# Windows 98 will not boot



## amunchie (Nov 19, 2008)

Hello, I'm new to the forum, just joined.

After upgrading my computer a few months ago, I went to start my computer on Windows 98 (as I have Partition Magic which means I have Windows XP also because I have some old games that only work on Windows 98) but it won't start up. Repairing XP was no problem but when I start Windows 98 I get the following 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.

I found the following link which may solve my problem:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/184447

However, once I open the system.ini file, I get completely stuck and don't know where to type the line mentioned or how to go into the file and don't know how to select the menu at the top to open or save the file. Is anyone familiar with the system.ini screen? Can anyone help me, please? Thanks.


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## TheOutcaste (Aug 8, 2007)

Welcome to TSG!

I'm assuming you are opening the system.ini file while booted into WinXP?
First make sure you are opening the system.ini file for the Win98 partition and not WinXP. The WinXP system.ini will be just a few lines, and the first line will be "*; for 16-bit app support*" The Win98 file will be much longer.

If you are in the right file, and are in Notepad, press *CTRL+F* to bring up the *Find* dialog. (CTRL+F works in most text editors)
Type *MaxPhysPage* in the *Find what:* box and press *Find Next*. (can be all lower case)
If it's found, change the value to 30000 as the article suggests, save, and try booting into Win98.
If not found, press *CTRL+F* to bring up the Find dialog and type *[386Enh]* in the *Find what:* box and press *Find Next*.
Add *MaxPhysPage=30000* at then end of the section before the next Section heading [...]. I'm not sure if case matters, but best to match what the article shows.

Here's the [386Enh] section from my system, with the added line shown in Red:

[386Enh]
ebios=*ebios
woafont=dosapp.fon
mouse=*vmouse, msmouse.vxd
device=*dynapage
device=*vcd
device=*vpd
device=*int13
keyboard=*vkd
display=*vdd,*vflatd
PagingDrive=C:
MinPagingFileSize=163840
MaxPagingFileSize=524288
*MaxPhysPage=30000*
 
[NonWindowsApp]

I would add the line right after MaxPagingFileSize. It can actually go in anyplace in this section, so you can add it right before ebios=*ebios in this example.

I've seen reports that if you have 2GB or more of RAM installed this will not work.
There are some additional tweaks that may help here:
Scroll to the bottom section titled LARGE RAM PCs

HTH

Jerry


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## Jtoast (Oct 3, 2002)

Edit the sys.ini file with notepad. Scroll down to the [386enh] section and enter the requested information, choose file, and save.


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## amunchie (Nov 19, 2008)

Ah, funny thing is, when I type in edit system.ini at the command prompt, I just get a blank screen. I don't get any text listed. It looks like this is missing.


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## TheOutcaste (Aug 8, 2007)

Are you first changing to the *C:\Windows* directory? You prompt should show C:\Windows>

To change, type *CD C:\Windows*
If you are starting from an *A:\>* prompt, first type *C:* and press enter to switch to the C: drive, then type the above command.

HTH

Jerry


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## amunchie (Nov 19, 2008)

Got it. When I got to the [386Enh] section I don't have the lines that begin 'MinPagingFile' and 'MaxPagingFile'. Does this matter? I have entered 'MaxPhysPage=30000' after the last line of this section.


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## TheOutcaste (Aug 8, 2007)

amunchie said:


> Got it. When I got to the [386Enh] section I don't have the lines that begin 'MinPagingFile' and 'MaxPagingFile'. Does this matter?


Those two entries only appear if you've manually configured your swap file. If it's set to Windows managed (the default) they won't appear. Won't be a problem.

Did adding that line get it to boot?

Jerry


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## amunchie (Nov 19, 2008)

I haven't tried booting Windows 98 again, yet. I will try a bit later and let you know what happens. Thanks.


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## amunchie (Nov 19, 2008)

Okay, Windows will now start up but I've still got problems. I have a rubbish display set at 16 colours at the lowest possible resolution and Windows 98 has not detected my DVD Drive (which is Drive E on my Windows XP as I have 2 hard drives which are C and D) so I'm unable to load drivers from CD's. Is there any way I can resolve this? Thanks.


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## amunchie (Nov 19, 2008)

I've found the following link which has some information which may solve the problem I've got with my dvd/cd rom drive not being detected on Windows 98. Is this worth trying to copy the files mentioned to my c:windows\system32\drivers folder?

http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/forums/index.cfm?action=showthread&threadid=305731&forumid=1

The only thing, though, I can't find the file drivers\MxWI2k.sys.


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## TheOutcaste (Aug 8, 2007)

That list of files appears to be for WinXP, not Win98. For instance, imapi.sys was introduced with WinXP so doesn't exist in Win98. The only one I can find on my Win98SE system is redbook.sys. My Win98 system doesn't even have that file.

Win98 drivers are usually .vxd files and the basic ones are in the *Windows\system\iosubsys* folder, or merged into the vmm32.vxd file when Windows is installed.


amunchie said:


> After upgrading my computer a few months ago,


You never said what the upgrade was; did you replace the Motherboard?
If so, does it support Win98? You may just need to install the chipset drivers (hard to do when it can't see the CD/DVD-ROM), but they may not exist for Win98.

Some questions:


What did you upgrade?
If it was the motherboard, what is the make and model number.
Is this Win98 or Win98 Second Edition?
Are there any errors shown in Device Manger?
If you boot with a Win98 startup floppy, and choose *With CD-ROM Support*, can you then see the CD-ROM, i.e., can you do a DIR on the CD-ROM drive?

Jerry


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## amunchie (Nov 19, 2008)

My answers:

1) Yes, my dad did replace the motherboard for me. It is a AMD Athlon 64FX/Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core/AMD Athlon 64/Sempron AM2 Processor Motherboard, model no: GA-MA69VM-S2. It came with inbuild graphics card and I also had a new DVD-ROM drive fitted that was compatible with this.
2) Win98 Second Edition.
3) I get loads of exclaimation marks in Device Manager on Win98.
4) When I try to boot with CD-ROM support, I get the following message:
"Device driver not found: 'OEMCD001'.
No valid CDROM device drivers selected."

TheOutcaste, I hope this information helps you to solve my problem.


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## TheOutcaste (Aug 8, 2007)

amunchie said:


> My answers:
> 
> 1) Yes, my dad did replace the motherboard for me. It is a AMD Athlon 64FX/Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core/AMD Athlon 64/Sempron AM2 Processor Motherboard, model no: GA-MA69VM-S2. It came with inbuild graphics card and I also had a new DVD-ROM drive fitted that was compatible with this.


The gigabyte website has no Win98SE drivers, except for the Ethernet Controller. It might not be possible to get it working any better than it currently is


amunchie said:


> 2) Win98 Second Edition.
> 3) I get loads of exclaimation marks in Device Manager on Win98.


Win98SE is trying to load the drivers for the old Motherboard, which won't work with this motherboard. After upgrading the Motherboard, the usual procedure is to do a repair install of Win98SE, but that needs a CD-ROM that windows can see, plus drivers for the hardware.


amunchie said:


> 4) When I try to boot with CD-ROM support, I get the following message:
> "Device driver not found: 'OEMCD001'.
> No valid CDROM device drivers selected."
> 
> TheOutcaste, I hope this information helps you to solve my problem.


Looks like you have a customized Win98SE Startup disk, as the one Windows creates does not have an OEMCD001 driver. I don't know if the standard startup disk will work with your Motherboard/DVD-ROM, but we can try. You have to have a working CD to create a new one, but you can download an image from Bootdisk.com. Download the Win98SE OEM file to your desktop (you can do this in XP), double click, and have a blank Floppy handy. It will create the original Win98SE startup disk. Try booting with that and see if it will load a CD-ROM driver that will work with this DVD-ROM. If it's a SATA DVD drive instead of an IDE, it may be impossible.

If we can get that to work, the easiest solution would be to do a repair install of Windows and see what we can get to work. From what I've found on the Web though, ATI/AMD doesn't offer Win9x drivers for this chipset (690V). ATI has a Win98SE driver for Radeon cards, but I don't know if it will work with the integrated X1250 your motherboard has. Haven't looked for audio drivers yet.

If you have WinXP Pro, it might be a whole lot easier to install MS Virtual PC 2007 and then install Win98 as a Guest. Don't know how well this would work to play games. VPC 2007 might work on XP Home, but I've never tried.

We first need to see if we can get the DVD visible. Another option if the DVD is a SATA drive, would be to install the old CD-ROM drive.

Jerry


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## amunchie (Nov 19, 2008)

I have XP Home Edition and I downloaded Boot Disk for Win93SE but when I try to write this to floppy, it comes up with an error message and I tried 3 different floppys that as far as I'm aware are blank but WindowsXP kept saying it could not format any of them. I don't know what's happened with this. As with MS Virtual PC 2007, my operating system does not support this. I've looked at what CD drive I have and I go into device manager and into the properties menu for my CD drive and 'Device Instance ID' is selected in the box at the top with the line below this reading:

IDE\CDROMOPTICARC_DVD_RW_AD-7200S ( a long line, then) 1.04 (short line) \5&7B6856B&0&0.0.0

I think this indicates that I have a IDE drive. I'm a bit puzzeled (and so is my dad) as to why my floppy disc drive will not format or write to discs. It seems I have a new problem.

TheOutcaste, does this help further? As for a clean install of Win98 Second Edition, I don't know how to do this without touching WinXP, without a CD Drive or a floppy.


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## TheOutcaste (Aug 8, 2007)

Found this site for the OptiArc ad-7200S which says it's a SATA drive, not IDE; the IDE version would be AD-7200A. Without a Win98SE chipset driver (the SATA controller is part of the chipset) I doubt if Win98SE can see the drive. You could try setting the SATA controller to Legacy IDE mode. That might let Win98SE see the drive. You do lose the advanced features of the SATA interface, but you might not even notice a difference. (See page 33 in the Motherboard Manual; should be a copy on the CD that came with the MB, or it can be downloaded from the gigabyte site linked above)

You're motherboard only has 1 IDE port, meaning you can only have 2 IDE drives, so if you only have one IDE hard drive you could connect the old CD-ROM. As Win98SE can see the hard drive, it should see the old IDE CD-ROM.

Not sure what's up with the floppy either. It could just need cleaning, or you might just have found 3 bad floppies. No way to tell without trying them on a different drive.
Can't hurt to check the BIOS settings to make sure it's set correctly. Should be set as a 1.44 M, 3.5" floppy and Mode 3 support should be disabled (Page 30 in the MB Manual).
Shouldn't matter if the disks are blank or not when formatting.
Have you tried this from Windows 98SE? It may be less picky than XP when it comes to formating.
Can't hurt to double check the connections to the floppy, though as it will boot from a floppy you'd think the connections are OK.

Is XP installed on a different partition or drive? If so, there are ways to do a clean or repair install of Win98SE by copying the Win98 folder ("cab files") from the CD to the hard drive. These files may already be there, in the *C:\Windows\Options\Cabs* folder, or possibly another location. Search for *Win98_*.cab*, there should be about 50 files.

If XP and Win98SE share the same partition, it can still be done, but it increases the risk that you'd affect the XP installation.

You can also just go into Device Manger in Win98SE and uninstall everything that has an error, then reboot and let it detect the hardware. Anything with an error is probably not working anyway, though the IDE controllers and Display adapter will still work with errors. THe IDE controller will run in compatibility mode, and the Display will use a generic VGA driver. Problem is if these are removed, Windows will re-install it's default drivers (will need access to the CD or the cab files) which may not work as well as the current ones.

If your old motherboard still works, it may be far easier to just get a case, keyboard, mouse, and power supply, get a new SATA drive for XP with the new motherboard, and put this ide drive in the old system with the old CD-ROM drive.
You might get VPC 2004 to work also. VPC 2004 SP1 is also free, and won't install on XP Home, but I found this article that shows a method to use the VPC 2004 SP1 file to install VPC 2004 without the SP1 part that is supposed to work with XP Home. Haven't tried it yet as I don't have XP Home installed on anything at the moment.

To clarify the instructions:
Download *Virtual PC 2004 SP1.zip* from here
Extract the files to the root of the drive, *D:\* for example if Xp is on D. It should create a folder named *Virtual PC 2004 SP1*.
(You can also extract just the one file, *Microsoft Virtual PC 2004 MSDN.msi*)
Open a Command Prompt and type the following:
*msiexec /a "D:\Virtual PC 2004 SP1\Microsoft Virtual PC 2004 MSDN.msi"*

This will start an install wizard that will create what is called a Network Install Point. Follow the prompts, and enter a folder, say *D:\VPC 2004*, for the install point location
Now open the *D:\VPC 2004* folder and double click the *Microsoft Virtual PC 2004 MSDN.msi* file (there is no setup.exe like the article says).
Once installed, you can delete both the *VPC 2004* and *Virtual PC 2004 SP1* folders if desired, though you'll want to grab the VPC Additions out of the *C:\VPC2004\Program Files\Microsoft Virtual PC\Virtual Machine Additions* folder first, then install Win98SE as a guest and see how that works.

Jerry


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## amunchie (Nov 19, 2008)

Right, I tried the floppy in Win98 and it didn't like that either. I've checked on Wind 98 for the .cab files you mentioned and there aren't any in the folder you stated. I have copied the Win98 folder on the CD to my hard drive in XP so that's on there. Do I just need to copy some files? I haven't tried Virtual PC 2004 yet. Unfortunately, my old motherboard no longer works as something blew when my dad tried to increase my RAM for me which is the reason for the upgrade.


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## amunchie (Nov 19, 2008)

Sorry, also meant to say that I've checked the settings for my floppy drive and it's set just as you say it should. Also, I have tried changed the SATA controller to Legacy IDE mode but Windows 98 still doesn't see my DVD ROM drive.


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## TheOutcaste (Aug 8, 2007)

With the cab files on the drive, what you would do is to go into Device Manager and uninstall items that have an exclamation point, then reboot and let windows re-detect the hardware. Problem is without Win98SE drivers for this motherboard it probably won't help.

You might get it to see an IDE CD-Rom, but I doubt it will see any SATA device. Probably won't have any luck with Video either unless you install a PCI Video card, or a PCI-Express card that does have a Win98SE driver.

All I've found for this chipset is notes like this one for MSI's K9AG Neo2-Digital MB which has the same chipset as yours:


> MSI Reminds you :
> Because of the limitations of chipset, this MB does not support Win98/ME.


I don't think you're going to have much luck getting this to work.

Another member just tried getting VPC 2004 working in XP-Home, and didn't have much luck. His thread is [thread=772590]here[/thread]. It may be one of those "works in some systems but not others", as some people do have it working.

You've probably already tried this, but I'll mention it just in case you haven't. Have you tried using XP's compatibility mode to run these old games? Sometimes Win95 mode will work where Win98/ME doesn't. It can also make a difference if the installer is run in compatibility mode to install the program, as well as setting it on the program itself.
Right click the installer or program shortcut, and click properties, then click the Compatibility tab.

Jerry


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