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Neo,
when you used 1 GB of RAM, you were getting system lockups because you didn't
set your MAXFILECACHE. The MINFILECACHE setting is not that important. When
you set the MAX, Windows will probably just use that amount. With CacheMan (
http://www.outertech.com/product.php?product=3 ), I experimented with the CACHE
size and couldn't get it to go over about 55 MB's. Don't remember the exact
figures, I think I had 192 MB's at the time. Cacheman is totally free with no
adware.
If you obtain Norton System Doctor, you will get a better idea what's happening
with your machine. NSD is included in Norton Utilities. Other utilities are
OnTrack Fix-It Utilities 4.0 ( http://www.ontrack.com/fixit/ ) and McAfee
Utilities v4.0 (
http://mcafeestore.beyond.com/Product/0,1057,3-18-ML100110,00.html ). I
recommend you place these settings in your SYSTEM.INI file:
[vcache]
chunksize=2048
maxfilecache=40960
You don't need a VCache larger than 40 MB's. Anything larger will just slow
your machine. Your CHUNKSIZE should be equal to or half of your hard drive
partition cluster size. If your partitions are all smaller then 8 GB's, you
should set your CHUNKSIZE to 4096 or 2048. I should change my CHUNKSIZE to
4096.
You should allow Windows 98 to manage your swap file. Setting it to a fixed
size is acceptable. Every time you start up Windows must create your 512 MB
file. I believe when you shut down Windows deletes your Swap file. This is
also true when you drop into MS-DOS mode. It's been a long time since I've
looked at these things so you'll have to verify it. The total amount of memory
available to Windows 9x is your physical memory + your swap file size. After
you get NSD, you will get a better idea how your system behaves in terms of Swap
File size and you will be able to set an optimized fixed size.
Daniel.
neo wrote:
> Dan
>
> Actually the program is a free utility and monitors both RAM and the
> swapfile. I have my swapfile set at 512 MB min/max. I reboot if the RAM
> usage goes above 512 MB and there is any use of the swapfile. You are
> correct, I should not have to do this. People have said that Win98 has a
> "memory leak". I would call it a waterfall. Win98 does not return memory
> that is no longer used in most cases. Since the hard drive speed is the
> bottleneck in any computer system, I prefer not to use the swapfile until
> all RAM is used (in Win98 this can be set).
>
> When I checked my vcache settings, there were none. It appears that MS is
> suggesting setting it at 512 MB which does not make much sense since this
> would take all of my RAM. I put in min & max values at 25% of this.
>
> Does anyone know the ideal vcache settings????
>
> I replaced my 512 MB of older generic memory with 512 MB of ECC (error
> checking) from Micron (through Crucial). I had talked with Intel and they
> had said that generic memory works poorly with their faster processors (mine
> is 800 MHz). Since then, system lock ups have been reduced to near 0.
>
> If you want more information on the free memory utility, setting Win98 to
> use all RAM before the swapfile is used, or info on Crucial let me know.
>
> DDR memory must be supported by your motherboard. Crucial has a guide that
> will tell you what type of memory your motherboard will support.
>
> When I tried 1 GB of memory, I had multiple system lock ups due to the
> limited memory addressing in the System Arena.
>
> With Win2K, one cannot set the computer to use all available RAM before
> using the swapfile. Win2K always uses the swapfile. Memory beyond a certain
> amount is not used and is wasted (see MS's Knowledge Base).
>
> neo
>
> ~ -----Original Message-----
> ~ From: owner-metastock@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> ~ [mailto:owner-metastock@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Daniel Martinez
> ~ Sent: Friday, September 07, 2001 8:55 PM
> ~ To: metastock@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> ~ Subject: Re: Windows 98(1) More than 512 MB's Memory
> ~
> ~
> ~ Neo,
> ~ I don't know what you mean by "I use a simple memory monitor on
> ~ my desktop to
> ~ follow RAM usage. If it goes
> ~ over 512 MB I reboot." Are you saying you have 512 MB's
> ~ physical memory and
> ~ when your combined physical and swap file memory goes above 512 MB's you
> ~ reboot? You shouldn't have to do this.
> ~
> ~ I looked these web pages:
> ~ http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q253/9/12.asp
> ~ http://support.crucial.com/scripts/crucial.exe/solution?11=001213
> ~ -0007&130=000976726652&14=&2715=&15=&2716=&57=faq&58=&2900=&25=-1
> ~
> ~ Also the page Peter Gialames posted:
> ~ http://www.dewassoc.com/support/win98/win9x_512memory.htm
> ~
> ~ I haven't decided if I want to install more than 512 MB's. I
> ~ might take a
> ~ chance and see if the SYSTEM.INI command fixes the problem. I set the
> ~ MAXFILECACHE command about a year ago. If you have a lot of
> ~ memory, over 128
> ~ MB's on a Windows 9x O/S, and you don't set the MAXFILECACHE
> ~ command, you will
> ~ actually experience a performance slowdown. Windows slows down
> ~ because it must
> ~ search through your huge VCACHE to search for what it needs
> ~ before accessing
> ~ your HDD. I currently have 192 MB's and this is in my SYSTEM.INI.
> ~ [vcache]
> ~ maxfilecache=21000
> ~
> ~ 256 MB DDR Registered DIMM's are so cheap now, $45 (and free
> ~ shipping), it would
> ~ only cost me $90 to find out if my Windows 98 works with 1 GB.
> ~ It's amazing how
> ~ cheap they are. Did you ever enter the MAXFILECACHE setting in
> ~ your SYSTEM.INI
> ~ file? Theoretically, because Windows 9x is a 32-bit O/S, it
> ~ should be able to
> ~ handle 2^32 bytes or 4 GB's. Of course, there's always a
> ~ difference between
> ~ theory and practice. With Windows 2K, I know a lot of people
> ~ who have 768 MB's
> ~ to 1 GB and they report no problems.
> ~
> ~ Daniel.
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