by.

At least check 'mem /c' output and see how much free conventional memory you have now.

1Device=%systemroot%\system32\HiMem.Sys /TestMem:Off
2DOS=HIGH,UMB
3Buffers=20
4Files=60
5DeviceHigh=C:\Samsung\SSCDROM.Sys /D:SSCD000 /V

1LH C:\Samsung\MSCDEx /D:SSCD000

/\ For CD-ROM games

1Device=%systemroot%\system32\HiMem.Sys /TestMem:Off
2DOS=HIGH,UMB
3Buffers=20
4Files=60

/\ Major Optimizations

I suggest putting those onto a bootdisk as it requires removal of your AV and other programs.

I suggest putting those onto a bootdisk as it requires removal of your AV and other programs.

Well, I always save a copy onto my disk before I make modifications to any of the important files, but what do you mean it removes my AV? AVG, that's my virus scanner; do you mean to say I should get rid of it? But I don't have an alternative for that, at least not one that's free to use.

And what other programs would be removed along with it, then?

Edit: oh, and my free DOS memory has increased from 473k to 515k. Not yet enough, unfortunately, but it's already more than at first. :)

avast! Antivirus has a free version available for home and non-commercial use. It is much preferable to AVG. If you continue to use AVG, the boot-time scanner MUST be disabled in order to free memory.

That said, what is THIS?

device=%systemroot%\system32\himem.sys

HIMEM.SYS exists in C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM on Win9x systems, and the %systemroot% variable does not exist. What exactly are you running??

Hm, Avast looks good. I'll go replace AVG with this one then, and see what that does. I'm about to hit the hay, though, so I can't test it until tomorrow.

That line I got from my boyfriend, among a few others; he dictated those lines to me and told me to add them, because they had helped the computers at his office to run much more smoothly. However, those are not even a year old, and have far more memory/disk space/whatever and run XP. Ahem.

But if it's wrong for my computer, what should I make of it? I really have no knowledge of this, sorry.

heh. I don't think he knows what he's talking about, since CONFIG.NT only affects NTVDM and CONFIG.SYS is just merged into CONFIG.NT because XP does not run on top of DOS. Phantom improvements.

It should be DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\HIMEM.SYS

That should allow things to load into high memory instead of conventional memory.

Okay, I have no idea what NTVDM is, or that there's even a config.nt apart from config.sys, but I'm going to change it straight away. And make sure my boyfriend gets to hear about this, heh.

Will let you know about any change tomorrow. :)

Edit: do I need to keep the /Testmem:off part, or does that have to go as well?

/TestMem:Off just disables the memory consistency check for upper memory. It doesn't matter either way.

It's the emm386.exe that needs to be loaded to enable upper memory. Add:

device=c:\windows\emm386.exe RAM

(the emm386.exe might be in some other location...)

right after the himem.sys line. If the game does not need EMS memory replace RAM switch with NOEMS and you will get even more upper memory. Then replace every other device= with devicehigh= and add LH before any line that loads drivers in autoexec.bat. Also dos=high,umb in config.sys loads dos itself in the high memory, this should clear another 50KB or so...
edit: the avg thinggy is just startup scan that scans important files before booting windows. It's not necessary to run it and still have protection in windows....but I also think it's not a tsr program so it doesn't really matter if it loads or not - it will just scan the files then quit without using memory.

Well, I haven't used AVG with Windows 9x but if it loads before Windows boots then it is important. It's a virus scanner after all and that's it function. If you disable it before Windows boots then that allows for a virus to mess with your system so if you plan on playing DOS games regularly then it's recommend edthat you use a bootdisk or a condition whereas you can disable AVG temporarily without affecting your normal boot.

@gulikoza: I agree with your advice about EMM386, but I wanted to concentrate on freeing up conventional memory first.

@MissMix: Implement whatever changes you feel like, then post the resulting CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT.

Looks like you've got most of the problem solved.

I wanted to mention that I have a dedicated PC that boots DOS (version 6.22) from a floppy disk. I got the image for the disk from bootdisk.com, and edited the config.sys and autoexec.bat files slightly. I installed a copy of Win98 on that computer, but I found that the MS-DOS mode that Windows 98 boots into loads some unnecessary drivers (they may have been for the purpose of accessing one FAT32 partition that was on the drive). All my DOS games were on a FAT16 partition, so all I needed was a simple temporary DOS installation with expanded memory support and a few commands (mem.exe, format.com, xcopy.exe, and mscdex.exe).

I had an old laptop computer (newer than the dedicated desktop) which I hoped to use for DOS applications and legacy games, since it took up less space on my desk, but due to a hardware problem with that specific laptop (it could not provide the normal 64 KB of Exp. memory emulation), I had to try something else for programs that required EMM. I tried DosBox, and I got the programs running, but occasionally, my computer would completely crash (OS and all, even in Linux). I got worried about possibly exacerbating minor damage to my computer's video card, since sometimes, when I tried to reboot after the crash, I could not get past the POST. Since it's a laptop, I can't simply go to newegg.com and order a new vid. card for it.

Anyway, I'm sorry for rambling on about the extra complications I ran into. I just wanted to mention bootdisk.com.

Also, the edits that snover and gulikoza mentioned are definitely correct for that version of DOS.

You don't need the bootscan option that avg put in your autoexec.bat file (it's the first line: ...bootup.exe). Your antivirus will load when the Windows GUI loads. Removing the bootscan option from your autoexec.bat file will help to load the GUI a little quicker, but it won't have any effect on memory usage.

You shouldn't be at any risk after removing the bootscan option as long as you aren't trying to connect to the internet in DOS. I'd like to mention, though, that the major security risk you run is using Windows 98. Microsoft isn't far from dropping support for 98, and the newer operating systems are many times more secure. If you might happen to come across a (legitimate) upgrade version of Win2000, it might be worth it to upgrade. However, there are several distros of Linux that offer the same or more functionality and plenty of extra security. Your computer specs are definitely satisfactory for Linux and Win2000, but XP would not be a good idea, in my opinion.

Also, I doubt that your vid card is integrated into the chipset. It is probably a separate card plugged into the motherboard's AGP slot, judging from the other components of your system. Even if it is part of the chipset, it should still be enough for DosBox.