memory

You can get more than one answer. Here are some references:

http://tinyurl.com/1ptt

q304943 ** Computer May Reboot Continuously with More Than 1.5 GB of RAM

http://tinyurl.com/1tii

q253912 ** "Out of Memory" Error Messages with Large Amounts of RAM 95/98/98SE/ME MinFileCache and MaxFileCache

http://tinyurl.com/1ti8

q181862 ** Specifying Amount of RAM Available to Windows Using MaxPhysPage

http://tinyurl.com/1ti9

q223294 ** INFO: The Windows 98 PageFile Call Async Manager Service

http://tinyurl.com/1tib

q184447 ** Error Message: Insufficient Memory to Initialize Windows

http://tinyurl.com/1tie

q259184 ** How to Increase the Memory Capability of Your Computer

http://tinyurl.com/1tig

q146912 ** Reported Memory Does Not Match Amount of Installed Memory

As DKlipperts answer and links point out, the amount of memory for W98 is VERY configuration dependant.

The motherboard, hardware, and even the software plays a role in the configuration.

My advice is to stay below 511MB of RAM.
I set up my W98 boxes with between 128MB and 384MB of RAM.
Some "benchmark" tests show the best performance with 196MB of RAM.

Chas