Welcome aboard, SBB! 😀

I haven't personally tried installing Win98SE on more than 1GB myself, but I've researched a bit before. There's more than one way to make it work. Have you read this thread on MSFN?

http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/118097-day-to … than-1-gib-ram/

Also consider this "unofficial SP3": www.htasoft.com/u98sesp/

128GB Video Card!? Bloody hell!! 😀

I couldn't even properly install Forceware drivers for an FX5900 Ultra under Windows 98SE with the setup I have below. I wanted to dual boot that and Windows 2000 Pro originally and could never get that setup working with 2GB of ram. I had it all set up to limit 98SE to 512MB of memory, but that didn't do anything in regards to stability. Never even bothered trying to run on only 512MB because I had another board I was going to dedicate to a 98SE installation anyway.

I've found a way to get it working with 2 GB of RAM + 256 MB VRAM (GeForce 6800 Ultra), but you won't like the fact that it costs $21.

Yes, it's that RAM limitation patch occasionally mentioned in MSFN, that thread included.

Some people have proposed other workarounds like creating a RAM disk that eats up a lot of memory prior to Win98SE booting up so that it only sees 512 MB, but I don't know how well that works in practice due to how sensitive programs of that period are to memory addressing.

Oh, and I tried the unofficial 98 SE SP3, and unfortunately, the "main fixes" option actually seems to break some games (and causes Aureal Vortex SB Pro emulation to BSoD the system if enabled). Thus, I don't truly use it, even if I do apply some of the other included fixes like the DST fix.

Why do you need more then 512 Mb RAM in 98/ME?
I always just use msconfig and set /maxmem=512.
Ans have 1 512 Mb DIMM, because this solution isn't working in the Win9x installing.

Gamecollector wrote:

Why do you need more then 512 Mb RAM in 98/ME?
I always just use msconfig and set /maxmem=512.
Ans have 1 512 Mb DIMM, because this solution isn't working in the Win9x installing.

It's not a matter of needing more than 512 MB of RAM.

It's a matter of getting Win9x to just run reliably without having to physically limit the system to 512 MB of RAM, which really hinders XP if you're going for that kind of a dual-boot setup. (XP ideally wants at least 2 GB of RAM to run smooth. 1 GB is passable, and 512 MB is the practical minimum.)

Needless to say, opening up the computer case and swapping out RAM all the time is highly inconvenient for a dual-boot system.

Install Win9x with 1 512 Mb DIMM and disabled Hyperthreading.
Run msconfig and set Boot.ini/Advanced Options/MAXMEM=512.
Restart.
Shut down and install full 2 Gb Ram.
The result - Win9x is booting properly and is using only 512 Mb from 2 Gb RAM.
Install WinXp.

/MAXMEM is the software limiter, not hardware. Unfortunately there is no easy way to apply this limiter at the Windows setup, only after.

Well, that's a tip I would've liked to know about earlier. Why do search engines not bring these things up when I'm trying to figure out ways around that pesky RAM limit?

because interest in win98 had dropped to very-very low by the time when ~768 MB - 1 GB RAM became standard. That was the summit of XP.
Only retro enthiusiasts are interested in the patches. Almost all serious/productive win9x applications also work on XP in a way or other.

I am a dedicated fan of Loew, he wrote the most reliable and useful patches for the ultimate win9x rig. If you mean business with win9x, this is the way to go. His free fixes can help a lot as well.

I've got 1GB in my 440BX system running Win98SE. Can't remember how I installed it, just that I googled the problem, found a solution and that have been stable since.

Had to limit to 768 for Win95 though.