Hardware

http://www.dewassoc.com/support/win98/win9x_512memory.htm


And check this out as well, if you have equal or more than 1gb of RAM.
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;184447

May be time to invest in a new machine and run those pesky dos apps in a Virtual Machine.

I had to do this for a dos based game I loved...

If you want to use more you should edit the Registry if I remember correctly but one of the above links provided by SS should solve the problem.

It was a common Hack when RAM Started to get cheaper years ago. Though personally I never used more than 1 GIG of RAM with 98.

Col

As you have discovered, the native limit limit for Windows 98 was 511 MB of RAM. While some systems would run with 512MB, many would crash with 512 just as your client's system crashed with 1GB.

I always limited my W98 systems to 384MB as that was a good amount of RAM back then.

As has been posted, you can edit the system files to allow W98 to run with just a little bit more RAM than it was designed for.

Another site that has this and other fun(?) issues documented is www.aumha.org.

If your client needs to keep running Windows 98, the next issue you may run into is the limit on hard drive size even with the updated FDISK utility. Consider getting a couple of 60 and 120 GB drives so that you can replace or upgrade a hard drive for them.

Chas

This limits the amount of physical RAM that Windows can access to 768 MB. To do so, use the following steps:

Please visit Microsoft site article Q184447

1. Use any text editor (such as Notepad) to edit the System.ini file.
2. Add the following line in the [386Enh] section of the file

MaxPhysPage=30000


3. Save the file, and then restart your
computer.


If this problem occurs during Windows Setup, use the following steps to resolve the issue:

1. Restart your computer. When you see the "Starting Windows 95" message, press the F8 key, and then choose Command Prompt Only from the Startup menu.

For Windows 98, restart your computer, press and hold down the CTRL key until the Startup menu appears, and then choose Command Prompt Only.
2. Change to the folder into which you are attempting to install Windows.
3. Edit the System.ini file. To do so, type edit system.ini, and then press ENTER.
4. Add the following line in the [386Enh] section of the file

MaxPhysPage=30000



5. Save the file, and then restart your computer. Windows Setup should continue.

Microsoft article Q184447

I was surprised and very pleased that so many IT professionals from all over the world took the time to respond to this post.

I shall try the system.ini file edit, install
768 MB of RAM and give it a try.

Thank you all, very much!

RoVoCo