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The Can't Access Drive C: BSOD is a possible sign of the Interrupt issue. I do not know what Cards and/or Drivers have the issue. Is the Hard Disk Controller Interrupt the same as the Video Card Interrupt? The NVSIZE Patch is needed for some 512MB 6xxx Cards and not all 512MB 7xxx Cards. The NVCHECK Program verifies which ones. As far as I know the NVSIZE Patch is not needed for 256MB or smaller cards. ATI and other Cards may need patching but I have none to test. Like my MEMORY64 API, the MULTCORE API requires Programs to be Linked to the Library. It is possible to move the entirety of Windows 9x to another Core but that would not be an improvement.

There is no need to disable Cores or Hyperthreading. Windows 9x doesn't even know the other Cores exist. Only my MULTCORE API can access them. The main NVSIZE issues cause an immediate crash. A frozen Mouse issue can occur later, sometime with a loss of Disk access. You did not see either.

My 32-Bit RAMDisk automatically reserves 32-Bit RAM. You could setup a 2.5GiB RAMDisk and have 1GiB for Windows if you have a total of 3.5GiB of RAM. With 4GiB of physical RAM, most BIOSes will remap the 0.5GiB of otherwise unused RAM to the 4-4.5GiB 64-Bit Address Range where another RAMDisk can be placed. There was no typo in my earlier post. When I said that with 8GiB of installed RAM, you would get a 5GiB 64-Bit RAMDisk, located at 4-9GiB. The extra 64-Bit RAM is due to the relocated RAM from the 3-4 GiB range. I have seen a few games that have problems with 2GiB or more of System RAM. I had to patch them. You could set RAM just below 2GiB to gain extra compatibility.

There are no Drivers for any 1GiB Video Card for Windows 98SE. 512MB PCI-E Video cards may use 256MB or 512MB of MMIO. To work fully they need to be reflashed to use 512MB of MMIO. They don't scale as you suggested. Larger Cards use Memory Banking, that is not supported in Windows 98SE, to reduce their MMIO footprint. Your 8GiB of RAM will be mapped as follows: 0-3GiB 32-Bit RAM 3-4GiB MMIO 4-9GiB 64-Bit RAM The first 3GiB will be available to Windows 98SE for running any programs. The RAMDisk can be up to 5GiB. The SwapFile can be fixed to 1GiB or variable in which case it will top out at 1GiB. End results: 4GiB of RAMDisk will be available for other Files. Total Program Memory available (RAM+Swap = Commit) is the maximum 4GiB.

A XMS RAMDisk is limited to roughly 500MB. Putting a Swap File on any 32-Bit RAMDisk would be stupid. You have 6GB so you can use at least a 2GiB 64-Bit RAMDisk for your Swap File without impacting 32-Bit RAM. Then 98SE can use the full 32-Bit RAM available from the Motherboard. If fixed, the Swap File will only partially be used. If not fixed, it will never grow to 2GiB. No 1GiB Video Card is compatible with Windows 98SE. PCI-E vs. AGP doesn't affect Memory usage, but having a PCI-E Bus grabs 256MiB of MMIO space. The presence of a 1GiB Video card will reserve at least 256MiB of MMIO space. You will probably have 3.25GiB of 32-Bit RAM and 2.75GiB of 64-Bit RAM.

You are not getting the message. The Swap File does not reduce the available RAM for Windows 98SE, assuming you are not foolish enough to put it in a 32-Bit RAMDisk. Windows 98SE can use all of the available 32-Bit RAM with or without a Swap File. This is typically 2.5 to 3.6 GiB depending upon Motherboard and add-on cards. The 4094MB test involved overlaying the I/O space. The system would have crashed if I had starting filling RAM. The 4GiB commit limit means that the Swap File will never expand to it's 2GiB limit if there is more than 2GiB of main RAM. I haven't tried forcing the Swap File to be larger, but more likely than not, it just won't be filled. MEMORY64 is not a Patch. It is a VXD that manages 64-Bit Memory and coordinates with HIMEMEX.SYS to share with RAMDisks or other users. An API Library is provided to Link into Programs you write. Windows 98SE does not know how to manage 64-Bit Memory, so it cannot be used by 64-Bit unaware programs. Programs have to manage 64-Bit Memory using my API. Last year I ran a math program that manipulated a 26GiB Array in RAM.

The Swap File does not limit the available RAM. The available RAM limits the Swap File. If you have less than 2GiB of RAM, Windows 98SE will use up to 2GiB for Swap. Further allocations will fail. If you have more than 2GiB of RAM, Windows 9SE will only use the remainder of 4GiB for Swap. Further allocations will fail. For example, if you have 3GiB of RAM, Windows 98SE will not use more than 1GiB for the Swap File. I enlarged the Memory Table in an attempt to increase the commit limit to 6GiB but it started losing Memory allocations and crashed. I have an API (MEMORY64) that allows you to use 64-Bit Memory in Applications that you write. With 64GiB of RAM, you could have 31 Programs, each using 2GiB, running at the same time without swapping. You may also want to run the AHCI Test Program I posted in the "win98se on z97m-d3h mobo (intel 9 series chipset)" Thread on your Z170.

@98SE I have attached a test program that will determine if my RAMDisk will work in your Z170 system. 64BITTST.ZIP

I read the manuals for a Z170 and a Z270 Motherboard. There is some ambiguity about the RAID Mode. I have attached an AHCI Test Program that can be run from DOS. Test it using RAID Mode and AHCI Mode in the BIOS and report both results. TESTAHCI.COM

@MrMateczko If you boot Windows 98SE from an USB Drive, it will lose access to the Drive when it loads the USB Drivers. The USB Drivers need to be disabled. If you were successful, that would suggest that you are using a newer Motherboard that uses an USB 2 Controller that does not piggyback an USB 1 Controller as do older Motherboards. Windows 98SE, by default, only recognizes USB 1 Controllers. The SATA Patch modifies the ESDI_506.PDR File. @truemaster AHCI uses a different Class code than IDE so it is treated as an Unknown Device. An AHCI Driver is a significant rewrite, not just a mod of the existing Driver. My AHCIBIOS TSR is a much simpler solution in systems with a switchable Controller.

Legacy IDE along with PATA Connectors disappeared years ago. This makes the SATA Patch mandatory.

With my RAM Limitation Patch, Windows 98SE can utilize any amount of 32-Bit RAM. I have tested it up to 4094MiB. The maximum Swap File will becomes smaller as you get closer to 4GiB. The total commit size is 4GiB. @dencorso Definitely should be in the 9x forum.

I am referring to the actual Controller, not the BIOS. A controller can support Register (IDE), MMIO (AHCI), or both. If both, then it is switchable. If not, it would report "AHCI-Only". RAID mode can be either IDE or AHCI. All modern Motherboards use AHCI for RAID.

Yes to both. The Maximum Swap File Size is 2GiB or the difference between 4GiB and the available RAM, whichever is less. I set up the various size RAMDisks I am likely to use into my AUTOEXEC.BAT File. This includes one the exact same size as my C: Partition. @jaclaz Putting a Swap File on a RAMDisk only makes sense when it is a 64-Bit Memory RAMDisk.

Z87 and Z97 definitely support IDE Mode. If so, the Z170/Z270 may work with AHCIBIOS, provided that the Controller is switchable.

If the 20GB FAT32 Partition is placed first, then there should be no problem. The limit is 137GB. To support more than 137GB you need my High Capacity Disk Patch or equivalent. This limit does not apply to USB. Booting Windows 98SE from an USB Drive requires modifications.

SATA Drives may or may not work with Windows 9x. It depends upon whether the Interface is Legacy or Native. AHCI Mode may either crash immediately or leave you in Compatibility Mode, which is much slower. My Driver is called DISKBIOS, the AHCI disabling Version is called AHCIBIOS. They are not currently listed on my Website. They are not included with the SATA Patch. @truemaster I only have your Paypal E-Mail. I will send it there.

I stopped using FORMAT years ago. I wrote my own Formatter RFORMAT, which can handle virtually anything including my Extended MBR and Advanced Format Disks. The Swap File problem occurs when the Boot Hard Drive spins down. This appears to cause a deadlock. If you disable Spin-Down, you can use my RAMDisk with a Swap File. You are the only one who has asked for a Windows RAMDisk. The DOS RAMDisk suits everyone else just fine. The merged RAMDisk has not been released because it hasn't been written.

IDE. AHCI is not supported by Windows 9x. I have a BIOS Disk Driver replacement that can switch off AHCI if AHCI is being used for other OSes.

The SATA Patch is for Interface issues, not any size limit.

I run Windows 98SE on the Z87. This requires HIMEM.SYS to work. There is no Floppy Drive so I can't run the scenario you describe. It does work with a Bootable CD. All of the alternate RAMDisks I know use XMS. I don't know of any that are non-XMS. Combined with my Drive Letter Swapper, I can run Windows from the RAMDisk. I use it to test experimental setups. The only issue with my RAMDisk in Windows 98SE is that it is not safe to put the Swap File on it. A Windows version of the RAMDisk would be an entirely different design. I haven't tested the Windows 3.1 bug installed on a FAT16 Partition. It may be related to using DOS 7.1. While running Windows everything is fine. Only the Current Directory is affected on exit.

I never released a XMS RAMDisk. I stopped development when I found the problem. In any case XMS RAMDisks are already available. I could prepare a simple test program that would verify compatibility with your system. Windows 3.1 trashes the Current Directory pointer in DOS when using FAT32 leaving you in an invalid Directory on exit.

I stopped making Patch Demos. They are too easy to pirate.

A lot of questions. >What do you mean by the acronymn PSE and DDO in an earlier message? Page Size Extensions. An alternative to PAE. Disk Drive Overlay. A MBR based TSR. >What do you mean no room for anything else? I would of course still leave the conventional 640KB area untouched and 384KB HMA region or 1MB - 64GB for 63GB Ramdrive or it wouldn't usable if that's what you meant? No room for Windows unless you back off somewhat. >But in low memory system say 1MB or less I can see creating a Ramdrive with just 256KB might be usable of conventional memory say in DOS 2.1 and maybe 3.3 and 5.0. As written, the RAMDisk does not use the first 1MiB. >Yes you should combine the 32-bit/64-bit Ramdrive so it doesn't use waste two separate DOS letters. Not enough demand so far. >Is it possible for it to be a single file that is 32 based but can access the 64bit code when needed for > 4GB instead of two separate Ramdrive files to deal with? I would think you would want to use 64-Bit RAM first before allocating 32-Bit RAM. I would probably add another argument so that the 32-Bit and 64-Bit allocations can be specified by the user. >Another idea is have you thought about creating a 98SE patch or command line or Sys file that loads in the Config.sys to automatically assign more than A to Z letters in DOS? >If you have too many partitions I would like to see it go from >A B - floppies >C to Z >then >A1 B1 C1...Z1 >A2 B2 C2...Z2 >A3 B3 C3...Z3 >A10 B10 C10...Z10 >You get the idea. Not feasible. >Another one if you have any way of modifying the original FDISK and the Fdisk 2nd version that was patched to 64GB drives however some has a few minor bugs to update it. I am more of a hard core DOS only partition user. Partition Size Entry only allows 5 digits for MB size so for too large a drive you can't insert the exact MB for a large partition size. Digits entry should be increased to 10 digits possible for MB size which should be plenty. Another issue is verifying integrity after each partition is created causes a lot of waiting. Option to stop that integrity check to speed up the partitioning process. These were just a few off the top of my head I have more. I figure you should have the capability to create such tools or can modify it? RFDISK can do all of this. It supports 512TiB. With my Terabyte Plus Package, DOS can support 128TiB Partitions, 3PiB in total. >As for your NonXMS Ramdrive was there another type you Ramdrive you create for EMS or conventional memory? No. XMS RAMDrives already exist but they eat up system resources in Windows 9x so they are limited to a few hundred Megabytes. Conventional Memory RAMDisks would be just about useless. >As for testing you still have not tested it on Z170 and higher chipsets? Do you have some handicapped version for me to test out you can cap it to 5GB or put some timer based expiration if you need to which I am fine with. >I just want to make sure it can use the HMA and report back if it can use that region since you only have Z87 which from what you said has no problem loading himem.sys whereas my boot disks cannot load himem.sys >so there must be an issue and perhaps a special mod is necessary. They do not use HMA. My RAMDisks come with their own Memory Manager HIMEMEX. You still need HIMEM or HIMEMX for HMA or Windows 9x. >Also I can test the joining of the two memory segments (32bit+64bit) as one contiguous Ramdrive is possible with your program. Let me know. If I write a merged RAMDisk I can easily verify operation. >Have you tested or is it required to patch Windows 3.1 to work on a system with too much memory? I'm not sure if there was an inherent max memory limit for Windows 3.1 similar to 98. Not as far as I know. I have a Patch for the FAT32 bug. >Does your original 98 memory patch also work on 95? Yes. >Does 98 Lite function with it? It should.

Paragon GPT Loader. There is also the Seagate DiscWizard but it may be limited to Seagate Drives.