Windows 98/me and Large amounts of ram

[Selbio]

Hi all,

Has anybody tried to install more than 512MB of ram using windows ME or 98. If so, did you experience any problems? Were you able to fix them?

THe reason I ask these  question is because I've tried installing 768MB ram using windows ME and every time I played battlefield 1942 I could hear this loud noise which lowered performanc. It also happened while playing FS2002, everytime I would load up a plane with a complex sound like PSS747 or Wilco 767 PIC I could hear the same noise and performance would still go down.

I went back to 512MB of ram and everything is fine now but I realized that I had to turn the Sound Acceleration  down to basic to fix some minor problems in FS2002. I wonder if I would've done this while I had 768 Ram it would taken care of that noise.

Any input will be appreciated.

[visitor]

I was told the 512 is max for ME and back
XP will handle 1024

x

[Selbio]

Do you or the person(s) that told that know what will happen if you install more than 512?

I used to have XP but the refresh rate killed my eyes even @100hz. I couldn't stay playing  for more than 30 minutes without getting a really bad headache.

[_526th_Fireman]

I have loaded up 640 MBs of RAM on ME and all is fine. It installed perfectly and recognizes the RAM. RAM is PC100 SDRAM.

Sometimes you get a "Bad" stick of RAM. Might try again and see if the problem occurs again.

[Hogans_Alley]

I have WIN98SE in my PC. I was also warned not to go over 512M RAM, otherwise I will experience problems including "Out of Memory" message. After doing some sleuthing, I got the following skinny right from the horse's (MS) mouth and I quote:

The Windows 32-bit protected-mode cache driver (Vcache) determines the maximum cach size based on the amount of RAM that is present when Windows starts. Vcache then reserves enough memory addresses to permit it to access a cache of the maximum size so that it can increase the cache to that size if needed. These addresses are allocated in a range of virtual addresses (3-4 gigabytes) known as the system arena. On computers with large amounts of RAM, the maximum cache size can be large enough that Vcache consumes all of the addresses in the system arena, leaving no virtual memory addresses available for other functions such as opening an MS-DOS prompt (creating a new virtual machine)
RESOLUTION:
Modify the setting of the MaxFileCache in the System.ini file to reduce the maximum amount of memory that Vcache uses. To do so:
1.  Open the System.ini file in a text editor such as MS Notepad.
2.  Go to the [VCache] section.
3.  Change the MinFileCache=and the MaxFile Cache=settings to the desired value.
The value of these settings are in kilobytes.

Example:  [VCache]
               MinFileCache=51200  (512M)
               MaxFileCache=56320 (563.2M)

Alternatively:

1.   Click START and then RUN.
2.   In the Open box, type MSCONFIG, then click OK.
3.   Click Advanced
4.   Use the Advacned troubleshooting Settings menu to limit the amount of memory that Windows uses to 512M or less.  

For you experts, please clarify:  Why would I increase my RAM to 1GHz or more if all I can safely use is 512M. Further, it was indicated that if I increase my VCache above 512M, it will cause the games to slow down. Isn't then increasing the RAM become counter-productive?

Hogans Alley  

[congo]

go to start in taskbar, run, type msconfig, in the program there is a setting to allocate ram to a max of 999mb, I have run 1024mb in win '98, but I have probs, anyone with a workaround to run 1024mb please let me know. 768 mb runs fine in '98

[ATI_7500]

he,he,it seems that you like my posted smily,visitor...

[Selbio]

Well I had two 256 DDR PC 2100 double banks(from crucial) and a third 256 stick  Single bank(PNY) maybe it needed to have either all of them single bank or double bank but not mixed up.

Congo What kind of problems are experiencing?

[congo]

Just system crashes, nothing important.    ;D

So I don't even use '98 any more, I'll leave it on the system for a diagnostic backup system probably.

But to use '98, I need to get the Ram below 1024, so I have to physically remove a 512mb stick, which is easy, but I am afraid of wear and damage if I was to do this all the time.