How much ram does window 98 actually see

Windows 98 can see more than 128m of memory,it is theorettically stated by Microsoft that any amount of memory over 128 will render the applications and system unstable,yet this has not proven that you cannot install any amount up to the amount thatis specified by the motherboard specs,and then it may take some tweaking for the system to maintain stable operating enviroment.
Check the Microsoft knowledgebase for more reference.
Also you may be able to research previous post in TechRepublic about this topic.

Well there?s an MS article, (Computer May Reboot Continuously with More Than 1.5 GB of RAM (Q304943)), That says:

"Windows Me and Windows 98 are not designed to handle more than 1 GB of RAM. More than 1 GB can lead to potential system instability."

And there?s another article, (Windows 95 Can Access Up to Two GB of RAM (Q181594)), that says:
"Although Windows 95 has the ability to address up to four GB of virtual memory, it can access and use only two GB or less of physical RAM."

Ya takes your choice. Aside from large file manipulation such as photo editing, more than 256MB is probably not going to be noticeable.

I am a computer technician in a small town. I found out by calling Microsoft and the company who makes the systems we sell at work. Windows 95/98/ME can only recognize 512 MB of SDRAM. If you put more than that into your system, you'll get an out ofmemory error, or it will simply ignore the extra memory added. It's a glitch in these versions of Windows which prevents the operating system from addressing more than 512 MB of memory.
If you want more memory than 512 go with Windows 2000 or XP. Ihave 640 MB RAM in Windows 2000 Professional and it works just fine.

Windows 98 or 95 for that matter does not have a 128MB memory wall.
There are definete problems with more than 511MB, or 1023MB of RAM in Windows 9X. I set up my W9X systems with 256-384MB of RAM.

There is some question as to how useful more memory is. The answer depends on how your application and Mother board deal with the extra memory.

I read of one test that showed Windows 98 actually slowed down with more than 196MB of ram.

However, if you regularly print projects with large graphics files, you want all the ram you can get for print spooling.

Answer 3 above is the one to pay attention to. While the others may be correct, check out this link...
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q253912
or just search for q253912 on Technet. Memory above 512MB can cause problems in 95/98/ME.

Check out these sites on Windows 98 and RAM:

http://www.windows-help.net/windows98/tune-34.shtml

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q253912

(REMOVE SPACES from the pasted URLs.)

Maxwell