This is the second time I have reformatted and reinstalled Windows ME this weekend. I have a 950mhz AMD Duron system with 768mb of ram. When I open more than 2 or so windows of anything - eg. Internet Explorer, Notepad, Word, anything, the system says it has no memory to open any other programs. The only things running in my systray are volume control, Microsoft Instant Messenger and Norton Antivirus 2002. I have gotten a message saying that my system is dangerously low on resources and I have gotten three or four BSOD (Blue screen of death) messages in about 20 minutes. I have had to reboot on each one. If ANYONE can offer any help, it would be so greatly appreciated.

Try removing some RAM and trying just one stick at a time to see if it is a physical RAM chip problem you are having. One of the chips could possibly be bad.

If you have not told WinME not to recognize more than 512,and you haven't adjusted you're Vcache settings in msconfig/system.ini,then you will more than likely have problems...very possibly the ones you described above. Use the System Configuration utility to limit the amount of memory that Windows uses to 512 megabytes (MB) or less. Add the following line in your SYSTEM.INI file in the [vcache] section: [vcache] MaxFileCache=524288 ...and then you can put all the memory you want in the machine with Windows ME. ME has a bug in the code that it does not detect or warn that it is trying to use more vcache space in memory than it can handle. Limiting the maximum vcache size in SYSTEM.INI is the "fix" from Micro$oft per Q253912

As a clarification: You do NOT want to restrict the memory to 512 using MsConfig. Doing this restricts windows to only being able to use that specific amount of ram (ie 512). It is just like having only 512 installed to begin with. If you really want to use 768, add the vcache restriction which will constrict the File Cache to 512MBS but still allow windows to see and use the rest of the 768. You could still have System Resource issues which have nothing to do with the amount of ram installed. If you do, do a search here for System Resources.

Well,I'll certainly give way to WhitPhil...he knows his stuff far more than I.I might have gotten carried away in my response,but that's why people such as he are here...to set people like me straight! Always willing to learn,and always willing to help...(I'm the learning guy,WhitPhil is the helping guy!) Thanx

Do you have any other opp systems installed.I had the same prob on Fri/11/2002.I found out you can't run JUST Milleniun without support from Windows 95/98/98se. Hope This Helps

Hello Matt 1st of all: stop reinstalling the OS all the time cause of this RAMproblem: that ain't gonna help ! (lol, I did the same thing more than twice (7x), hehe). - Actually I'v had the same problem like U have. My PC also runs WinME, AMD 950 mhz / 768 sdram (400 mb of them as a RAMdrive); Abit kt7a-raid. and I use a HUGE selfmade "Autoexec.bat"-Menu = 47.3 KB large ! to boot). ... I only would warn U about setting the "vcache" to high cause that as strange it is may/could also give U a lot: "out of memory"!! I think what made My computer run exellent was to make/add some changes to the "System.ini" file.. (and also try to UN-install System-Restore, PChealth, Taskmon: they just eat resources & then U need them urgent: they ain't working particulary well at all; by experience!) (betr use "Norton Ghost" to backup/restore). & Keep the System-Registry defragmented (it's like a tel.ph.book: U wouldn't find much if it's NOT sorted! Run "Scanreg /fix" or "scanreg.exe /opt" from Autoexec. __[386Enh] DMABufferSize=64 MaxPhysPage=30000 ;; This one above is important (in hexa) ! Also set Max/Min Page-File to the same ;; amount so WinME stops using resources to [re]calculate the size all the time ! ;; (note: some older pc-games STOP working if Swap-file is larger than 400 mb !!) ;; PagingDrive=C: ;; MinPagingFileSize=409600 ;; MaxPagingFileSize=409600 PagingDrive=R: ;; ("R:" is my RAMdrive!) MinPagingFileSize=102400 MaxPagingFileSize=102400 __[vcache] MinFileCache=98304 MaxFileCache=98304 chunksize=512 ;; With or without a RAMdrive I would not set it higher than (128mb)!: ;; MinFileCache=131072 ;; MaxFileCache=131072 PS: some experts recommend to set Max & Min to the same amount! And also I recommend to turn OFF the "synchron buffercommits". (How get there: Hold down "Windows"-button while pressing "break"-button. -Click "Performance"-tab, "Filesystem"-tab, go to the last tab called: "trouble- shooting" or so, put a mark left to "deactivate synchron buffercommits", Restart) Now finally U'r PC should stop hanging like it is for DEFAULT if the amount of RAM installed in the computer is more than 512mb! Below here (push the "view largest" button in IE!) is part of an article I found some- there then trying to solve the RAMproblem (I also tested that My RAM ain't faulty!) ________________________________________________________________________ --- MAXPHYSPAGE WITH LARGE RAM SYSTEMS: --- - Limiting the amount of RAM Windows will recognize - Windows may not start if your computer has 1GB RAM or more memory installed. Also you may receive the following error message when you try to start your computer: Insufficient memory to initialize Windows. This applies to Win95/98/SE/ME. The main cause seems to be Windows' inability to manage large quantities of RAM. The cure, according to Microsoft, is to artificially limit the quantity of accessed RAM to 768MB. Read Error Message: Insufficient Memory to Initialize Windows at the Microsoft site. 1. Quit one or more memory-resident programs or remove unnecessary utilities from your CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files, and restart your computer. 2. If the problem occurs during Windows Setup, or its first run, add the following line in the [386Enh] section of System.ini (limits the physical RAM that Windows can access to 768MB) MaxPhysPage=30000 You may be able to use more 'Windows' RAM than Microsoft recommends. You can try =3C000 to limit it to 960MB, or =38000 for 896MB, or =34000 for 832MB. Some users report similar problems with 512MB RAM and the problems being solved by reducing recognized RAM to 128MB. However, it's not clear whether or not they have faulty RAM. Visit Microsoft's page for a full list of MaxPhysPage hexadecimal values. -- Also take a look & follow the great link "TheKid" added in "Response Nr. 2" :-) I don't know & can't tell exactly what setting are right for You'r PC, but above should tell U what settings to try out then solving probl. Now U at least should know that RE-installing the OS ain't solving the RAMtrouble! ((try overclocking the "Duron(tm)" to boost perform., caution: temperature!)) Good luck! :-) Let me know how things work out, maybe U come up with greater settings :-) Any comments fr. others? We apreciate any improvement suggestions, thanx in advance !!