System

 

Q: If a computer that is running any of the versions of Windows that are listed above contains more than 512 megabytes (for example, 768 megabytes) of physical memory (RAM), you may experience one or more of the following symptoms:

  • You may be unable to open an MS-DOS session (or command prompt) while Windows is running. Attempts to do so may generate the following error message:

    There is not enough memory available to run this program.
    Quit one or more programs, and then try again.

  • The computer may stop responding (hang) while Windows is starting, or halt and display the following error message:

    Insufficient memory to initialize windows. Quit one or more memory-resident programs or remove unnecessary utilities from your Config.sys and Autoexec.bat files, and restart your computer.

    A:

    The Windows 32-bit protected-mode cache driver (Vcache) determines the maximum cache 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 from 0xC0000000 through 0xFFFFFFFF (3 to 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).

    WORKAROUND

    To work around this problem, use one of the following methods:

  • Use the MaxFileCache setting in the System.ini file to reduce the maximum amount of memory that Vcache uses to 512 megabytes (524,288 KB) or less. For additional information about how to use the MaxFileCache setting, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: Q108079 32-Bit File Access Maximum Cache Size

  • Use the System Configuration utility to limit the amount of memory that Windows uses to 512 megabytes (MB) or less. For additional information about how to use the System Configuration utility, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: Q181966
    System Configuration Utility Advanced Troubleshooting Settings
    Reduce the amount of memory that is installed in your computer to 512 MB or less.

Please click here for detail


 
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Q:  When you start your Windows 95-based or Windows 95 OEM Service Release- based computer that is using an AMD K6/2 (350MHz or faster), or an AMD Athlon (1.1GHz or faster), you may receive one of the following error messages:

  • Device IOS failed to initialize. Windows Protection Error. You must reboot your computer.

  • Windows Protection Error. You must reboot your computer.

  • While initializing device IOS: Windows protection error.

NOTE: This problem is very intermittent on the K6/2 at 350 MHz, but occurs more often at higher speeds. This problem can also occur when you start your computer in Safe mode.

A: The first error message is a result of a divide exception in Ios.vxd; the second is due to a similar error within Esdi_506.pdr or Scsiport.pdr.

The original released versions of the files listed in the "Resolution" section of this article contain initialization timing loops that do not execute properly on the indicated processors at speeds of 350 MHz and faster. Note that this problem is due to limitations of the software algorithms, and is not indicative of a problem with the processor itself, which is functioning properly.

To resolve this problem immediately, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows95/downloads

  
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Q:  Windows 98 Second Edition Shutdown Problem

Symptoms :
You may experience any of the following symptoms when you select an option in the Shut Down Windows dialog box.

  • If you click Shut down and then click OK, the computer may stop responding (hang) while displaying the following message:

    Windows is shutting down.

  • If you click Restart in MS-DOS mode and then click OK, the computer may hang while displaying a blank screen.
  • If you click Shut down or Restart in MS-DOS mode and then click OK with fast shutdown enabled, the computer may restart instead of shutting down.

A: Cause this problem can occur because:

  • The computer could hang at the shutdown screen intermittently, because the Apmbatt.sys component is not responding to the system shutdown notification from the operating system and could enter an endless loop.
  • The computer could hang with a black screen because of the method in which IRQ holders for the video adapter are configured at boot time and disabled during shutdown by the Pci.vxd component.
  • The fast shutdown option modified by Msconfig.exe contains a code path in which the computer could reboot instead of properly shutting down or quitting to MS-DOS.

Note: The Shutdown Supplement was updated 11/99 to address a newly discovered issue that allowed continued shutdown failures on some Windows installations. Due to the added functionality in the update, it may appear on Windows Update as not installed, even if the original version of the Supplement was previously installed.

Troubleshooting Windows 98 Startup Problems and Error Messages

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q188/8/67.ASP

How to Troubleshoot Windows 98 Second Edition Shutdown Problems

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q238/0/96.ASP

The Windows 98 Startup and Shutdown Troubleshooting Wizard

http://support.microsoft.com/support/tshoot/default.asp

How to Perform Clean-Boot Troubleshooting for Windows 98

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q192/9/26.ASP

Windows 98 Second Edition Shutdown Supplement Patch

http://www.microsoft.com/windows98/downloads/contents/WURecommended/S_WUFeatured/Win98SE/Default.asp

  
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Q:  Problems with MS-5184 motherboard running with AMD k6-2 350 processor or above in Windows(R)95 OSR2?

A: This is a common problem and AMD already has a patch file for solving these issues. Please surf the site for more details.
www.amd.com/products/cpg/k623d/win95_update_k6.html

  
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Last updated on 12/15/00