RAM - Win95

[montroze]

I have 2 PC66 128 mb of RAM. The computer recognized the 2 128's and my 32. The problem now is that alone the 32mb boots normally and windows 95 loads in about 2 minutes.
When I add one or both of the 128 modules windows 95 takes 20 minutes to load. It doesn't matter what configuration I put the memory in it does the same thing. So now my problem why is Windows 95 slowing down so much with the addition of the 2 128mb sticks of RAM . These are the correct sticks for this computer.
Also ran scandisk, defrag, cleaned up the startup menu, can only get around 75% system resources...any tips? Would upgrading to WIN98 help, or is the BIOS to old(did an upgrade on that also)Thanks

[scoutt]

well for one 2 128Mb sticks is way to much for windows95-98. theorectically it will not see past 96Mb. well I say won't see past I meant it won't use anyhting over 96Mb. 95 is old enough to not see that much ram let alone run with that much. you could upgrade to 98 which i think you should anyway, won't hurt.

how old it is? and 98 is basically the same as 95 with just a few more whistles and some more security. it would be a good choice to upgrade.

try putting just one 128 in and see and then take it out and try the other one. it might also be a bad ram stick.

[montroze]

Thanks Scott for the tips, just want to kind of verify this, it is Win95 that doesnt reconize all the Ram and not the motherboard and Win98 should recognize more with the same motherboard.

[scoutt]

well no it is the OS. it will see all 256 but not use anything over 96. one of the drawbacks of 98 even 98se. but win2000 will use all of it.

[montroze]

Ill give 98 a shot, thanks again Scoutt <-- notice I spelt it right this time.

[scoutt]

you are not the only one to spell it wrong :P

actually didn't notice....

how old is it? and are we talking DIMM's or SIMM's?

I was think last night and it might in fact be the motherboard not knowing how to hadle that much ram. did you try one at a time? and how did that turn out?

[Ian]

Originally posted by scoutt
well no it is the OS. it will see all 256 but not use anything over 96. one of the drawbacks of 98 even 98se. but win2000 will use all of it. Where did you learn this?? The OS and programs will use as much as is required. By default windows 95 will use (onload) around 64 meg and win98 around 96 meg, if you have less ram than this, it will just increase your swapfile on your HDD, if you have more than this, it will assign it into ram instead of your swapfile and increase your system speed and performance. I run 256 and use it all regularly - just look at the "Unused Physical Memory" in the attachment.

I dont think your problem is with your OS, but posibly faulty ram, or incompatible motherboard/processor/ram combo, or ram slot placement, or BIOS recognition problem, or a number of other things.
you really need to know your motherboard/mainboard make and version (including bios version), motherboard bus speed, ram type and speed, processor type and supported speed, and OS if you need some answers, and then go to the manufactures sites and consult their tech forums or email them about your problem.

It is a Hardware issue and not a problem with your software (OS), upgrading to Win98 will not be of any help (unless running Win95 1st release which does not support FAT32 resulting in much slower disk access speed).

Things to look for first is:

Is your bios recognising the full amount of ram you have installed?
Make sure you are not using "mixed-match" ram (IE: ram of two different access speeds) Many "older" systems will not allow this and will not be "backward compatible" if you try running faster ram.

Let us know if your system is recognising the ram, you should see this when your system first boots up and reads your bios.

[scoutt]

Originally posted by Ian
Where did you learn this?? The OS and programs will use as much as is required. By default windows 95 will use (onload) around 64 meg and win98 around 96 meg, if you have less ram than this, it will just increase your swapfile on your HDD, if you have more than this, it will assign it into ram instead of your swapfile and increase your system speed and performance. I run 256 and use it all regularly - just look at the "Unused Physical Memory" in the attachment.

well that might be the case. maybe I just twisted it like I said as it has been a long time since I read / was told by a teacher, couldn't remember. you might be right as it sounds better :) but the more I think about it, I think my A+ teacher told us. who knows, my memory fails as I get older :)

but if you notice I said the motherboard / bad memory first. ;) But just to clarify I have 256Mb on Win98se and it runs so much slower than win2k on the same system. so I think I am half right and you are half right. ;)

[montroze]

It turned out to be some bad Ram

[Ian]

Originally posted by montroze
It turned out to be some bad Ram That is great news Montroze, although it was bad ram, it is lucky it is not something much worse that required lots of $$$. I hope your problems are solved.

and scoutt, yep, you are half right, good job :)

[quietstorm]

Although montoze's issue was resolved, I feel the need to make a statement. Yes, scoutt is mostly correct. Anything more than 192 MB on Win98 or Win98SE actually slows it down. Experience says so. Of course, certainsources:D say so also.

[Ian]

Originally posted by quietstorm
Anything more than 192 MB on Win98 or Win98SE actually slows it down. Experience says so. Of course, certainsources:D say so also. I think thats a load of :censored: .I would be interested in seeing your proof quietstorm

[quietstorm]

Originally posted by Ian
I think thats a load of :censored: .I would be interested in seeing your proof quietstorm ]
Try running Win98 on ~200 MB, and the try with 512 MB. Believe me, I've done it. Or else why would my machine get faster by downgrading form 512 to 396(?)? Believe me, it's not bad RAM (it wen t straight into a Win2K machine and was okay there....made it a lot faster).

[scoutt]

http://www.techtv.com/screensavers/answerstips/story/0,24330,2263773,00.html

that is one story and I thnk I have seen another.

You'll reach a point where it's no longer cost-effective to add RAM. Tests by PC Computing have shown that as RAM size goes up, its benefits decrease. Between 64MB and 128MB is about all the RAM that can make a difference in Windows 95 and 98. The only real benefit from having more than 128MB of RAM is in graphics processing or high-end multimedia production.