Windows 98 SE fails to start, RAM issue?

[Crashdance22]

I'm using a Compaq Presario V6000 and have installed Windows 98 SE successfully. It is currently the only OS on the HDD. At first I couldn't get past first time startup because I had 2GB of RAM, too much for vcache's settings. So I removed 1GB and set minfilecache and maxfilecache to 128MB in system.ini. This worked and I was able to set up the user name, system plug 'n play drivers, etc. Once I restarted the system I see DOS updating the config files and continuing to load Windows. But then the system just hangs. It doesn't freeze, as the cursor is still blinking. It just stops. So I do a hard restart and choose the normal startup mode in the "Windows did not start successfully" options. The screen goes blank and I see the startup options screen again, but this time the cursor is blinking in the upper left and DOS doesn't respond to the keyboard.

I try starting in safe mode but get the same problem, although this time I see HIMEM check extended memory and complete the check. Because I saw this, could this be another memory related issue? Here are my specs:

CPU: Intel 1.6GHz
RAM: 1GB, 2GB before I removed a stick
HDD: 80GB
Video: NVIDIA Go 6150

I've gotten this far with Windows 98, I hope I don't have to scrap it because of this. Any ideas?

[mjc]

Yeah...Win9x has a crappy memory manager and is basically 'hard coded' for 512 MB or less. No 'tweaking' is going to help. You should look around for a RAMDisk app and set up a 512 MB RAMdisk and direct the swap file there (for something to do with that 'extra' RAM).

[123456]

Originally Posted by mjc

Yeah...Win9x has a crappy memory manager and is basically 'hard coded' for 512 MB or less. No 'tweaking' is going to help. You should look around for a RAMDisk app and set up a 512 MB RAMdisk and direct the swap file there (for something to do with that 'extra' RAM).

After you do that, install the Unofficial 98 Service Pack.
http://exuberant.ms11.net/98sesp.html

Then disable your RAM drive.

[mjc]

That's right...the Unofficial does replace the memory manager...but it needs less than 512 to be able to run long enough to get installed.

[123456]

Or 512mb. I have 2x 98 machines at home that have 512mb RAM with no problems. Installed 98 with 512mb installed.

[Crashdance22]

So are you saying a RAMDisk app will consume 512MB of memory, making Windows think that only 512MB is physically available? And then install the unofficial service pack? But what is the service pack going to do? And can you link me to a guide on how to use a RAMDisk app? I've never even heard of that before.

[mjc]

Here is a copy of xmsdsk (good ramdisk app that has an upper limit of something like 2 GB).

http://www.uwe-sieber.de/util_e.html (it is down near the bottom of the page)

These 2 RAMdisk drivers can load in either extended (XMS) or expanded (EMS) memory. Example: place a line for the XMS driver in your AUTOEXEC.BAT:

LH XMSDSK 46080 E: /C1 /T /Y

LH (LOADHIGH for short) loads it in upper memory, if you have an upper memory manager present in your CONFIG.SYS, like MS EMM386.EXE (found in your main Windows 9x/ME folder) or UMBPCI.SYS (freeware, the BEST in the business).
Meaning:

46080 = RAM disk size in KB.

E: = desired drive letter.

/C1 = cluster size set to 512 Bytes. /C2 = 1024, /C4 = 2048 (ONLY doubling works: 2, 4, 8 etc, NOT 3, 5, 7 etc).

/T = use extended (XMS) RAM from top in a contiguous block: A MUST!
IMPORTANT: /T MUST be used with ANY 16 MB or larger RAM disk, otherwise Windows 95/98/ME does NOT properly initialize IOS (Input Output Subsystem) [RMM (Real Mode Mapper) fails to load], and as a consequence LFNs (Long File Names) support will be DISABLED on the RAM disk.

/Y = to disable the confirmation prompt for uninterrupted operation.

If using a folder other than the root folder of your RAM drive (recommended!) for the MS IE temporary cache files, you need to add another AUTOEXEC.BAT line below the line that loads XMSDSK to create the respective directory (example using the same RAM drive letter above):

http://www.mdgx.com/newtip12.htm#3A

[Crashdance22]

I got the RAM drive installed, at first I set the size to 512MB, leaving another 512MB for Windows. Windows still didn't start, neither in normal mode or safe mode, but I could see where autoexec ran and created the RAM disk. I then changed the size to leave 128MB for Windows, the same amount as vcache's min and max values. This time safe mode (but not normal mode) started up! So I looked at the RAM, and it said 1GB (approximately, in megabytes). But doesn't vcache limit the system to 128MB? Or am I wrong about that? I also didn't see F:, my RAM drive. Does autoexec not run in safe mode?

I also looked at 2 log files, FRUNLOG.TXT and NETLOG.TXT (both found on C:\). Both have logs of missing file errors, FRUNLOG.TXT refers to missing DLLs in C:\WINDOWS\OPTIONS, but \OPTIONS doesn't even exist. NETLOG.TXT refers to missing DLLs in C:\WINDOWS and C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM, but neither directory has a single DLL file in them. This may be what's causing Windows to hang... any particular reason why these files and folders are missing? Maybe setup was supposed to create them but failed?

[Crashdance22]

Ran System File Checker and Registry Checker, SFC only found and restored one file but Windows still doesn't start in normal mode. Looks like I'm going to scrap this and use an older machine. Thanks for the help guys.