Workarounds like the one
daddio posted exist. However, by adding such lines to your system.ini file, you are actually
restricting the amount of space
vcache can take up. What is vcache? It is responsible for managing and assigning mapped memory addresses to programs and their components (like DLLs).
Using this "so-called" tweak essentially chokes the vcache:
[vcache]
MinFileCache=xxxx
MaxFileCache=xxxx
In Windows 95, this tweak was helpful because vcache had some serious flaws with re-sizing the swap file. The process was slow and pretty leaky in terms of performance. My setting limits on the vcache size, you could minimize the amount of damage done when too much or too little space was set aside for future use.
Windows 98/ME are both different and the same rules don't apply. Here's an article that explains it in more detail:
Here's an excerpt from that article:
"[blue]The handling of vcache is one specific area where Windows 98 and Windows Me are vastly improved from Windows 95. First of all, the vcache resizing process has been cleaned up dramatically and Windows 98 will reduce the vcache almost instantaneously should applications require more RAM. Secondly, and equally if not more imporatant, the vcache in Windows 98/Me has the ability to execute certain program code directly from vcache. This means that the vcache RAM is doing double duty, serving simultaneously as a hard disk cache and as an executing application program. This is only possible with programs that are "aligned" for Windows 98/Me by their compiler but more and more of the available programs are being compiled this way.
Recently, there have been a few instances with Windows 98/Me were it has been shown to be advantageous to manually place a maximum size limit on vcache. These instances can occur when any one or more of the following three circumstances exist:
1. The computer has a huge amount of RAM (512 mb or more) installed.
2. The computer is used to update or modify huge data files (equal to or larger than the amount of RAM installed in the computer).
3. The computer has subdirectories that contain a vast number of files (numbered in the thousands).
In any of the above situations it is now considered prudent to set a vcache maximum limit of approximately 70% of the total installed RAM but in no case larger than 512 mb (524288K). The evidence is still being gathered regarding the behaviour of vcache under the above circumstances and there may be additions or changes to the above comments as further reports are received.[/blue]"
As you can see, there are special circumstances where you would want to use this setting. However, it is important to make sure you allocate
enough space for vcache. 70% is the key figure to use...
~cdogg
[tab]"
The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources"
[tab][tab]- A. Einstein
