I have Microsoft Windows Millenium Edition and I have 2 blocks of 512 MB RAM. Until yesterday I had only had 1 512 MB block installed, because of a limit in non-NT versions of Microsoft Windows (described by MS themselves). I found that a bit of a drag, so I set out to circumvent it in one way or the other. The theory is simple: Install a 512 MB RAMDrive before Windows boots, and use that as Virtual Memory (swap).

Problems

  1. Windows ME skips both config.sys and autoexec.bat in the boot sequence.
  2. The standard ramdrive.sys supports max 64 MB per drive.

Solutions

  1. Install the Real DOS-Mode Patch for Windows Millennium (local mirror)
  2. Use a alternate RAMDrive (local mirror)

But, that still didn’t quite solve my problem. Sure, I used all 1024 MB RAM, but Windows complained about “Not Enough Memory” when starting a DOS prompt. So, in addition, I used both of the tweaks from the MS article and added some lines to my system.ini:

  1. Under the section [vcache] I added MaxFileCache=131072. This will make Windows use max 128 MB RAM for file cache, which in all cases is a good thing. If you want more, just set it to the full 524288 (512 MB).
  2. Under the section [386Enh] I added MaxPhysPage=80000. What this should do, is to make Windows use at max 512 MB RAM. For some reason it is in MB, so I actually told it to use 524288 MB RAM, but it works nonetheless. If it doesn’t for you, use MaxPhysPage=200 or MaxPhysPage=512 instead.

The line I used for my RAMDrive in autoexec.bat is:
XMSDSK 524288 R: /T /C1 /Y

Notes

  • I use a 512 MB RAMDrive because I have 1024 MB RAM total (1024 total minus 512 limit is 512 left for drive), but for people with 768 or 640 MB RAM total, or similar, then a smaller RAMDrive is probably better. Also, a RAMDrive smaller than 256 MB should not be used for Virtual Memory.
  • Doing it in this way, by essentially patching the boot sequence, you probably break your Microsoft Windows Millenium Edition license.
  • For users of Microsoft Windows 98 or 98 Second Edition, the Real DOS-Mode Patch for Windows Millennium would not do anything, and should not be installed. Asides from that, the XMSDSK should work with 98 and 98SE, as should the system.ini changes.