Hi there! Can anyone help???!! When I switch on my PC it will not load up windows. The error message is: HIMEM.SYS has detected unreliable XMS memory at address blah blah XMS driver is not installed. I found the same problem in the Microsoft knowledge base which suggests disabling the external cache in CMOS, but I don't know how to do this or even access CMOS. The system I use is Windows 98, Pentium II. The XMS driver is V. 3.95 and XMS is V. 3.0 I've found this problem in the archives on this site but none of the answers were very useful. I'm not a programmer but have limited knowledge of using DOS. Please help! Ian

Look out for a message similar to 'To enter setup press blah blah' when the pc first starts,that'll get you into cmos.Before you do that do though try swapping the memory sticks around.(ground youself first! no static!)Also when I was young and ignorant I copied new versions of himem.sys to a pc and that worked but it's most prob a hardware problem so start with the ram.

Question Why are you using himem.sys in config.sys for Win98? Win98 should load its own memory manager. If you get the message in DOS then it is telling you that you have bad memory. try swapping memory to see it the numbers change. If so probably bad memory module. If your system never booted cleanly then you might have other system problems.

Your module is bad or not compatible in your PC .Have it checked and make a switch for another one of similar specs from some other manufacturer if you can.

In addition to switching memory sticks around see if cleaning the contacts on the memory will clear the problem up.