dencorso

Well, I apologise for the misspelling (which I know have corrected, BTW, thanks!) and the consequences it had thereof. Sorry! What about that 300 GB partition you mentioned earlier? And does it work with all your partitions or is there any it doesn't work with? And, BTW, do you use LLXX's patched file for your PATA drives? Yes, Scandisk.exe in \Windows\Command\ is the one that runs on startup. And yes, it does work with large partitions, but the ME version of it is the one you should use.And, for sure, you're not alone: I, for one, do lots of installs by hand too. Many of us do...

The processor frequency sure isn't a problem: I run 98SE on an overclocked Athlon XP at 2.4 GHz. And there is people using even faster processors. Read this thread carefully Day-to-day-running-Win-9x-ME-with-more-than-1-GiB-RAM. For me it's either a driver problem or ACPI incompatibility. Try to install Win 98SE by running "setup /p i" (without the inverted double-commas) from the command line, to have it install without ACPI support. My guess is that it'll solve your problem.

Way to go, SlugFiller!!! I should sleep more or drink much more coffee, 'cause I'm missing things I shouldn't miss... dskmaint.dll is in Windows/System. You installed it in the wrong folder, therefore it didn't work.But, of course, there is the original dskmaint.dll v. 4.70.0.1998 in Windows/System, and that is being executed in preference to dskmaint.dll v. 4.90.0.3000 in Windows! That's why it didn't work, then! But don't be so hard on Multibooter for it. Everyone makes mistakes (although I guess I'm doing more than my share of them, lately, myself )...

Well, you really need to add at least one update: LLXX's modded ESDI_506.PDR v. 4.10.0.2225 to your system for correct 48-Bit LBA addressing or your data will end up trashed in your disk if it is PATA. Even if you don't have a big PATA disk, it is good to change your original ESDI_506.PDR by this one because you might add a big disk later on and you'll already be on the safe side having it installed now. As for SATA, be sure you're using VIASRAID.MPD v. 2.0.950.220, available from the link I pointed in this post. But your problem seems not to be related to the above for you also had the same error with a USB drive. So it seems to me that Windows ME Scandisk may be hopless for you, after all. The reason may be that as it is a NE executable, a 16-bit windows program, and so its buffer for the fat-32 entries is limited to 64 kiB, no matter how much RAM is available on your system... For me it seems clear that your partitions cause it to overflow. You just demonstrated that my info about 500 GB is wrong. Sorry about that! Now, you might try Symantec's NDD (Norton Disk Doctor) from SystemWorks 2003 or, preferably 2005. NDD may work as it's a PE, a true 32-bit executable, thus able, in principle, to work with a FAT-32 of any size. But, as you know, that's not a free program, although it can be found quite cheap on eBay. Then again, there is DiskMinder, over in MDGx's site, that also might be worth a try. Good luck!

Why? If you already have everything you need working in XP, why downgrade?

Norton Utilities 2002 UNFORMAT.EXE is a Real-Mode DOS only program. It is the last existing version of this utility. You can make it tell you its version by running "unformat /version" at the DOS prompt and should receive this result: "UnFormat, Norton Utilities 2002 ..10E, Copyright © 2001 Symantec Corporation" if you have the right version. It refuses to do anything else from a DOS box, but will tell you its version even from a DOS box. It knows about FAT-12, FAT-16 and FAT-32 and will work with all three types of FAT. It does not understand NTFS, nor any other non-FAT file system. I've just checked it, it is findable as part of the standalone Norton Utilities 2002 and also as part of Norton System Works 2003, 2004 and 2005. Unformat.exe is around since before 1993, so what it's capable of depends on its version and 2002, the last, is very dependable and able to work with any type of FAT. But I don't think it's way better than some of the other softwares you've enumerated. I have used it once in a while, way back when, and it did deliver as promised, so it happens to be the one I'm familiar with.

As a temporary solution, until MDGx fixes it, I've reuploaded VNETBIOS.VXD 4.90.3001 (the vxd only, it has to be installed by hand) and updated the link in my original post (link), so that it is active again. HTH

Get Unformat.exe from Norton Utilities 2002 (for DOS) and try to unformat the partition in dos mode. NU 2002 also comes with Norton System Works 2003. If you are very lucky, it may solve your problem.

Hi, txagpilot! I suggest you try the following: 1) Start from a re-imaged partition. 2) Make back-up copies of gdi.exe and gdi32.dll and store them in a new folder named prevgdi. 3) Install windows me sp1 2.02beta9 4) Make back-up copies of gdi.exe and gdi32.dll and store them in a new folder named nextgdi. 5) Disable file protection 6) Make a snapshot of the registry with regshot 1.8.1 7) Install the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary 8) Make the 2nd snapshot of the registry with regshot 1.8.1 and create the difference file. Now you'll know exactly what has chabged. 9) Test the dictionary. It probably won't work. 10) Uninstall it with a bootable floppy on the FDD, so that it boots to DOS 11) From DOS, copy gdi.exe and gdi32.dll from nextgdi to %windir%/system. 12) Eject the DOS floppy and reboot again. Hopefully it won't give you the error loading gdi.exe. 13) In case it does give the error all the same, repeat 11-12 using the files fro prevgdi. Wow! Its a lot of work and won't necessarily solve the problem with the dictionary directly, but will provide you with more info to do it and maybe will solve the problem with the Add/Remove removal of the dictionary. Sorry if I wasn't able to come up with something easier to do or more effective, but I think these steps really may be of help in finding the cause to your main problem. Good luck!

Neither do I... I'll be paying attention to it also. I've let either eMule or uTorrent run for just under two days in a row many times. Sometimes Win 98SE freezes some time after the first day, but most often it will go on working OK and shut down beautifully at the end. However, every time it's already running for more than one day, if I subject it to heavy browser usage together with the running P2P it freezes quite fast. Rebooting once a day prevents these problems and is the sensible way of doing it, of course. I also have run eMule and uTorrent concomitantly many times, but never for more than about 8 h, without any perceptible problem, although two P2P clients working at the same time leave browsing somewhat irresponsive and, in particular, uploading files becomes terribly slow (but that's because I use ADSL, of course).

@RLoew: It is reassuring to see that your tests support my conclusions (in posts #21 and #25, here: link) from my own tests and also from those reported by diskless (link) on where Windows maps the memory it doesn't control and the consequences this has. This amounts to stating that 1.5 GiB is about the maximum RAM that can be used fully by Win 98SE (without the RAM Limitation Patch) plus XMSDSK: 1158 MiB or a little less to VMM and 378 MiB or a little more to XMSDSK, because much more will leave no space for the File Cache and any DOS Boxes. It should be added that, all other things remaining the same, it is also a good idea to use HIMEMX.EXE instead of HIMEM.SYS, because this allows for more DOS Boxes (as found out by xRayeR and confirmed by vick1111, see posts #70-#82, here: link), for reasons that are still not totally clear. Win ME probably can do better, in this respect, since it is able to detect about 2 GiB, so probably it may also accept a 512 MiB XMSDSK, to attain about 2.5 GiB of fully used RAM... Of course, the list in post #1 of this thread shows clearly that to run Win 98Se with lots of RAM, with part of it unused, perhaps for a multibooting machine, not only is possible, but is actually being done in a day-to-day basis by some of us.

Well, yes. KB311561 a.k.a. Q311561 is still available from Microsoft (link), and Petr (link) localized it to lots of languages, in case you ever need a localized version, because Microsoft put the English version, by mistake, in most of the localized versions they offer. On applying KB311561, it'll update both the root directory and the EBD directory. Likewise, by applying BHDD30e.ZIP it'll update everything, but the EBD.cab inside the EBD directory. That you'll have to update by hand. You'll need Microsoft's CABARC utility to do so (link). And I just found out I was mistaken: you'll have to grab the DOS version of scandisk.exe from Win ME from inside MDGx's package SCANFRAG (link), because only the windows version is present in BHDD30e.ZIP. But having installed BHDD30e, I don't think you need to actually install the SCANFRAG package (unless you want to: you may not want all the updates it installs... myself, I don't like both meconfig and regenv32, and stick to the older msconfig), get it just to grab scandisk.exe from inside it.

Well, thanks to aLeXis' help, now I offer you here is the parametric EQ patch for emu10k1.vxd v. 4.12.01.0906... Here's how to proceed: 1) Confirm that you do have emu10k1.vxd v. 4.12.01.0906: go to the folder it is in, right-click on emu10k1.vxd, choose Properties, then Version and confirm that it says "File Version: 4.12.01.0906" (without the inverted double commas). If it does not, this patch is not for you; 2) Download the freeware command-line utils.zip, from KanastaCorp, grab inside it just patch.exe and drop it into the \%windir%\command\ folder; 3) Download the emu0906.zip attached below, grab inside it emu0906.pat and drop it into the folder in which you have emu10k1.vxd v. 4.12.01.0906; 4) Still in that folder, rename emu10k1.vxd to emu10k1.ori 5) Start a DOS box, go to the folder in which you have emu10k1.ori, and run the following command from the DOS prompt: patch -p emu10k1.ori emu0906.pat emu10k1.vxd 6)If everything went well, when you right-click on emu10k1.vxd, choose Properties, then Version, you'll will see that the copyright line now says "1998-2008", instead of "1998-2000"... That is to help identify the patched file from an unpatched one. 7) Enjoy! Of course, as always, the standard disclaimer applies: It works great for me, but YMMV and I can guarantee nothing whatsoever about this patch, and about the use you make of it. So, by deciding to apply it you fully accept that anything you do is of YOUR SOLE RESPONSIBILITY... Hence, if after performing this mod your pc morphs into a purple mushroom and explodes, causing a 10-day worldwide blackout and leaving the whole world's population tone deaf in the process, it's your fault only, you know you can't blame me for it! You have been warned. emu0906.zip

Here is an easier way: Clone the whole disk C: to D: using freeware XXCOPY. Enter BIOS and swap C: with D:. Boot from the clone. This way you need to edit no files. HTH

Restart in MS-DOS Mode. Run SCANREG/RESTORE Select the oldest date available and restore. If you still have one backup from before the CCleaner, all will return to normal. If not, well, you're out of luck: a major reinstall awaits you... Good luck!

Get http://www.mdgx.com/files/BHDD30.ZIP and KB311561, still available from Microsoft, and you've got all that's necessary to build one based on your EBD disk. BHDD30.ZIP has ME Scandisk for DOS, updated FDISK and FORMAT. It was created by Maximus-Decim some time ago, but is much less generally known than his other releases... Yet, it rocks, as M-D's releases use to do. KB311561 has the latest IO.SYS. HTH

Some time ago I found out there is a version of HIMEM.SYS (4896 bytes 08/04/04 07:00pm) in Win XP, and that another one is to be found in Win 2k (4768 bytes 09/25/99 1:08am) also. Both claim to be Version 2.77 (of 02/27/91), which, of course, they are not. I bet there's one in NT too, but I have no way to check that. Since, AFAIK, the NT family of Windows OSes doesn't need HIMEM.SYS, I now ask you all, why is that so? Can anyone enlighten me, please? Thanks a lot!

I can try to port the patch to the newer version... if you want me to try, do PM me.

Sure you can. Do download BHDD30.ZIP and you'll have all the necessary files. Win ME Scandisk together with Win ME dskmaint.dll will work OK with disks grater than 137 GB, provided the are not bigger than about 500 GB. So, only in case you do have a disk bigger than 500 GB you cannot use it.

I wholeheartedly agree! And, in what regards Word 2007, every time I've had to work on it, for any reason, it gives me the hardest of times having to figure out where things are all the time...

===== 2 GiB ===== aleksej ===== OS: Windows 98SE (Russian with MDCU Service Pack) Memory: 2 GiB RAM (DDR PC3200 - 2x 1 GiB Kingston) Motherboard: Soltek SL-XP865G-3IG CPU: Pentium IV 3.4 Ghz Northwood S478 @ 3.4 Ghz Video Card: nVidia GeForce 6800 Ultra 256mb AGP config.sys, autoexec.bat and system.ini: no relevant entries vmm32.vxd (real mode), vcache.vxd, vmm.vxd: 4.10.0.2222 with RAM Limitation Patch 7.0 (with /M Option) cooksy (2) ======= OS: Windows 98SE (German with SP2.1d) Memory: 2 GiB RAM (DDRII-800 - 2x 1 GiB Corsair Dominator) Motherboard: Asrock 4coreDual-Sata2 R2.0 CPU: Pentium Dual Core 5200 @ 220 MHz/2.75 GHz Video card: nvidia 7900gs noname (256 MiB; PCI-e) config.sys: DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\HIMEM.EXE /NUMHANDLES=64 /VERBOSE (HIMEM.EXE is a renamed HIMEMX.EXE, for use with xRayeR's Safe Mode patch) autoexec.bat: no relevant entries system.ini: ConservativeSwapfileUsage=1 MaxPhysPage=40000 ; 1 GiB MaxFileCache=393216 vmm32.vxd: plain vanilla (with 4.10.0.2222 vcache.vxd inside), VMM.VXD: original 4.10.0.2226, IO.SYS: with xRayeR's patch for Safe Mode cooksy (3) ======= OS: Windows 98SE German with SP2.1d Memory: 2 GiB RAM (DDR-400 - 4x 512 MiB from different suppliers) Motherboard: Dell GX270 CPU: Pentium 4 3.4 GHz Prescott Video card: nvidia 7900gt noname (256 MB; AGP; 700 MHz) config.sys: DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\HIMEM.EXE /NUMHANDLES=64 /VERBOSE (HIMEM.EXE is a renamed HIMEMX.EXE, for use with xRayeR's Safe Mode patch) autoexec.bat: no relevant entries system.ini: ConservativeSwapfileUsage=1 MaxPhysPage=40000 ; 1 GiB MaxFileCache=393216 vmm32.vxd: plain vanilla (with 4.10.0.2222 vcache.vxd inside), VMM.VXD: original 4.10.0.2226, IO.SYS: with xRayeR's patch for Safe Mode Cyker ==== OSes: Windows 98SE+SP2.1a (D:), Windows 2000+SP4 (W:),DOS 6.22 (C:), Gentoo Linux (sde2) MultiBoot Memory: 2 GiB RAM (4x 512 MiB DDR-PC2700 DIMMs) Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-K8NSC-939 CPU: AMD Athlon64 939 4000+ Video cards: (1)Sapphire Atlantis ATI Radeon 9200SE PCI 128 MiB, (2)nVidia GeForce 7950GT AGP 512 MiB and (3,4) [Creative Labs & Orchid] Voodoo2 PCI 128 MiB SLI config.sys and autoexec.bat: no relevant entries system.ini: ConservativeSwapfileUsage=1 EMMExclude=C000-CFFF vmm32.vxd (real mode), vcache.vxd, vmm.vxd: 4.10.0.2222 with RAM Limitation Patch 6.1 frankminek ======= OSes: Windows ME & Windows XP SP3 MultiBoot Memory: 2 GiB RAM (PC3200 - Kingston 2 x 1 GiB) Motherboard: MSI 865PE Neo3-V CPU: Pentium 4 Video card: MSI FX5500 TD128LF 128 MB config.sys and autoexec.bat: no relevant entries system.ini: MaxPhysPage=7CB00 ; 1995 MiB MaxFileCache=504192 ; 492 MiB vmm32.vxd: plain vanilla (with 4.90.0.3000 vcache.vxd and vmm.vxd inside) geoc === OSes: Windows 98SE (with 98SE2ME) & Windows XP SP2 MultiBoot Memory: 2 GiB RAM (DDR2 Kingston Dual-Channel 667 MHz) Motherboard: Asrock 4COREDUAL-SATA2 CPU: P4 631 3GHz Video card: Nvidia Geforce FX5200 (128 MiB) AGP aperture: 32 MiB config.sys: DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\HIMEM.EXE /NUMHANDLES=64 /METHOD:FAST /VERBOSE (HIMEM.EXE is a renamed HIMEMX.EXE, for use with xRayeR's Safe Mode patch) STACKS=0,0 autoexec.bat: no relevant entries system.ini: MaxPhysPage=40000 EMMExclude=C000-CFFF VCACHE.VxD: Xeno86's 4.10.0.2223, vmm32.vxd: plain vanilla (with 4.10.0.2222 vmm.vxd inside), IO.SYS: with xRayeR's patch for Safe Mode glocK_94 ====== OSes: Windows 98SE & Windows XP SP2 MultiBoot Memory: 2 GiB RAM (2x 1 GiB) Motherboard: Asrock 4CoreDual-Sata 2 CPU: Intel Core2Quad Q6600 @2.40Ghz AGP card: Nvidia GeForce 6200 128 VRAM AGP aperture: 64 MiB PCI-e card: Nvidia Geforce 8800 GT OC 512 VRAM config.sys: device=himem.sys autoexec.bat: no relevant entries system.ini: no relevant entries vmm32.vxd (real mode), vcache.vxd, vmm.vxd: 4.10.0.2222 with RAM Limitation Patch 5.0 halohalo (1) ======== OSes: Windows 98SE & Windows 2000 SP4 Multiboot Memory: 2 GiB RAM (2x 1 GiB) Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-8I865PE775-G-RH (rev. 4.9) CPU: Intel Pentium Dual-Core E5300 @ 2.6Ghz Video card: ATI Radeon X800PRO 256MiB AGP aperture: 128 MiB config.sys: DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\HIMEM.EXE /MAX=1048576 /NUMHANDLES=64 /VERBOSE (HIMEM.EXE is a renamed HIMEMX.EXE, for use with xRayeR's Safe Mode patch) autoexec.bat: no relevant entries system.ini: MaxPhysPage=48000 ConservativeSwapfileUsage=1 MaxFileCache=400000 Chunksize=4096 vmm32.vxd: plain vanilla (with 4.10.0.2222 vcache.vxd and vmm.vxd inside), IO.SYS: with xRayeR's patch for Safe Mode halohalo (2) ======== OSes: Windows 98SE & Windows 2000 SP4 Multiboot Memory: 2 GiB RAM (2x 1 GiB) Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-K8A480M-9 CPU: AMD Opteron 154} Video card: ATI Radeon X850XT (256 MiB; PCIe) config.sys: DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\HIMEM.EXE /MAX=1048576 /NUMHANDLES=64 /VERBOSE (HIMEM.EXE is a renamed HIMEMX.EXE, for use with xRayeR's Safe Mode patch) autoexec.bat: no relevant entries system.ini: MaxPhysPage=48000 ConservativeSwapfileUsage=1 MaxFileCache=400000 Chunksize=4096 vmm32.vxd: plain vanilla (with 4.10.0.2222 vcache.vxd and vmm.vxd inside), IO.SYS: with xRayeR's patch for Safe Mode Jolaes ==== OSes: Windows 98SE (w/98SE2ME) Memory: 2 GiB RAM (2 x 1 GiB Corsair XMS DDR RAM @ 500 MHz) Motherboard: Gigabyte K8NSC-939 CPU: Opteron 170 @ 2.6 Ghz AGP card: Nvidia GeForce 7600GS AGP 256 MiB AGP aperture: 256 MiB config.sys: device=HIMEM.EXE /NUMHANDLES=64 /V install=split8mb.exe autoexec.bat: no relevant entries system.ini: Chunksize=512 vmm32.vxd (real mode), vcache.vxd, vmm.vxd: 4.10.0.2222 with RAM Limitation Patch 7.0 (with /A /M Options) krelian ===== OSes: Windows 98SE & Windows XP & Ubuntu 8.04 Multiboot Memory 2 GiB RAM (DDRII-800 - 2x 2 GiB Corsair XMS2) Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-P31-ES3G CPU: Pentium Dual E6500 Video card: Ati Radeon X550 (256 MB; PCIe) config.sys and autoexec.bat: no relevant entries system.ini: MaxPhysPage=48000 ; 1150 MB system.cb: MaxPhysPage=48000 ; 1150 MB VCACHE.VxD: Xeno86's 4.10.0.2223, VMM.VXD: original 4.10.0.2226 Lecco ==== OS: Windows 98SE Memory: 2 GiB RAM (DDR2 Kingston Dual-Channel) Motherboard: MSI P31 Neo V2 CPU: Intel Core2Duo E6850 (3.0 GHz, 1333 MHz, 4 MiB L2) Video card: Nvidia Geforce 7900GS Extreme config.sys: DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\HIMEM.EXE /MAX=1186816 /NUMHANDLES=64 /METHOD:FAST /VERBOSE (HIMEM.EXE is a renamed HIMEMX.EXE, for use with xRayeR's Safe Mode patch) autoexec.bat: no relevant entries system.ini: MaxPhysPage=46000 ; 1118 MiB MaxFileCache=261120 ; 256 MiB VCACHE.VxD: original 4.10.0.2222, vmm32.vxd: plain vanilla (with 4.10.0.2222 vmm.vxd inside), IO.SYS: with xRayeR's patch for Safe Mode loblo (III) ====== OS: Windows ME Memory: 2 GiB RAM (2x 1GiB OCZ EL DDR PC-3200 Platinum) Motherboard: ASUS A8V Deluxe (BIOS 1018 Beta 2)* CPU: AMD Opteron 154 (2.8Ghz) Video card: XFX GeForce 5200 512 MiB AGP (Aperture=64 MiB; with unofficial 82.69 drivers)** Audio Card: ESI Juli@ config.sys and autoexec.bat: no relevant entries system.ini: MinFileCache=512 MinPagingFileSize=102400 MaxPagingFileSize=102400 vmm32.vxd (real mode), vcache.vxd: 4.90.0.3000, vmm.vxd: 4.90.0.3000 with RAM Limitation Patch 7.1 (with /A Option) --------- * Hardware Memory Hole must be enabled in BIOS otherwise system won't boot. ** With 32 MiB AGP Aperture only 3328 MiB are (strangely) available to Windows and with 128 or 256 MiB system won't boot. loblo (I) ===== OS: Windows ME Memory: 2 GiB RAM (2x 1GiB OCZ EL DDR PC-3200 Dual Channel Platinum) Motherboard: ASUS A8V Deluxe (BIOS 1018 Beta 2) CPU: AMD Opteron 154 (2.8Ghz) Video card: XFX GeForce 7800 GS Extreme Edition 256MB (using unofficial 82.69 drivers) config.sys and autoexec.bat: no relevant entries system.ini: MaxPhysPage=7CB00 ; 1995 MiB MaxFileCache=404294 MinPagingFileSize=102400 MaxPagingFileSize=102400 vmm32.vxd: plain vanilla (with 4.90.0.3000 vcache.vxd and vmm.vxd inside) LoneCrusader (1) =========== OSes: Windows 98SE, Windows XP & RedHat Linux 9 Multiboot Memory: 2 GiB RAM (PNY Optima DDR333 - 2x 1 GiB) Motherboard: Soyo SY-P4I845PE-ISA CPU: Pentium 4 3.06 GHz/512/533 with Hyper Threading Video card: ATI Radeon 9800 XT 256 MiB AGP AGP Aperture: 64 MiB config.sys: DEVICE=HIMEM.SYS autoexec.bat and system.ini: no relevant entries vmm32.vxd (real mode), vcache.vxd, vmm.vxd: 4.10.0.2222 with RAM Limitation Patch 7.0 (with /M Option) LoneCrusader (2) =========== OSes: Windows 98SE, Windows XP Pro SP3 (FAT32), Windows XP Pro SP3 (NTFS) & OpenSUSE 11.0 Multiboot Memory: 2 GiB RAM (Kingston KVR333 - 1x 1 GiB, 2x 512 MiB) Motherboard: Soyo SY-P4I845PE Lite CPU: Pentium 4 2.8 GHz/512/533 Video card: ATI Radeon 7000 VE 64MB AGP AGP Aperture: 64 MiB autoexec.bat, config.sys and system.ini: no relevant entries vmm32.vxd (real mode), vcache.vxd, vmm.vxd: 4.10.0.2222 with RAM Limitation Patch 7.0 Multibooter ======= OS: Windows 98SE & Windows XP MultiBoot Memory: 2 GiB RAM (PC3200 2x 1 GiB) Motherboard: ASUS P5PE-VM CPU: Intel core 2 duo E4500 @ 2200 MHz (core 2 duo E2200 also worked Ok) Video card: nVIDIA 7800 GS OC (256 MiB; AGP 8x) * NO shutdown problems after fiddling with GeForce (77.72) driver * AGP aperture: 128 MiB config.sys: DEVICE=HIMEMX.EXE /NUMHANDLES=64 /VERBOSE /LOG autoexec.bat: no relevant entries system.ini: MaxPhysPage=48000 ; 1150 MiB MaxFileCache=131072 ; 128 MiB vmm32.vxd: plain vanilla (with 4.10.0.2222 vcache.vxd and vmm.vxd inside) RetroWish ======= OS: Windows 98SE (with Gape's uSP2.1) Memory: 2 GiB RAM (2 x 1 GB PC3200 unbuffered non-ECC DDR DIMMs) Motherboard: ASUS P4S800-MX CPU: Intel Pentium 4 3.0 Ghz Video card: SiS Real256E integrated graphics (onboard) config.sys: DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\HIMEMX.EXE INSTALL=C:\WINDOWS\XMSDSK.EXE 393216 /T autoexec.bat: no relevant entries system.ini and system.cb (Usher's Method): ConservativeSwapfileUsage=1 MaxPhysPage=48600 ; 1158 MiB MaxFileCache=393216 vmm32.vxd: plain vanilla (with 4.10.0.2222 vcache.vxd inside), VMM.VXD: original 4.10.0.2226. risk_reversal ======== OSes: Windows 98SE & Windows XP Home SP1 MultiBoot Memory: 2 GiB RAM (2x 1GiB DDR Dual Channel 400 MHz Corsair XMS) Motherboard: Asus A8V DeLuxe Rev2.0, Via K8T800Pro CPU: AMD 939 A64 4000+ [san Diego core] Video card: nVidia BFG 6800GT OC AGP 256 MiB (370x1000) AGP aperture: 64 MiB config.sys and autoexec.bat: no relevant entries system.ini: MaxFileCache=262144 ConservativeSwapfileUsage=1 vmm32.vxd (real mode), vcache.vxd, vmm.vxd: 4.10.0.2222 with RAM Limitation Patch 7.0 rldelrosario ======= OS: Windows ME Memory: 2 GiB RAM (2x 1 GiB) Motherboard: P4X333-8235 CPU: Intel P4 2.0GHz Video card: nVidia GeForce FX5500 256 MB (AGP 4x) config.sys and autoexec.bat: no relevant entries system.ini: MaxPhysPage=48000 ; 1150 MiB MaxFileCache=131072 ; 128 MiB vmm32.vxd: plain vanilla (with 4.90.0.3000 vcache.vxd and vmm.vxd inside) RLoew (3) ======= OS: Windows 98SE Memory: 2 GiB RAM (A-Byte) (32MB Reserved) Motherboard: Shuttle FN41 CPU: AMD Athlon XP 1800+ Video card: Built in nVIDIA nForce2 32 MiB AGP aperture: 64 MiB config.sys: DEVICE=HIMEM.SYS autoexec.bat and system.ini: no relevant entries vmm32.vxd (real mode), vcache.vxd, vmm.vxd: 4.10.0.2222 with RAM Limitation Patch 5.0 RLoew (4) ======= OS: Windows 98SE Memory: 2 GiB RAM (64 MiB Reserved) Motherboard: ECS K8M800-M2 CPU: AMD Sempron 3000+ Video card: Built in VIA/S3 Unichrome Pro IGP 64 MiB AGP aperture: 128 MiB config.sys: DEVICE=HIMEM.SYS autoexec.bat and system.ini: no relevant entries vmm32.vxd (real mode), vcache.vxd, vmm.vxd: 4.10.0.2222 with RAM Limitation Patch 5.0 Video Drive incompatible with some MaxPhysPage settings RLoew (5) ======= OS: Windows 98 Memory: 2 GiB RAM Motherboard: ABIT AK32V CPU: AMD Athlon XP 2400+ Video card: All-in-Wonder Radeon AGP aperture: 64 MiB config.sys: DEVICE=HIMEM.SYS autoexec.bat and system.ini: no relevant entries vmm32.vxd (real mode), vcache.vxd, vmm.vxd: 4.10.0.1998 with RAM Limitation Patch 5.0 submix8c (II) ======== OS: Windows 98SE, Windows 2k3 & Windows XP Multiboot Memory: 2 GiB (DDR400 1 GiB PNY / 1GiB SuperTalent) Motherboard: PC-Chips P23G (v1.0) Chipset: Via P4M800 Pro / Via VT8237 CPU: Intel Celeron-D 3.33 Ghz Socket775 (25x133MHz) Video: nVidia GeForce4 MX 440 Dual-Head (AGP 4x) / Dual Monitors AGP aperture: 128 MiB Monitors: Primary - NEC AccuSync 90 / Ext-Dual - Dell E770s Drivers for 98: ForceWare 71.84 AGP aperture: 128 MiB config.sys: DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\HIMEM.EXE /NUMHANDLES=64 /VERBOSE (HIMEM.EXE is a renamed HIMEMX.EXE, for use with xRayeR's Safe Mode patch) system.ini (xRayeR's defaults): MaxPhysPage=40000 MinFileCache=32768 MaxFileCache=261120 ChunkSize=4096 vmm32.vxd: plain vanilla (with 4.10.0.2222 vcache.vxd and vmm.vxd inside) IO.SYS: plain vanilla (4.10.0.2222) (with xRayeR's patch for Safe Mode) TmEE (3) ====== OS: Win98SE (4.10.2222A + KernelEx 4.5.1 + RP9.7.2 + AutoPatcher + SP3.03b) Memory: 2 GiB RAM of PC3200 (4x 512 MiB), 1161 MiB seen by Windows Motherboard: BCMCOM BC875PLG CPU: Intel Pentium 4 (3.2GHz, 800MHz FSB, 1MBytes cache) Video card: Ati Radeon X850XT PE with 256 MiB VRAM (using Catalyst 6.2 drivers) AGP aperture: 256 MiB autoexec.bat: no relevant entries config.sys: DEVICEHIGH=HIMEM.SYS /NUMHANDLES=64 system.ini: MaxPhysPage=48900 MaxFileCache=131072 ; 128 MiB ConservativeSwapfileUsage=1 Chunksize=1024 Paging=off VCACHE.VxD: Xeno86's 4.10.0.2223, VMM.VXD: original 4.10.0.2226 TmEE (4) ====== OS: Win98SE (4.10.2222A + KernelEx 4.5.2 + RP9.7.2 + SP3.1x) + WinXP Pro SP3 dualboot Memory: 2 GiB RAM of PC2700 (2x 1024 MiB) Motherboard: HP NX6125 Laptop CPU: AMD Turion 64 ML-40 (2.2GHz) Video card: Ati Radeon Xpress200M with 32 MiB borrowed from main RAM (using modifie Catalyst 6.2 drivers) AGP aperture: unknown autoexec.bat: no relevant entries config.sys : DEVICEHIGH=HIMEM.SYS /NUMHANDLES=64 system.ini: MaxPhysPage=48000 MaxFileCache=131072 ; 128 MiB ConservativeSwapfileUsage=1 Chunksize=1024 Paging=off VCACHE.VxD: Xeno86's 4.10.0.2223, VMM.VXD: original 4.10.0.2226 TmEE (5) ====== OS: Win98SE (4.10.2222A + KernelEx 4.5.2 + RP9.7.2 + uSP3.33) and Windows XP Pro SP3 dualboot Memory: 2 GiB RAM of DDR2-800 (2x 1024 MB), 1152 MiB seen by Windows Motherboard: Portwell RUBY-9719VG2AR CPU: Core2 Duo E7300 (2660MHz, 3MB cache, FSB 1066MHz) Video card: PCI-E Ati Radeon X550 with 128 MB VRAM (using Catalyst 6.2 drivers) AUTOEXEC.BAT : no relevant entries CONFIG.SYS : DEVICEHIGH=HIMEM.SYS /NUMHANDLES=64 SYSTEM.INI: MaxPhysPage=48000 MinSPs=16 ConservativeSwapfileUsage=1 LocalLoadHigh=1 DMABufferSize=64 MinFileCache=131072 MaxFileCache=131072 WindowUpdateTime=20 EMMExclude=C000-CFFF PageBuffers=32 Paging=off VCACHE.VxD: Xeno86's 4.10.0.2223, VMM.VXD: original 4.10.0.2226 Tommy (1) ======= OS: Windows 98 SE with uSP3 and KernelEx 4.52 Memory: 2 GiB RAM (2x 1GiB Crucial) Computer: Dell Dimension 2400 Series Chipset: Intel Brookdale-G i845GEV / ICH4 CPU: Pentium 4 Northwood 2.8GHz @ 533MHz FSB Video card: PNY NVidia GeForce 6200 (AGP, 256MiB onboard RAM) config.sys: DEVICE=HIMEM.SYS autoexec.bat and system.ini: no relevant entries vmm32.vxd (real mode), vcache.vxd: 4.10.0.2222, vmm.vxd: 4.10.0.2226 with RAM Limitation Patch 7.1 (with the /M Option) vick1111 ====== OSes: Windows 98 SE, Windows XP, Linux Mepis & Linux Kubuntu MultiBoot Memory: 2 GiB RAM (PC2-6400) Motherboard: Asrock 4coredual-sata2 CPU: Intel core 2 quad processor Video card: RADEON 9600 XT AGP (0x4152) 128 MiB (set to 1280 X 1024 16 bit) AGP aperture: 64 MiB 2x 250 Gib PATA HDDs & 2x 250 Gib SATA HDDs PATA HDDs partitioned so as to have only one (small) fat 32 partition at the beginning. Just connecting one SATA HD causes pc to stop at boot when RAID is not activated. No problems found with SATA HDDs once RAID is activated in BIOS. config.sys: DEVICE=HIMEMX.EXE autoexec.bat: no relevant entries system.ini: ConservativeSwapfileUsage=1 MaxPhysPage=44000 MaxFileCache=393216 vmm32.vxd: plain vanilla (with 4.10.0.2222 vcache.vxd and vmm.vxd inside) xRayeR ===== OS: Windows 98SE Memory: 2 GiB RAM (PC2-6400 Corsair) Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-P31-DS3L CPU: Intel core 2 duo E4500 @ 2200 MHz (core 2 duo E2200 also worked Ok) Video card: Asus EN7600GS Silent/HTD 256 MiB DDR2 PCI-E config.sys: DEVICE=HIMEM.EXE /NUMHANDLES=64 /METHOD:FAST /VERBOSE (HIMEM.EXE is a renamed HIMEMX.EXE, for use with xRayeR's Safe Mode patch) autoexec.bat: no relevant entries system.ini: MaxPhysPage=46000 ; 1118 MiB ;MaxPhysPage=488FF ; absolute maximum but rather keeping a safety margin MaxFileCache=261120 ; 256 MiB vmm32.vxd: plain vanilla (with 4.10.0.2222 vcache.vxd and vmm.vxd inside), IO.SYS: with xRayeR's patch for Safe Mode ======== 1.75 GiB ======== eidenk ==== OS: Windows ME Memory: 1.75 GiB RAM (PC3200 - Samsung 1x 256 MiB and 1x 512 MiB and Nanya 1x 1 GiB) Motherboard: Abit NF7S V2 CPU: Athlon XP 2600 Thoroughbred 2.02 GHz Video card: nVidia GeForce2 MX400 PRO32S (AGP 4x) config.sys and autoexec.bat: no relevant entries system.ini: MaxFileCache=504192 ; 492 MiB vmm32.vxd: plain vanilla (with 4.90.0.3000 vcache.vxd and vmm.vxd inside) ======= 1.5 GiB ======= bristols ===== OS: Windows 98SE (w/98SE2ME) Memory: 1.5 GiB RAM (PC2700 - Kingston 1x 512 MiB, Micron Technology 2x 512 MiB, @166 MHz, timings 2.5-3-3-7) Motherboard: GigaByte GA-7VT600 1394 CPU: Athlon XP Barton 2800+ @2086 MHz Video card: nVidia GeForce FX 5500 (256 MiB; AGP 8x) AGP aperture: 128 MiB config.sys: DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\HIMEM.SYS /M:1 autoexec.bat: no relevant entries system.ini: MaxPhysPage=48000 ; 1150 MiB MaxFileCache=114688 ; 112 MiB ChunkSize=2048 VCACHE.VxD: Xeno86's 4.10.0.2223, VMM.VXD: original 4.10.0.2226 Cyberguy ======= OS: Windows 98SE Memory: 1.5 GiB RAM (Legend and Nanya) Motherboard: ASUS P3V4X Slot-1 (with Asus slot1 to socket370 converter and Lin-Lin coppermine to tualatin adapter) CPU: Pentium III 1.4Ghz Tualatin Video card: Sparkle nVidia Fanless GeForce 6200 (256 MiB; AGP 4x/8x @ 4x) AGP aperture: 128 MiB config.sys and autoexec.bat: no relevant entries system.ini: MaxPhysPage=3E6FF ; (this value is the result of setting "Limit memory to 999 MB" in MSCONFIG's Advanced tab) MaxFileCache=128000; 128 MiB vmm32.vxd: plain vanilla (with 4.10.0.2222 vcache.vxd and vmm.vxd inside) dencorso (I) ========= OS: Windows 98SE (w/98SE2ME) Memory: 1.5 GiB RAM (PC3200 - Kingston 1x 1 GiB, 1x 512 MiB @344 MHz, timings 3-5-5-9, 2T) Motherboard: ASUS A7V600-X CPU: Athlon XP-M 2800+ @2410 MHz Video card: MSI MS-8817 V1 nVidia GeForce2 MX400 PRO32S (32 MiB; AGP 4x) AGP aperture: 64 MiB config.sys: DEVICE=HIMEMX.EXE /NUMHANDLES=80 /TESTMEM:ON INSTALL=XMSDSK.EXE 387072 N: /C1 /T /Y autoexec.bat: no relevant entries system.ini: MaxPhysPage=48600 ; 1158 MiB MaxFileCache=114688 ; 112 MiB ChunkSize=2048 VCACHE.VxD: Xeno86's 4.10.0.2223, VMM.VXD: original 4.10.0.2226 Offler ==== OS: Windows 98SE Memory: 1.5 GiB RAM (PQI SDR SDRam 133 CL3 @ 158 CL2) Motherboard: Abit VH6-T model "Immolator" (Via Apollo Pro 133T chipset) CPU: Intel Pentium III-S Tualatin 1.26 GHz Video card: Asus Radeon x850xt (256 MiB; AGP 4x) AGP aperture: 16 (64 works, but causes problems with graphics with AGP @ 82 MHz) config.sys: DEVICE=HIMEM.SYS /NUMHANDLES=128 /HMAIN=64 /TESTMEM:OFF /Q DEVICE=EMM386.EXE RAM NOTR autoexec.bat: c:\dos\xmsdsk\xmsdsk.exe 524288 K: /C1 /T /Y (swapfile in ramdrive) UMBFILL.COM (used as a prevention for rebooting: without it 700 MiB RAM is the maximum that works, with it 1 GiB RAM is usable by the system) system.ini: ConservativeSwapfileUsage=0 PagingDrive=K: MinPagingFileSize=513264 MaxPagingFileSize=513264 MaxFileCache=32768 MinFileCache=32768 ChunkSize=512 vmm32.vxd: self-recompiled (with 4.10.0.2222 vcache.vxd and vmm.vxd inside) ragnargd (7) ======== OS: W98SE (SP 3.0d) Memory: 1,5 GB (DDR400 - 512 MB + 1 GB) MB: Asus K8V-MX/S CPU: AMD Athlon 64 3000+ So. 754, passive cooling GPU: ATI Radeon 9700 Pro 256MB AGP, passive cooling (GPU also ran: GeForce 4200 Ti AGP 128MB, passive cooling) HDD1-IDE: W98SE / IDE-SSD SuperTalent EX2 MLC 32GB Sound: TerraTec XFire 1024 PCI (onboard sound switched off, because no EAX) NIC: Intel Pro 1000 MT PCI (onboard LAN switched off, because too slow...) USB2: Onboard relayer ===== OS: Windows 98SE + Autopatcher + SP2.1a + 98SE2ME / Windows XP SP3 (dual boot) Memory: 1.5 GiB RAM (Kingston 3x 512 MiB SDRAM @133 MHz)(maxed) Motherboard: Asus CUV4X/VIA Apollo Pro 133Z chipset CPU: Pentium III (Coppermine) @866MHz / FSB 133MHz Video card: ATI 9800 Pro AIW (AGP 4/8x; 128MiB) with Angel's Omega Drivers AGP aperture: 64 MiB Sound: Creative Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro HDDs: 40 GB Maxtor system disk & 80 GB Maxtor (both PATA; UDMA/66) CONFIG.SYS: DEVICEHIGH=C:\Windows\HIMEM.sys/NUMHANDLES=48 DEVICEHIGH=C:\Windows\EMM386.exe I=B000-B7FF NOEMS System.ini: Conservative Swap File=1 [via Cacheman] MinFileCache=131072 MaxFileCache=131072 ChunkSize=2048 vmm32.vxd (real mode), vcache.vxd, vmm.vxd: 4.10.0.2222 with RAM Limitation Patch 7.1 RetroOS ====== OS: Windows 98SE (w/98SE2ME) Memory 1.5 GiB RAM (PC133 CL3 - Infineon 2x 512 MiB + Kingston 512 MiB) Motherboard: MSI 694D Pro (MS-6321) CPU: Dual Pentium III EB CopperMine 866 MHz Video card: Palit FX5500 nVidia GeForce FX 5500 (256 MiB; 128 bit; AGP 8x) AGP aperture: 128 MiB (256 MiB works with 1 GiB, but not 1.5 GiB) config.sys: DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\HIMEM.EXE /NUMHANDLES=64 /VERBOSE (HIMEM.EXE is a renamed HIMEMX.EXE, for use with xRayeR's Safe Mode patch) autoexec.bat: no relevant entries system.ini: ConservativeSwapfileUsage=1 MaxPhysPage=4953E ; 1173 MiB, 1.146 GiB MaxFileCache=101376 ; 99 MiB Chunksize=1024 VCACHE.VxD: original 4.10.0.2222, VMM.VXD: original 4.10.0.2226, IO.SYS: with xRayeR's patch for Safe Mode RLoew (6) ======= OS: Windows 98SE Memory: 1.5 GiB RAM (32MB Reserved) Motherboard: Soyo P4VGA CPU: Intel Celeron 2.40 GHz Video card: Built in S3 Prosavage DDR 32 MiB AGP aperture: 64 MiB config.sys: DEVICE=HIMEM.SYS autoexec.bat and system.ini: no relevant entries vmm32.vxd (real mode), vcache.vxd, vmm.vxd: 4.10.0.2222 with RAM Limitation Patch 5.0 sanszajnrege ========= OS: Windows 98SE and XP SP3 Memory: 1.5 GiB RAM (1024 MiB + 512 MiB) Motherboard: msi k8n neo CPU: Athlon 64 3000+ 2.1 GHz Video card: Radeon 9550 AGP aperture: 128 MiB config.sys: DEVICE=HIMEMX.EXE system.ini: MaxPhysPage=48000 vcache.vxd: Xeno86's 4.10.0.2223, vmm32.vxd: plain vanilla (with 4.10.0.2222 vmm.vxd inside) submix8c (I) ======== OS: Windows 98SE, Windows 2k3 & Windows XP Multiboot Memory: 1.5 GiB / 1504 MiB (DDR333 512MiB Samsung/1GiB SuperTalent) Motherboard: GigaByte GA-7VM400M-RZ Chipset: Via VT8378 UniChrome KM400 / Via VT8235 CPU: AMD Sempron 2200+ 1.5 GHz SocketA (9x166MHz) Video (Integrated): Via S3G KM400 UniChrome (AGP 4x - 32MiB Shared) AGP aperture: 128 MiB config.sys: DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\HIMEM.EXE /NUMHANDLES=64 /VERBOSE (HIMEM.EXE is a renamed HIMEMX.EXE, for use with xRayeR's Safe Mode patch) system.ini (xRayeR's defaults): MaxPhysPage=40000 MinFileCache=32768 MaxFileCache=261120 ChunkSize=4096 vmm32.vxd: plain vanilla (with 4.10.0.2222 vcache.vxd and vmm.vxd inside) IO.SYS: plain vanilla (4.10.0.2222) (with xRayeR's patch for Safe Mode) TmEE (1) ====== OS: Windows 98SE Memory: 1.5 GiB RAM (PC3200) Motherboard: Abit KV7 (VIA KT600 chipset) CPU: Sempron 2500+ @ 1766MHz Video card: Ati Radeon 9250 PRO (128 MiB; AGP 8x) AGP aperture: 256 MiB config.sys and autoexec.bat: no relevant entries system.ini: MaxPhysPage=48DCB ; 1164 MiB MaxFileCache=131072 ; 128 MiB ConservativeSwapfileUsage=1 ChunkSize=2048 VCACHE.VxD: Xeno86's 4.10.0.2223, VMM.VXD: original 4.10.0.2226 tscharlii ===== OS: Windows 98SE Memory: 1.5 GiB RAM (Dual Channel, PC3200 @ 333 MHz, 2x 512 MiB, 2x 256 MiB) Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-7N400-L CPU: Athlon XP 2600+ Video card: Ati Radeon 9600XT onBoard (128 MiB; AGP 8x) AGP aperture: 128 MiB config.sys: DEVICE=HIMEM.SYS autoexec.bat: XMSDSK.EXE 524288 G: /t /y system.ini: ConservativeSwapfileUsage=0 PagingDrive=G: MaxPhysPage=40000 MaxFileCache=65536 vmm32.vxd: plain vanilla (with 4.10.0.2222 vcache.vxd and vmm.vxd inside) ======= 1.25 GiB ======= piikea ==== OS: Windows ME Memory: 1.25 GiB RAM (RDRAM - 2x 512 MiB and 2x 128 MiB) Motherboard: Dell Dimension 8100 System CPU: Intel Pentium 4 CPU 1400MHz Video card: nVidia GeForce3 (AGP 4x) config.sys and autoexec.bat: no relevant entries system.ini: MaxFileCache=393216 ; 384 MiB vmm32.vxd: plain vanilla (with 4.90.0.3000 vcache.vxd and vmm.vxd inside) TmEE (2) ====== OS: Windows 98SE Memory: 1.25 GiB RAM (PC133 2x512 1x256)) Motherboard: DFI CA-64BC CPU: Intel Pentium III (Tualatin) @ 1.4GHz Video card: Ati Radeon 9600XT, 128MB VRAM AGP aperture: 128 MiB config.sys and autoexec.bat: no relevant entries system.ini: MaxPhysPage=48B5D ; 1161 MiB MaxFileCache=131072 ; 128 MiB RemovableIDE=1 Chunksize=1024 VCACHE.VxD: Xeno86's 4.10.0.2223, VMM.VXD: original 4.10.0.2226 ================================================== I thank very much all the listed members, without whose help the above list wouldn't have been possible. N.B.: All those who are in the list and find anything wrongly reported, please PM me and I shall correct it.

The above package I had already indicated before has ME Scandisk for DOS, ME Scandisk for Win and ME dskmaint.dll. It was created by Maximus-Decim some time ago, but is much less generally known than his other releases... Yet, it rocks, as M-D's releases use to do. HTH.

Why? @jaclaz: I was already thinking about studying it. The way the patch on Win ME was done seems particularly intriguing. I'll keep you posted, but it may take a while before I can work on it...

I've found it! My original sugestion was: OK, now I've found a second place to patch, in addition to that one: Search for B4 02 CD 16 A8 07 74 and patch the red 74 to EB, and that takes care of <Shift> and <Ctrl>! @scrumpyjack: Bear in mind that I'd have taken lots more of time to find it if you hadn't described your own patch. The biggest problem always is where to start looking, and it was you the one who found it!

scrumpyjack, you are quite welcome here! And you're evidently quite talented if this was your first foray with assembly language. To tackle IO.SYS and get something working out of it is no easy feat. So please do hang around, for you're certainly the type of member we need most: one with disposition to confront the problems and come out of it with solutions. Do however check my previous post, I've updated it with more info and think your patch still needs some perfecting. Good luck! @scrumpyjack: I said your patch will wait forever, unless any one key is ever pressed. The alternative patch that I proposed does the same as yours, but does not wait for any key. Here's the original code: B4 01 mov ah, 1 CD 16 int 16h 75 XX jnz somewhere Your patch changed mov ah, 1 to move ah, 0 (efectively causing ZF to be always 1), so the next jnz never executes. But service 0 of INT 16 waits for a character. My proposal was to substitute the actual jnz XX by nop nop, so that there is no jnz to execute. The effect is exactly the same. But my proposed patch doesn't wait for a character. BTW, IO.SYS may be getting the state of <Ctrl> and <Shift> directly from the BIOS data area at 0:0417H and/or 0:418, instead of using INT16 to do it. But I think it's not: there is a routine using service 02 of INT16 just above the one you patched...