Only 42 of 128 MB Free at bootup

[dannybones]

Is this normal? I went to MS config & unchecked all startup programs, and after booting up, I only have 42 of 128 MB Free. Does Win 98 Really take up that much space? Maybe there's something I've done to take up so much RAM?

ALso I've heard that if I get more memory, win98 can only access so much of it (like 192 MB or something). Maybe Windows 2000 would be better (plus, I'm getting tired of crashes)? I do a lot of clipart and photo (or even video) editing, and simple games.

My System:
Win 98 SE
Cel 400 (Soon to be P-III 600 512/133)
128MB Cas 2 memory (Mushkin, Rev 1.5)
Soyo MB
Diamond MX 300 sound card

 

[Zelandakh]

If you are tired of crashes, don't get Win2k!

Check your startup folder. Check your run folders in the registry. Uninstall any programs you don't want.

If you have the option and the know how, reinstall the lot.

Ctrl Alt Del and kill any apps except Explorer, SysTray and your Virus software.

 

[butchrecon]

Windows 98 can cache (use)up to 512Meg of RAM. What Apps are starting up. How much in resources are there(Properties of My computer then go to Performance.) What percentage of resources are free? What utility is telling you how much RAM is free?

 

[butchrecon]

Windows 98 can cache (use)up to 512Meg of RAM. What Apps are starting up. How much in resources are there(Properties of My computer then go to Performance.) What percentage of resources are free? What utility is telling you how much RAM is free?
Windows 2000 WITH SP! is VERY stable. You could be better off with that. If so get more RAM.

 

[butchrecon]

Windows 2000 with SP1 is stable. If you dont play high end games I would Suggest going to Win2K

 

[CitrixEngineer]

That's quite a lightweight machine for heavy-duty stuff like video editing - what graphics card(s) are you running, and what's the spec of your HDD?

What other software have you got installed on the machine? Are there typical circumstances under which it crashes?

The figures you are seeing for memory consumption are quite normal - Windows 2000 comsumes even more. My recommendations are that you have 128Mb RAM for Windows 2000 alone, and a further 128Mb for apps at least. If you look around the internet, you should find 128Mb DIMMs for around $71.

My understanding is that Windows 98, like its predecessor and NT can access 4Gb RAM. Where do you get your 512Mb figure, butchrecon?

I have found both platforms to be stable, if the software environment is controlled - ie no dodgy betawarez etc. Windows 2000 is by far the more stable, and Windows ME seems to be catching up.

I installed ME on an ancient IBM PC038, 166Mhz Pentium (non MMX), 148Mb EDO RAM, 3Gb HDD, Matrox Mystique, Creative Vibra 16, and have found good performance - and no crashes to date. I did not need to install any drivers, and the only software it is running is Microsoft Office and IE5.5.

I hope this information is useful.

 

[butchrecon]

I apologize Win 98 Can "SEE" up to 2 GIG of RAM. It can only CACHE up to 512MB at a time. Anything more than 512MB on Win 98 and you will see a system performance DECREASE.
NT4 can "see" up to 4GB of RAM and cache it all without a system performance decrease.
CITRIXENGINEER: you have been luck with no crashes with Win ME. I see constant crashes where I work. With Very basic (PIII 800 128RAM 10 Gig HDD and D-Link Ethernet cards.)
Hope this clears up some issues. The Win 98 RAM Max Amount came straight from MS.

Jim