unable to open large excel file.

With a 128 mb ram, i don't see any reason why it cannot open a file larger than 1 mb but it seems you are having a memory problem. Try reinstalling your microsoft office and or your window as some of the files could be corrupted.
Try opening your file on a safe mode environment. If you could open this, your other application is the culprit. Uninstall one by one your other application and opening the excel file again. If it works, the last one you uninstalled is the culprit

I have seen some BAD memory leak issues with W98 and both IE6 and DirectX 9.

Start by checking for an updated driver for your video card.

If the W98 driver for the video card does NOT support DirectX9, I recommend that you remove both IE6 and DirectX 9.
I limit most of my 9X boxes to IE 5.5SP2 and DirectX 7 or 8.

You can get IE 5.5 from the browser archive at www.evolt.org
Several DirectX removal tools can be found in the utilities section at www.voodoofiles.com

Chas

I agree with answers 1 and 2... but have to ask this question:

Is the file located on the Local HArd drive or on the network somewhere. If on the network, copy it down locally and work on it from the Hard Drive. There are many reasons for the file not opening right from the network.

Good Luck