Insufficiant Extended Memory 1

[francoislaroche]

I get the following message on a computer with Windows 98 on it upon booting:

Mémoire étendue insuffisante

I have a French version of Windows.

This message could be translated to about Insufficiant Extended Memory, but I'm not 100% sure about the Extended term.

Anyway, this happens while the computer is booting, before entering Windows (still in DOS). It also says to press a key to continue, and when you press a key, it just reboots again, and the cycle goes on and on.

Any suggestion anybody?

 

[francoislaroche]

OK. Here's what I did. I booted and went in Step by Step. Here are the lines of code he executed, with my answers to the questions between (). Y means I accepted and let the system execute the line. N means I cancelled that line.

Traiter le registre système? (Y)

* This means: Treating(???) the system register?

Créer un fichier de démarrage (bootlog.txt)? (Y)

* This means: Create a boot file (bootlog.txt)?

Traiter les pilotes de périphériques (config.sys)? (Y)

* This means: Treating the peripheral drivers (config.sys)?

DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\HIMEM.SYS /TESTMEM:ON (Y)
DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\DISPLAY.SYS CON=(EGA,,1) (N)
COUNTRY=002,850,C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\COUNTRY.SYS (N)
DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\CWDINIT.EXE /A (N)
DEVICE=C:\CDPRO\VIDE-CDD.SYS /D:MSCD001 (N)
FILES=40 (N)
BUFFERS=99 (N)
DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\DBLBUFF.SYS (N)
DEVICEHIGH=C:\WINDOWS\IFSHLP.SYS (N)
Charger l'interface utilisateur graphique de Windows? (Y)

* This means: Load the Windows GUI?

Charger tous les pilotes windows? (Y)

* This means: Load all the Windows drivers?

After that, I got my error message.


So, what can I try now?

 

[grygst76]

does it boot in safe mode by any chance? if it boots in safe mode there are a few things we can do

 

[francoislaroche]

Wow! Why is it always the simplest thing that work best?

The system booted correctly in Safe Mode. After that, I rebooted, and it went smoothly as if nothing had ever been wrong with this computer.

I'll try to reset my config.sys and autoexec.bat to what they originaly were, just to be sure, and I'll also try this method on the other computer I have with the same problem.

 

[francoislaroche]

Well, I spoke too soon...

It worked... but just once.

When I rebooted, I again got the same error message.

I guess if I do it again, the cycle will begin anew. So, it can boot in safe mode, and after that, boot once normally. But the second time after that, the whole cycle of problems start anew.

So, where do I go from there?

 

[grygst76]

get back in safe mode and go to control panel system properties system information and go to performance and go to virtual memory and then change to let me specify my own virtual memory settings and then change to minimum 0
maximum 128 and try that if it boots cool if not play with those settings and see that we are getting closer!!!

 

[francoislaroche]

I did it, and it didn't work.

When you say to play with those settings, what kind of changes must I do?

Set the maximum to a higher value?

By default, it was to something like 3455, or about that... well, I think it was the quantity of available disk space on the hard drive.

 

[spacekowboy]

set the min and the max to the same number, a large number but no larger than free space on drive.

then try it.

:-Q x->

 

[grygst76]

thats what I meant I apologize. the minumum should be 128 the maximum no maximum or the size of your drive

 

[francoislaroche]

I checked, and the HD space was 3523Mo. Here are the values I tried (min-max):

128-128 ---> No result.
1024-1024 ---> No result.
3523-3523 ---> No result.

After that, something really weird happened. I went again in safemode in the Control Pannel, and he had reseted everything. It was once again setted to letting Windows manage the virtual memory. And now, the available disk space was 7002Mo!

I tryed again, with 128-7002, without any more result.

What now?

 

[grygst76]

Throw the pc out the window!!! but really at this point can we try something else? lets reinstall by renaming the windows dir to windows.old and rename the my documents to mydocu.old and the program files to program.old and then do a very light install of windows meaning load just what you need and then slowly introduce all stuff from the old windows i.e files and such and then run from there I could give you more detailed if you need it because this has pissed me off and I need to know the answer!! any who lets give that a try email me if you need to for more details

 

[Guest_imported]

Good on you for helping!....Just a quick note......The EMM386.exe(sys)..command line MUST come AFTER the command line that starts HIMEM.SYS....but before any command lines for programs that use expanded memory....It is unlikely that expanded mem. is needed by any applications these days.However,extended memory (HIMEM.SYS),,,should be loaded by Win.98 automaticaly,and it doesn't hurt to put "DOS=HIGH" in after DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\HIMEM.SYS.........WIN98 should handle the required memory sizes in "AUTO" mode.....One first should check to see if in fact their hard disk isn't just "plum" out of memory period.???

 

[francoislaroche]

Mac: Here's my config.sys file. Where must I do changes?

DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\HIMEM.SYS /TESTMEM:ON
DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\DISPLAY.SYS CON=(EGA,,1)
COUNTRY=002,850,C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\COUNTRY.SYS
device=C:\WINDOWS\cwdinit.exe /A
DEVICE=C:\CDPRO\VIDE-CDD.SYS /D:MSCD001
files=40
buffers=99


Also, I went back in Windows in Safe Mode and setted Windows to automatically manage the Virtual Memory again.

 

[spacekowboy]

i am at a loss.

if it were mine, id reload the op sys over itself, if no go, id format and reload it, if no go its hardware or firmware-and i dont see how the firmware wld effect this-
uve changed memory so that wld seem to leave mthrbrd or processor. altho that seems like a whale of an escalation to me, this sounds like software and one of the fixes above shld have fixed this.

B-( x->

 

[francoislaroche]

Space: I know, but the whole point of me asking for help in here was to have another solution than just reinstalling the whole system.

Anyway, I'm still waiting for specifications from MACorMACK before going on with the reinstall.

 

[grygst76]

Restart your computer. When you see the "Starting Windows 98" message, press the F8 key, and then choose Command Prompt Only from the Startup menu.


Use any text editor, such as Edit.com, to add the following line to the Config.sys file
device=<path>\ramdrive.sys <x> /E
where <path> specifies the location for Ramdrive.sys and <x> is equal to the total amount of RAM (converted from megabytes to kilobytes) minus 4096 (4 megabytes are required for Windows 95 to start). For example, if you installed Windows 95 on drive C in a folder called Windows and your computer has 16 megabytes (MB) of RAM, add the following line:
device=c:\windows\ramdrive.sys 12288 /E
The value 12288 is derived from the following formula using the example above:
(16 * 1024) - 4096 = 12288 bytes
NOTE: The Ramdrive.sys line must follow the Himem.sys line, or the RAM drive may not function.

NOTE: Windows 98 is limited to a 16-MB RAM drive. For additional information, please see the following article in


Save the Config.sys file and then restart your computer normally.


If the problems no longer occur, halve the value for <x> in the Config.sys file and restart your computer. Repeat these steps until the problem returns. Once it returns, the faulty RAM is in the area that you most recently removed from the RAM drive. Contact your hardware manufacturer about replacing this memory.


If the problems persist, there may be a problem in the memory above the high memory area (HMA) that Ramdrive.sys is not using. To test the memory above the HMA (starting at 1088K), remove Ramdrive.sys from the Config.sys file and add the following line to the Config.sys file
device=<path>\himem.sys /int15=<x>
where <path> specifies the location for Himem.sys and <x> is equal to the total amount of RAM you want to exclude from Windows 98's use. For example, the line &quot;device=c:\windows\himem.sys /int15=4096&quot; prevents Windows 98 from using the section of memory from 1088K to 5184K (or roughly the first 4 MB of RAM above conventional memory + the UMA + the HMA). If the problems no longer occur, this memory needs to be replaced.


If you continue to have problems, one of the following situations may exist:
The problems may be caused by memory within the 1088K of RAM that the RAMdrive and HIMEM statements cannot reserve for Windows 98. To test this, try new memory modules or switch the order of the RAM modules in your computer. If you are unfamiliar with this process, Microsoft recommends that you contact your hardware manufacturer for assistance.


The problems may be caused by CPU cache RAM. Many new processors implement a method of optimization that uses motherboard and internal CPU cache RAM to increase performance and optimize data and code execution. This cache is used to offset the number of direct reads that are performed against main memory for frequently used data and code.

To test this, disable the internal and external CPU cache. For information on how to do this, please read your hardware documentation or contact your hardware manufacturer.

 

[francoislaroche]

The PC has Windows 98 and 64Mo of RAM.

I added the following line as the second line of my config.sys file:

DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\RAMDRIVE.SYS 61440 /E

When it executed, I got a message stating there was an Invalid Parameter for the ramdrive.sys command.

What did I do wrong? I can't put a value higher than 12288 as <x> because the PC is in Win98 or what?

 

[grygst76]

do a search for ramdrive.sys and then point the path to it
I think its in the system folder

 

[Guest_imported]

I have an Opinion...But I disagree with it.!!.............Ram drive=A waste of time and effort.Now lets review....(XMS)=Extended Memory Specification..ie.=HIMEM.SYS.
EMM386 uses (XMS) memory to &quot;EMULATE&quot; &quot;expanded Memory..(EMS).!..NOEMS=&quot;No expanded memory&quot;...UMB=Upper Memory Block.
A BASIC............................Config.sys= DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\HIMEM.SYS
By the way..&quot;&quot;Test mem.on&quot;&quot; is a default with HIMEM.SYS.

*(You can put this in to manage UMB) DEVICE =C:\WINDOWS\EMM386.EXE NOEMS
DOS=HIGH, UMB
I think I would just leave the EMM386 line out and put DOS=HIGH

At the DOS Prompt.You can type......mem /C | more (this will give you an indication of conv. and um and where your stuff is running.
You can type emm386 (This will display info. about its current memory-management activities.)..if your using same.!

But to get back to your original problem.Windows does not load because you are out of memory....Extended and or conventional.-- &quot;out of memory&quot; error message.You can receive this error message when Scanreg.exe creates a backup copy of the registry during Windows startup.This error message can occur if there is less than 340 kilobytes (KB) of free conventional memory. When you use Scanreg.exe with the /fix or /restore switch,(These switches are &quot;default&quot; during start-up..IE...if there is a problem it will either &quot;Fix&quot; or &quot;restore&quot; the registry.) more than 340 KB of free conventional memory may be required, depending on the size of the registry and the amount of damage. To resolve this issue, increase the amount of free conventional memory to more than 340 KB.

NOTE : Extended memory is required for Windows Registry Checker to operate properly, so it does not run when you start your computer with the Safe Mode Command Prompt Only option.--- The exception to this is the scanreg /restore command, which is the only Scanreg function that can run without extended memory memory.

The amount of conventional memory that is required by Windows Registry
Checker is determined by the size of your registry. Windows Registry
Checker may require 580 KB or more of free conventional memory to
complete the repair process. If you encounter an &quot;Out of Memory&quot; error
message, optimize your free conventional memory.

HERE IS A GOOD &quot;STARTING POINT&quot;..

http://support.microsoft.com/directory/article.asp?ID=KB;EN-US;Q187680&

Happy Hunting.!!

 

[Guest_imported]

http://support.microsoft.com/directory/article.asp?ID=KB;EN-US;Q187680&

(THE LINK WON'T PICK UP THE LAST PART.PUT IT IN BY HAND.)sorry.!!

 

[Guest_imported]

PS...Last word I promise....&quot;&quot;Extended mem. is only available while in &quot;protected&quot; mode and is used by the following systems..RAM drive,SMART drive,V Disk,EMM386,XMAEM.SYS,HIMEM.SYS(Windows)...........Perhaps one should get into their Start Up Programs..and get everything &quot;Ticked&quot; off.so that you boot with the absolute minimum...!!..Nothing running in the background.

If your running &quot;Drive Space&quot; get rid of it.

Bon Chance.!