Can't boot into Safe Mode

Hi again Guys!

Since my last post I've upgraded my mobo to an MSI and have 2x1 GB RAM
modules installed. I quickly learned that Win98 grunts at anything over 1GB
and ideally likes 512MB. However making an adjustment to the System.ini file
as per MS KB article there's no problem with booting normally. However, if I
wanted/had to boot into Safe Mode, then of course the startup files,
presumably including the system.ini, are by-passed resulting in "not enough
memory to initialize windows".

Is there a work-around to this or have I lost this important bit of
functionality? The only other alternative as I see it if something goes wrong
is to then rely on Scanreg /restore.

Cheers,

Sandy.

Have you tried booting into Safe Mode, or are you just speculating?

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS-MVP Shell/User
http://grystmill.com

"Sandy" wrote in message
...
Hi again Guys!

Since my last post I've upgraded my mobo to an MSI and have 2x1 GB RAM
modules installed. I quickly learned that Win98 grunts at anything over
1GB
and ideally likes 512MB. However making an adjustment to the System.ini
file
as per MS KB article there's no problem with booting normally. However, if
I
wanted/had to boot into Safe Mode, then of course the startup files,
presumably including the system.ini, are by-passed resulting in "not
enough
memory to initialize windows".

Is there a work-around to this or have I lost this important bit of
functionality? The only other alternative as I see it if something goes
wrong
is to then rely on Scanreg /restore.

Cheers,

Sandy.

Hi again Gary, Letterman & Buffalo!

No speculation, it's a fact! Thanks to the other guys... I'll try taking
out a module to see if that's enough. I would have done that first if there
was no other way but was reluctant to do so since they're hellish difficult
to get back in on an MSI.

Sandy.

"Gary S. Terhune" wrote:

Have you tried booting into Safe Mode, or are you just speculating?

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS-MVP Shell/User
http://grystmill.com

"Sandy" wrote in message
...
Hi again Guys!

Since my last post I've upgraded my mobo to an MSI and have 2x1 GB RAM
modules installed. I quickly learned that Win98 grunts at anything over
1GB
and ideally likes 512MB. However making an adjustment to the System.ini
file
as per MS KB article there's no problem with booting normally. However, if
I
wanted/had to boot into Safe Mode, then of course the startup files,
presumably including the system.ini, are by-passed resulting in "not
enough
memory to initialize windows".

Is there a work-around to this or have I lost this important bit of
functionality? The only other alternative as I see it if something goes
wrong
is to then rely on Scanreg /restore.

Cheers,

Sandy.

Sandy wrote:
Hi again Gary, Letterman & Buffalo!

No speculation, it's a fact! Thanks to the other guys... I'll try
taking out a module to see if that's enough. I would have done that
first if there was no other way but was reluctant to do so since
they're hellish difficult to get back in on an MSI.

Sandy.


Buffalo wrote:
I reckon that if you are just using Win98se and not any other OS on
your PC, you should remove one of the 1 GB sticks, set the value
MaxFileCache=512000 under 386Enh and be done with it.

ERROR.
I meant to say put the value MaxFileCache=51200 under the [vcache] header in
System.ini, and NOT under the [386Enh] header.
When you use the above setting, it still lets Win98SE use all of the 1GB of
physical ram for programs, it just limits the amt of memory that 98 can use
for 'addressing' or something like that.

BTW, what value did you add to the System.ini file under the [386Enh]
header?
Was it a MaxPhysPage=? setting? If so, you can remove that line when you
remove the 1GB ram stick.
A MaxPhysPage setting of 60000 limits the amt of physical ram that Win98SE
can access to 1.5GB (some 98 systems will work with that much, but not many)
while a setting of 40000 limits the amt of physical ram to 1GB. If you set
that value to below 40000, then you are limiting Win98SE to use even less
than 1GB of physical memory.





"Gary S. Terhune" wrote:

Have you tried booting into Safe Mode, or are you just speculating?

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS-MVP Shell/User
http://grystmill.com

"Sandy" wrote in message
...
Hi again Guys!

Since my last post I've upgraded my mobo to an MSI and have 2x1 GB
RAM modules installed. I quickly learned that Win98 grunts at
anything over 1GB
and ideally likes 512MB. However making an adjustment to the
System.ini file
as per MS KB article there's no problem with booting normally.
However, if I
wanted/had to boot into Safe Mode, then of course the startup files,
presumably including the system.ini, are by-passed resulting in "not
enough
memory to initialize windows".

Is there a work-around to this or have I lost this important bit of
functionality? The only other alternative as I see it if something
goes wrong
is to then rely on Scanreg /restore.

Cheers,

Sandy.

Noted!

Yes I used the "MaxPhysPage=40000" entry as per the MS KB article. I'll let
you all know how I get on by & by... I'm away for a week so watch this space
when I come back!

All the best,

Sandy

"Buffalo" wrote:



Sandy wrote:
Hi again Gary, Letterman & Buffalo!

No speculation, it's a fact! Thanks to the other guys... I'll try
taking out a module to see if that's enough. I would have done that
first if there was no other way but was reluctant to do so since
they're hellish difficult to get back in on an MSI.

Sandy.


Buffalo wrote:
I reckon that if you are just using Win98se and not any other OS on
your PC, you should remove one of the 1 GB sticks, set the value
MaxFileCache=512000 under 386Enh and be done with it.

ERROR.
I meant to say put the value MaxFileCache=51200 under the [vcache] header in
System.ini, and NOT under the [386Enh] header.
When you use the above setting, it still lets Win98SE use all of the 1GB of
physical ram for programs, it just limits the amt of memory that 98 can use
for 'addressing' or something like that.

BTW, what value did you add to the System.ini file under the [386Enh]
header?
Was it a MaxPhysPage=? setting? If so, you can remove that line when you
remove the 1GB ram stick.
A MaxPhysPage setting of 60000 limits the amt of physical ram that Win98SE
can access to 1.5GB (some 98 systems will work with that much, but not many)
while a setting of 40000 limits the amt of physical ram to 1GB. If you set
that value to below 40000, then you are limiting Win98SE to use even less
than 1GB of physical memory.





"Gary S. Terhune" wrote:

Have you tried booting into Safe Mode, or are you just speculating?

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS-MVP Shell/User
http://grystmill.com

"Sandy" wrote in message
...
Hi again Guys!

Since my last post I've upgraded my mobo to an MSI and have 2x1 GB
RAM modules installed. I quickly learned that Win98 grunts at
anything over 1GB
and ideally likes 512MB. However making an adjustment to the
System.ini file
as per MS KB article there's no problem with booting normally.
However, if I
wanted/had to boot into Safe Mode, then of course the startup files,
presumably including the system.ini, are by-passed resulting in "not
enough
memory to initialize windows".

Is there a work-around to this or have I lost this important bit of
functionality? The only other alternative as I see it if something
goes wrong
is to then rely on Scanreg /restore.

Cheers,

Sandy.

Sandy wrote:
Noted!

Yes I used the "MaxPhysPage=40000" entry as per the MS KB article.
I'll let you all know how I get on by & by... I'm away for a week so
watch this space when I come back!

All the best,

Sandy

Be sure you put the value MaxFileCache=512000 under the [vcache] header
in System.ini regardless of the way you limit your physical ram ( ie:
removing 1 stick or ram or using the MaxPhyspage= setting).

I only asked because of the way you phrased your initial post. I,
personally, ran a multi-boot machine with 2GB of RAM and Win98 with no
problems, including getting into Safe Mode, but it doesn't surprise me that
others have problems.

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS-MVP Shell/User
http://grystmill.com

"Sandy" wrote in message
...
Hi again Gary, Letterman & Buffalo!

No speculation, it's a fact! Thanks to the other guys... I'll try taking
out a module to see if that's enough. I would have done that first if
there
was no other way but was reluctant to do so since they're hellish
difficult
to get back in on an MSI.

Sandy.

"Gary S. Terhune" wrote:

Have you tried booting into Safe Mode, or are you just speculating?

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS-MVP Shell/User
http://grystmill.com

"Sandy" wrote in message
...
Hi again Guys!

Since my last post I've upgraded my mobo to an MSI and have 2x1 GB RAM
modules installed. I quickly learned that Win98 grunts at anything over
1GB
and ideally likes 512MB. However making an adjustment to the System.ini
file
as per MS KB article there's no problem with booting normally. However,
if
I
wanted/had to boot into Safe Mode, then of course the startup files,
presumably including the system.ini, are by-passed resulting in "not
enough
memory to initialize windows".

Is there a work-around to this or have I lost this important bit of
functionality? The only other alternative as I see it if something goes
wrong
is to then rely on Scanreg /restore.

Cheers,

Sandy.

I asked Sandy the same thing in the AumHa forums, where she/he asked the same
question:
http://aumha.net/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=34871


"Gary S. Terhune" none wrote in message
...
I only asked because of the way you phrased your initial post. I, personally, ran a
multi-boot machine with 2GB of RAM and Win98 with no problems, including getting
into Safe Mode, but it doesn't surprise me that others have problems.


"Sandy" wrote in message
...
Hi again Gary, Letterman & Buffalo!

No speculation, it's a fact! Thanks to the other guys... I'll try taking
out a module to see if that's enough. I would have done that first if there
was no other way but was reluctant to do so since they're hellish difficult
to get back in on an MSI.

Sandy.

"Gary S. Terhune" wrote:

Have you tried booting into Safe Mode, or are you just speculating?


"Sandy" wrote in message
...
Hi again Guys!

Since my last post I've upgraded my mobo to an MSI and have 2x1 GB RAM
modules installed. I quickly learned that Win98 grunts at anything over
1GB
and ideally likes 512MB. However making an adjustment to the System.ini
file
as per MS KB article there's no problem with booting normally. However, if
I
wanted/had to boot into Safe Mode, then of course the startup files,
presumably including the system.ini, are by-passed resulting in "not
enough
memory to initialize windows".

Is there a work-around to this or have I lost this important bit of
functionality? The only other alternative as I see it if something goes
wrong
is to then rely on Scanreg /restore.

Cheers,

Sandy.
--
Glen Ventura, MS MVP Windows, A+
http://dts-l.net/
http://dts-l.net/goodpost.htm

I keep thinking there should be some way to limit the amount of RAM seen
other than by the use of [386Enh]. I also wondered why I didn't have any
trouble in Safe Mode, and all I can think is that I'd clocked it down as
much as possible because it was otherwise unstable even in WinXP. I was
doing mostly still-photo editing using Photoshop, and working with rather
large images at times (2GB+) and so I didn't care about speed, really, but I
maxed out the amount of RAM for that board.

My new "main machine" (well, it's a year and a half old, now) won't run 9x
no how no way, and I no longer have a test machine with modern capacities
(best one is an HP 5735), though I expect to inherit a couple of machines
from the right era (2002, 2003), soon. I can only hope that the hardware
issues, whatever they are, can be fixed or gotten round. One is my Dad's and
one is my brother's. I got the calls within days of each other. Brother's
machine was rather easy to initially diagnose -- it goes into repetitive
reboot mode just running the installation CD. Never did that before, so....

I think Dad's is simply an overheating video card, but he sounds in the mood
for a new machine, so....

It would be nice to have my test machine able to run anything from DOS to
Vista (fingers crossed), and I'd rather not have more than one extra machine
in my cockpit. It's already quite crowded.

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS-MVP Shell/User
http://grystmill.com

"glee" wrote in message
...
I asked Sandy the same thing in the AumHa forums, where she/he asked the
same question:
http://aumha.net/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=34871


"Gary S. Terhune" none wrote in message
...
I only asked because of the way you phrased your initial post. I,
personally, ran a multi-boot machine with 2GB of RAM and Win98 with no
problems, including getting into Safe Mode, but it doesn't surprise me
that others have problems.


"Sandy" wrote in message
...
Hi again Gary, Letterman & Buffalo!

No speculation, it's a fact! Thanks to the other guys... I'll try
taking
out a module to see if that's enough. I would have done that first if
there
was no other way but was reluctant to do so since they're hellish
difficult
to get back in on an MSI.

Sandy.

"Gary S. Terhune" wrote:

Have you tried booting into Safe Mode, or are you just speculating?


"Sandy" wrote in message
...
Hi again Guys!

Since my last post I've upgraded my mobo to an MSI and have 2x1 GB
RAM
modules installed. I quickly learned that Win98 grunts at anything
over
1GB
and ideally likes 512MB. However making an adjustment to the
System.ini
file
as per MS KB article there's no problem with booting normally.
However, if
I
wanted/had to boot into Safe Mode, then of course the startup files,
presumably including the system.ini, are by-passed resulting in "not
enough
memory to initialize windows".

Is there a work-around to this or have I lost this important bit of
functionality? The only other alternative as I see it if something
goes
wrong
is to then rely on Scanreg /restore.

Cheers,

Sandy.
--
Glen Ventura, MS MVP Windows, A+
http://dts-l.net/
http://dts-l.net/goodpost.htm

Ok I'm getting the same error \iosubsys subdirectory is corrupt, or the
system is low on memory. I understand I need to adding a "maxfilecache" line
to the vcache section of System.ini. But How do I add the information at the
c: prompt?
ols


"glee" wrote:

I asked Sandy the same thing in the AumHa forums, where she/he asked the same
question:
http://aumha.net/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=34871


"Gary S. Terhune" none wrote in message
...
I only asked because of the way you phrased your initial post. I, personally, ran a
multi-boot machine with 2GB of RAM and Win98 with no problems, including getting
into Safe Mode, but it doesn't surprise me that others have problems.


"Sandy" wrote in message
...
Hi again Gary, Letterman & Buffalo!

No speculation, it's a fact! Thanks to the other guys... I'll try taking
out a module to see if that's enough. I would have done that first if there
was no other way but was reluctant to do so since they're hellish difficult
to get back in on an MSI.

Sandy.

"Gary S. Terhune" wrote:

Have you tried booting into Safe Mode, or are you just speculating?


"Sandy" wrote in message
...
Hi again Guys!

Since my last post I've upgraded my mobo to an MSI and have 2x1 GB RAM
modules installed. I quickly learned that Win98 grunts at anything over
1GB
and ideally likes 512MB. However making an adjustment to the System.ini
file
as per MS KB article there's no problem with booting normally. However, if
I
wanted/had to boot into Safe Mode, then of course the startup files,
presumably including the system.ini, are by-passed resulting in "not
enough
memory to initialize windows".

Is there a work-around to this or have I lost this important bit of
functionality? The only other alternative as I see it if something goes
wrong
is to then rely on Scanreg /restore.

Cheers,

Sandy.
--
Glen Ventura, MS MVP Windows, A+
http://dts-l.net/
http://dts-l.net/goodpost.htm