ram restrictions on OS's?

[spidey_joe80@hotmail.com]

i heard that some OS's have ram resrictions is this true? If it is what are they for lets say win98 and win2k and ME?

[pbharris]

in linux if you want to enable more than 1.5 G of ram you need to let the kernel knwo about it.

[spidey_joe80@hotmail.com]

i dont know anything about that and im too stupid to use linux il stick to windows thank you very much http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

[Hellmund]

They're not that restrictive, Win98 and Win95 can't handle more than 512mb Ram. There also very ineffecient with more than 128mb or 256mb I think, hopefully someone else will post with the exact amount.

[spidey_joe80@hotmail.com]

thanks hellmund thats what i hoping. new motherboards suppport multiple gigs or ram but whats the point if win98 can only use 512
i hope someone can tell me how to disable? this feature orrecommend a os that can support at least 768 mb maybe win2k.

[Dputiger]

Win98SE will 'support' more than 512 meg of RAM in the sense that the OS will run. It simply won't use it quite as efficiently as it could. On the other hand, you've got so much RAM there that it hardly matters.

Let me put it this way:

If you are doing ANY applications which truly require that much RAM to run, then you should be using Win 2K to begin with.

[spidey_joe80@hotmail.com]

sorry to mislead i wish i had 768mb
I meant that when i get a new motherboard it will have 3 dimms of ddr it is more expensive than the 2 dimm models so i want to make sure that I use an os that will be able to use all of the ram i would put in thr dimms. Otherwise it would be stupid to pay for the extra dimm when my os would only support 512. i would eventually fill it up with 3x 256mb chips. does win2k accomodate more than 512mb?

[DemonKnight]

Win2K will take up to 4 gigs of RAM. (I'm using 96megs with Win2k Getting ready to order another 128 in about 5 minutes though)

[Warthog]

Win98 sucks when it comes to RAM usage.

I had 128mb PC133 in Win98. I bought a 256mb stick for a total of 384mb......NO DIFFERENCE.

I really want Win2k and will probably get it now....I've been thinking about it.

Heck, Win98 SUCKS PERIOD. It freezes, sucks, and freezes some more.

Warthog

[Bsdboy]

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q253/9/12.ASP?LN=EN-US&SD=gn&FR=0

Bsdboy

[Dputiger]

Warthog,

I have no clue what version of Win98 YOUR running. In the course of today (without a single reboot) I have done the following:

Run Folding@Home (an intensive math program)
Launched and played Black and White for two hours, ALt-Tabbing back to the desktop frequently.
Run multiple instances of Microsoft Excel and played Diablo II simultaneously
Played Team Fortress Classic
Launched Internet Explorer more times than I can remember and done various webpage surfing
Done some photo editing in Photoshop.

That's a pretty intense load--especially for a little Win98SE machine with only 128 meg of RAM.

No lockups, crashes, or issues.

[Warthog]

Yeah, I don't know what the deal is.

Last reformat was in early Feb. I don't believe I need to do another one. Every time the comp screws up and I need to manually restart it, I ALWAYS let it do scandisk.

Should I defrag?

Anyhew, regardless, I am getting Win2k soon.

Actually, what was funny was I was trying to get to Buy.com to search for Win2k....TWICE it wouldn't let me in! It froze that specific IE window...evil computer...

Warthog

[This message has been edited by Warthog (edited 06-03-2001).]

[spidey_joe80@hotmail.com]

I'm with the hog my experieces with win98 have been no picnic the comp i used to use always crashed i thought there was something wrong with the computer i didnt even think about the os. Now that i know that it cant even use more than 512mb or ram that pretty much puts it on my s**t list. thanks for all the help guys. As usual you've answered all my questions
bye http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

[This message has been edited by socalgal (edited 06-08-2001).]

[Hellmund]

It's not necessarily the OS that's the problem, I've had Win98SE running 3years now without any re-installs or formats. Since I got this duron I barely have anything worse than the occasional game that will quit to the desktop. I didn't even re-install the OS when I changed MOBO and CPU. Maybe you could install 98SE off someone else CD and see if it makes a diff, otherwise it's hardware somewhere, I havn't seen a BSOD since I o/ced my Celeron400A to 566mhz and that was a WHILE ago.

[Shadal]

I've been having problems with Win98 (Both Versions) since the first 10 minutes my bran new computer arrived in the mail.. Went to put in the information, after a pre-install.. BSOD.. CRASH.. FREEZE.. UGH! that was 3 years ago.. still having problems w/ it to this day (on a different computer now) in fact, i'm reinstalling AGAIN! right this very moment, cuz' i couldn't get it to boot! ( http://www.sysopt.com/forum/Forum2/HTML/015486.html )

Waiting for my copy of Win2K.. can't wait..

Shadal

[This message has been edited by Shadal (edited 06-04-2001).]

[smartxtai]

i'm about ot install 256mb more ram into my already 384mb of ram for a total of 640mb of ram. i'll update u tonight or tomorrow on how my system is operating with that much ram. i haven't had any major errors(blue screen, etc...) yet with my win98SE. and if all goes well, then ima keep my win98se operationg system. but if its true, and my system starts acting weird with 640mb ram, then i'll report it here and convert my operationg system to win2k. the only reason, the ONLY reason i haven't converted my system to win2K already is because some games that i want to play aren't compatible with win2K(etc NBA Live 2001, etc..) and i dont' feel like installing certain softwares over again because i wil have to when i upgrade to win2k. if ur not a gamer though, definitely go to win2k, else watch and make sure wut games u want to play because it might not be compatible with the system. Time is 6:50 P.M. CT.

[Dputiger]

You can dual-boot under Win2K you know--run both Win98SE and 2K ont he same system and choose between them at boot.

[Dputiger]

Shadal,

For the record:

I've seen MORE problems with Win9X running on OEM systems--out of the box--cured by a completely fresh install with a base copy of the OS than I can count.

I was just working on an HP system--Pentium 733, 128 meg of RAM--should be quite a nice box--crashed constantly.

It was fresh out of the box--when I looked at the Registry and configuration it was clear the entire machine was badly configured--multiple driver instances were loaded, conflicting drivers were used--the entire machine was a mess.

A clean install of the OS fixed everything--the box now runs perfectly.

Running the factory backup CD from the OEM is frequently NOT the answer--only a clean copy will do the trick.

[smartxtai]

Ok, its been a while now under win98se and i haven't had a problem yet with any kind of memory errors. weird thing is that i use to have all these kinds of errors when i had like 128mb of ram but when i had 384, i didn't have any more errors. does more ram mean less errors? seems so to me. so anyways, my system is fine still with 604mb of ram and running along smoothly. i know you can duel boot with win2k but the thing is i don't want to duel boot. too much space and i want my computer to boot up straight into an operating system instead of me being there telling it to go to which operating system to go to.

[spidey_joe80@hotmail.com]

Dual booting sounds ok but why would i want to use win98 if i already got win2k plus thats means i have to buy both os's right. win2k is too much on its own. but maybe.

[prexaspes]

I can definitely agree with the out of the box blues, I've seen it a pile of times, also...

In my experience, BSODS in 98se are either hot or overclocked hardware or driver misconfigurations, like the damned Ultra DMA drivers... http://www.sysopt.com/forum/wink.gif

[Warthog]

that pretty much puts it on my s**t list

lol same here http://www.sysopt.com/forum/biggrin.gif

BTW, Dputiger, my comp is Dell. BUT this install is off a REAL Win98 cd (ughhh hate their crappy "recovery" disks....what an oxymoron). I do a lot of install/uninstall stuff, have several apps loaded at startup...I dunno...I don't think what I have is anything special, so I don't know the prob.

Anyways, I still want to get Win2k. Most games actually run in Win2k, either by themselves or with patches/hacks. Besides, I don't mind having a dual boot system....playing games in Win98 was NEVER an issue. It's all the other stuff (not using my memory correctly, BSODs) that bugs me.

While we're on the subject, a quick question about installation of Win2k.

Which do I install first, Win98 or Win2k? I can't remember the answer to this question. I think it's Win2k. How do I "do" a dual boot? Does it do it automatically after two OS's are installed?

Warthog

[This message has been edited by socalgal (edited 06-08-2001).]

[smartxtai]

you have to install win98 first and then upgrade to win2k. change ur disk space to NTFS because its a whole lot better than FAT32 and oh, be sure to get all the drivers for win2k before you install win2k.

[falcompsx]

um...NTFS is a hair slower then FAT32 because of the security and compression abilities, but not enough to care about. but DON'T convert ANY drives that you want to access in Win9x, you win't be able to access them.

[Warthog]

What do you mean by "convert"?

Warthog

[Twinker]

What he means by convert is use the /convert fs:ntfs command to convert FAT32 to NTFS.

[]V[BerZerK]

Here's the bottom line.

Win95/98/ME machines support 512MB Ram
Win2K/XP support 1.5 to 4 Gigs Ram.

Most motherboards don't support beyond 1.5gigs of Ram, and regardless,even with all the tech geeks i know, nobody has that much ram. I have 1 friend with a Gig of ram on Win2K.

I'm running WinXP Final with my Asus K7V, and i have 512MB, works great, gonna order another 256 soon (16.00 @ pricewatch.com)