I'm trying to run a DOS business app under win XP. I have a few other systems running it under the same OS with no problems. I bought a new HP computer and it won't run the program at all, continual out of memory problems. I have noticed that when I run command and then mem/c at all the good machines the system memory usage reads about 178k. When I try it on the HP, it reads 220k - which is why I run out of memory. Any ideas on how to reduce the amount of system memory used by this HP machine? I've tried disabling all my startups using msconfig but it still reads 220K used.

If a program won't load or run properly, use the enhanced compatibility options to customise individual programs to run in any of four environments that resemble the previous Windows versions. Visual themes that control the look of window borders and buttons can be turned off for any program that conflicts with them. Compatibility with DOS applications and games is a more serious problem. Some older applications won't run at all. DOS windows cannot be switched into black-and-white mode mono. Certain systems that use nVidia-based graphics boards, cause the system to crash when Alt-Tab is used to get to the Windows desktop from DOS applications that use VESA graphics. If your business relies on DOS-based applications or if you still play DOS-based games, you may want to keep a Windows 98 dual boot machine.

Right click on the program and click properties. There is a lot of options for memory allocation. Play around. Have fun!