Memory Questions

How do I know how much conventional memory I have?

Lots of programs need as much conventional memory as they can get. To determine how much memory you have free, go to the C:\> prompt and type:

mem

and press Enter. The line, "largest executable program size" tells how much conventional memory you have. Donít do this from a DOS session in Windows. It wonít hurt anything; you just get the wrong memory size.

What speed memory chips do I have?

Most likely you have 70 nanosecond chips. But if you have an older system, you might have 80ns memory. You can look right on the chips to determine what speed they are. Look for a long set of numbers and letters followed by a -7 or a -8. -7 means they are 70ns chips and -8 means they are 80ns chips.

I have a game that requires 600K of conventional memory for it to run. How can I get that much free?

The easiest way to free up conventional memory is to create a boot diskette that doesnít load any unnecessary drivers. You may be able to free enough memory by loading your drivers into upper memory. Here are a couple of suggestions on where to get information on loading drivers high:

1. You can use EMM386.EXE to allow loading TSRís (terminate and stay resident programs) into upper memory, giving you more base memory.

   MS-DOS 5.0

   • Read Chapter 12, "Optimizing Your System," in the MS-DOS 5.0 Userís Guide. A special section on freeing conventional memory begins on page 281.
   • To get further information on how to use EMM386.EXE, refer to pages 482 and 605-609 of the MS-DOS 5.0 Userís Guide.

   MS-DOS 6.0

   • Refer to Chapter 6, "Making More Memory Available" in your Concise Userís Guide or Upgrade Manual, depending on how you got DOS 6.0.
   • To get further information on how to use EMM386.EXE, type HELP EMM386.EXE at the C:> prompt.
   • Create multiple CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files. Refer to pages 50-54 of the Concise Userís Guide and pages 105-111 in the Upgrade Manual.

2. There are memory managers on the market that allow you to free conventional memory.

The information in these articles is provided "as-is" without warranty of any kind, and all warranties are hereby disclaimed, whether express or implied, including, without limitation, the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement. Gateway 2000 will not be liable for any damages whatsoever, whether direct, special, indirect, incidental, or consequential (including, without limitation, damages for loss of business profits, business interruption, loss of business information, or any other pecuniary loss) arising out of, or related to your use of, or inability to use the information in any such article, even if advised of the possibility of such damages. Because some states and jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion or limitation of liability for consequential or incidental damages, the above limitation may not apply to you. You may not further distribute, reproduce, rent, sell, transfer or license these articles.

If our documentation hasn't helped you,
this might be a good time to send
an e-mail to Technical Support.

Copyright © 1996 Gateway 2000 Inc. All rights reserved.
Please see our Legal Information. Please send feedback to Webmaster Central.