# error xms driver not installed



## agoodjohn (Apr 5, 1999)

have a p 233 solo laptop 80 mb ram 4 gb hd running 98.
Been ok now won.t go in to widows or let me reload .
when boot to hard drive get
xms driver 3.95
error unable to control a20 line
xms driver not installed.
himem.sys missing in windows directory.

And get xms driver 3.95
error unable to control a20 line
xms driver not installed.
when booting to a floppy , but get the a:/ promt and can copy himem.sys to c:\windows it overrights but on reboot still says it's not there.
any help please.
regards Alan G


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## IMM (Feb 1, 2002)

Is norton installed on this machine ??
What are the current contents of autoexec.bat and config.sys ?
Have the cmos (bios) settings on the machine changed (perhaps due to a failing battery)?


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## agoodjohn (Apr 5, 1999)

tried different configs/autoexec.bat no different
problem seem more to do with
xms driver 3.95 
error unable to control a20 line 
as if its not using any of the 80 mb ram?
regards Alan G


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## Rollin' Rog (Dec 9, 2000)

Here are a couple of KB links addressing the error...

http://support.microsoft.com/directory/article.asp?ID=KB;EN-US;Q73713&

http://support.microsoft.com/directory/article.asp?ID=KB;EN-US;Q96711&

You might also want to try swapping out some ram to see it is failing because of a bad stick, particularly if you get the error message in the link below when trying to boot in safe mode. That will prevent himem.sys from loading as well.

http://support.microsoft.com/directory/article.asp?ID=KB;EN-US;Q109845&


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## agoodjohn (Apr 5, 1999)

have tried different settings of himem.sys in config , no difference
in the error , whether I boot to hard drive or floppy. tried disabling on board ram, tried shuffling/replacing ram chips . Same error always.
Can boot to floppy but will get, xms driver 3.95 
error unable to control a20 line 
xms driver not installed. 
will get the a:\ but can't run setup files, or get anywhere.
Regards Alan


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## Rollin' Rog (Dec 9, 2000)

When you replaced the ram chips, did you replace all of them? You haven't said whether you tried to boot in safe mode, or whether the error message changes any when you do.

You said you tried to run setup? I'm assuming you used a startup disk with CD-ROM support, inserted your Microsoft Win98 CD and entered:

e:\setup

(assuming 'e' is the letter assigned to the CD-ROM drive)

What happened when you did that?

You can also try testing ram with a software tester. Docmemory can be downloaded to any system; place a floppy in the a:\drive and run its installer to copy the files. Then boot the floppy like a startup disk and have it run a few 'burnin' loops before pressing esc

The error should not occur when booting a floppy, by the way, unless the floppy is not being seen as the first boot drive in the BIOS. This message should only occur when trying to boot from the hard drive to windows.

http://www.simmtester.com/PAGE/products/doc/docinfo.asp


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## agoodjohn (Apr 5, 1999)

sent this to gateway but as it was not brought in usa cannot help.
Have Laptop E 4.0/CKLG Gateway Solo 2000 BC397512367
solo 9100 It is 233 mhz running windows 98se It is now throwing the
following error at boot up. Windows XMS Driver version 3.95 Extended
Memory Specification (xms) version 3 Error unable to control a20 line !
Xms driver not installed. This error also occurs booting to a floppy and
even changing the hard drive and extended memory. I do not have norton
onboard. I suspect the cache ram has gone have tried disbling in the
bios but to no effect. Is the cache ram in the cpu or on board ? is the
cpu removable? 
Problem is the same on a flppy boot disk
regards Alan G


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## IMM (Feb 1, 2002)

This may be slightly risky advice - but if it was me - at this point I would flash the bios with the latest from the mfg. (I'm suspecting a corruption of it)


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## agoodjohn (Apr 5, 1999)

have flashed the bios with latest version, But no improvement can anyone point me to a assembly manual for a gateway solo 9100 233 as I cant find on on thier site .
regards Alan G


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