Removing a partition

[Kate]

My HD has two partitions : F:/ is the main one I use, running Win XP
SP3, but the other uses Win 98SE. I very rarely use this partition
and it was only created so that I could run old software. I increased
RAM to 1.5 GB a while back, and when I tried to boot into Win 98SE
today, I got the "Insufficient memory to initialize Windows. Quit one
or more memory-resident programs..." message. I tried the system.ini
workaround modification of adding MaxPhysPage=30000 to [386Enh], but
that didn`t work, so I think I shall have to finally say farewell to
Win 98 and delete the partition. I have never had to do this before.
Is it just a matter of going to Disk Management, highlighting the
volume letter and pressing delete? Also, will the freed disk space be
automatically added to F:/ drive? Unless, of course, someone knows of
another workaround I could try, short of physically removing some RAM,
please?

Many thanks
Kate

 

[sgopus]

yes, that will work, however you will have to edit BOOT.ini to remove the path.

 

[Bill in Co.]

My HD has two partitions : F:/ is the main one I use, running Win XP
SP3, but the other uses Win 98SE. I very rarely use this partition
and it was only created so that I could run old software. I increased
RAM to 1.5 GB a while back,

That's WAY more than one needs, however.

and when I tried to boot into Win 98SE
today, I got the "Insufficient memory to initialize Windows.

Something is wrong here, and consuming that memory.

Quit one
or more memory-resident programs..." message. I tried the system.ini
workaround modification of adding MaxPhysPage=30000 to [386Enh], but
that didn`t work, so I think I shall have to finally say farewell to
Win 98 and delete the partition.

Memory is different than disk space. I don't think the issue is with your
disk space and partition size.

You need to find out what program is running that is using the extra memory,
OR perhaps you are infected with MALWARE and that's creating the problem
here.

You also might want to consider doing a System Restore back to before this
all happened.

I have never had to do this before.
Is it just a matter of going to Disk Management, highlighting the
volume letter and pressing delete?

I expect you could do that, but again, if memory is an issue, this isn't the
problem.

Also, will the freed disk space be automatically added to F:/ drive?

Only IF you use a third party partitioning program, AFAIK, such as Partition
Magic, or maybe Easeus Partition Manager.

 

[Kate]

Thanks for getting back to me on this. Would I need to re-format the
partition? The Win 98 uses FAT32, but the XP is NTFS...

Kate

yes, that will work, however you will have to edit BOOT.ini to
remove the path.

My HD has two partitions : F:/ is the main one I use, running Win
XP
SP3, but the other uses Win 98SE. I very rarely use this partition
and it was only created so that I could run old software. I
increased
RAM to 1.5 GB a while back, and when I tried to boot into Win 98SE
today, I got the "Insufficient memory to initialize Windows. Quit
one
or more memory-resident programs..." message. I tried the
system.ini
workaround modification of adding MaxPhysPage=30000 to [386Enh],
but
that didn`t work, so I think I shall have to finally say farewell
to
Win 98 and delete the partition. I have never had to do this
before.
Is it just a matter of going to Disk Management, highlighting the
volume letter and pressing delete? Also, will the freed disk space
be
automatically added to F:/ drive? Unless, of course, someone knows
of
another workaround I could try, short of physically removing some
RAM,
please?

Many thanks
Kate

.

 

[Yousuf Khan]

Is it just a matter of going to Disk Management, highlighting the
volume letter and pressing delete? Also, will the freed disk space be
automatically added to F:/ drive? Unless, of course, someone knows of
another workaround I could try, short of physically removing some RAM,
please?

No, the freed disk space won't automatically be added to F: drive.
You'll have to create another separate partition to make use of freed
space, and it will have it's own drive letter again. That's if you're
relying on just the default Windows disk management utilities. There are
3rd party partitioners out there that can shift your F: drive to
beginning of the disk and add the free disk space to the back of the
partition.

Yousuf Khan

 

[Kate]

I increased the memory because I process a lot of large RAW image
files and they were taking so long to load and convert.

I did do a search on-line, and the info I found said that, with Win
98, more than 512MB of RAM can cause this error message to appear,
which was a surprise. The workaround was to modify the System.ini
file, which I did. I doubt that it can be a malware issue, either, as
I cannot connect to the internet while using this partition.

Thanks for the suggestions.
Kate

My HD has two partitions : F:/ is the main one I use, running Win
XP
SP3, but the other uses Win 98SE. I very rarely use this partition
and it was only created so that I could run old software. I
increased
RAM to 1.5 GB a while back,

That's WAY more than one needs, however.

and when I tried to boot into Win 98SE
today, I got the "Insufficient memory to initialize Windows.

Something is wrong here, and consuming that memory.

Quit one
or more memory-resident programs..." message. I tried the
system.ini
workaround modification of adding MaxPhysPage=30000 to [386Enh],
but
that didn`t work, so I think I shall have to finally say farewell
to
Win 98 and delete the partition.

Memory is different than disk space. I don't think the issue is
with your disk space and partition size.

You need to find out what program is running that is using the extra
memory, OR perhaps you are infected with MALWARE and that's creating
the problem here.

You also might want to consider doing a System Restore back to
before this all happened.

I have never had to do this before.
Is it just a matter of going to Disk Management, highlighting the
volume letter and pressing delete?

I expect you could do that, but again, if memory is an issue, this
isn't the problem.

Also, will the freed disk space be automatically added to F:/
drive?

Only IF you use a third party partitioning program, AFAIK, such as
Partition Magic, or maybe Easeus Partition Manager.

Unless, of course, someone knows of
another workaround I could try, short of physically removing some
RAM,
please?

Many thanks
Kate

 

[Kate]

No, the freed disk space won't automatically be added to F: drive.
You'll have to create another separate partition to make use of
freed space, and it will have it's own drive letter again. That's if
you're relying on just the default Windows disk management
utilities. There are 3rd party partitioners out there that can shift
your F: drive to beginning of the disk and add the free disk space
to the back of the partition.

Yousuf Khan

I might have guessed that it wouldn`t be as easy as I`d hoped! Maybe
I will leave well-alone until I start running out of space in my main
partition.

Thank you for the reply.
Kate

 

[Yousuf Khan]

I might have guessed that it wouldn`t be as easy as I`d hoped! Maybe
I will leave well-alone until I start running out of space in my main
partition.

It would be simpler to simply erase the Windows 98's Windows directory,
and you can free up all of that space in there. You just won't be able
to boot into it anymore.

Yousuf Khan

 

[Yousuf Khan]

My HD has two partitions : F:/ is the main one I use, running Win XP
SP3, but the other uses Win 98SE. I very rarely use this partition
and it was only created so that I could run old software. I increased
RAM to 1.5 GB a while back,

That's WAY more than one needs, however.

and when I tried to boot into Win 98SE
today, I got the "Insufficient memory to initialize Windows.

Something is wrong here, and consuming that memory.

Quit one
or more memory-resident programs..." message. I tried the system.ini
workaround modification of adding MaxPhysPage=30000 to [386Enh], but
that didn`t work, so I think I shall have to finally say farewell to
Win 98 and delete the partition.

Memory is different than disk space. I don't think the issue is with your
disk space and partition size.

There is a bug with Windows 98 that makes it difficult to work with more
than 512MB of RAM.

Google Answers: Windows 98 Maximum RAM
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview/id/333688.html

The OP was saying that after she installed additional RAM on W98, it
stopped working, so she figured she might as well delete and reallocate
the disk space used by it.

Yousuf Khan

 

[Paul]

My HD has two partitions : F:/ is the main one I use, running Win XP
SP3, but the other uses Win 98SE. I very rarely use this partition
and it was only created so that I could run old software. I increased
RAM to 1.5 GB a while back,

That's WAY more than one needs, however.

and when I tried to boot into Win 98SE
today, I got the "Insufficient memory to initialize Windows.

Something is wrong here, and consuming that memory.

Quit one
or more memory-resident programs..." message. I tried the system.ini
workaround modification of adding MaxPhysPage=30000 to [386Enh], but
that didn`t work, so I think I shall have to finally say farewell to
Win 98 and delete the partition.

Memory is different than disk space. I don't think the issue is
with your disk space and partition size.

There is a bug with Windows 98 that makes it difficult to work with more
than 512MB of RAM.

Google Answers: Windows 98 Maximum RAM
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview/id/333688.html

The OP was saying that after she installed additional RAM on W98, it
stopped working, so she figured she might as well delete and reallocate
the disk space used by it.

Yousuf Khan

But what that article doesn't address, is the fix that Kate is already
using. There is the MaxPhysPage=20000 fix, which makes the excess RAM
invisible to the OS.

I've used that on my Core2 Duo system. My newest system has 2GB of RAM
on it, and using MaxPhysPage=20000 discards 1.5GB and only 512MB is
visible (that is what the 20000 hex is equal to).

To do it, I started the install for Win98, and on the first reboot,
booted into another OS instead and edited the file, and added the MaxPhysPage
setting. Then, I rebooted and let Win98 boot from the hard drive for
the first time. It worked fine. I updated to Win98SE, as I have that
one too (upgrade disc).

These are the limits I've seen before, but rather than take a chance,
I just cut my MaxPhysPage to 20000 or 512MB, just to be sure.

[vcache]
MaxFileCache=524288 (or a lesser number if you want)

[386enh]
MaxPhysPage=40000 (limits physical RAM reported to Win98 to 1GB)

Only one core is visible in Win98, but it was still pretty snappy. The
drive with Win98 on it, sits in the corner, and I really haven't had a
reason to plug it in again. I have drivers for everything, and Device
Manager is just as clean in Win98SE as it is in WinXP. (I leave my HDAudio
turned off and use a PCI sound card instead, and it has Win98 drivers
available.)

Paul

 

[Kate]

Kate wrote:
My HD has two partitions : F:/ is the main one I use, running Win
XP SP3, but the other uses Win 98SE. I very rarely use this
partition and it was only created so that I could run old
software. I increased RAM to 1.5 GB a while back,

That's WAY more than one needs, however.

and when I tried to boot into Win 98SE today, I got the
"Insufficient memory to initialize Windows.

Something is wrong here, and consuming that memory.

Quit one or more memory-resident programs..." message. I tried
the system.ini workaround modification of adding
MaxPhysPage=30000 to [386Enh], but that didn`t work, so I think I
shall have to finally say farewell to Win 98 and delete the
partition.

Memory is different than disk space. I don't think the issue is
with your disk space and partition size.

There is a bug with Windows 98 that makes it difficult to work with
more than 512MB of RAM.

Google Answers: Windows 98 Maximum RAM
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview/id/333688.html

The OP was saying that after she installed additional RAM on W98,
it stopped working, so she figured she might as well delete and
reallocate the disk space used by it.

Yousuf Khan

But what that article doesn't address, is the fix that Kate is
already using. There is the MaxPhysPage=20000 fix, which makes the
excess RAM invisible to the OS.

I've used that on my Core2 Duo system. My newest system has 2GB of
RAM on it, and using MaxPhysPage=20000 discards 1.5GB and only 512MB
is visible (that is what the 20000 hex is equal to).

To do it, I started the install for Win98, and on the first reboot,
booted into another OS instead and edited the file, and added the
MaxPhysPage setting. Then, I rebooted and let Win98 boot from the
hard drive for the first time. It worked fine. I updated to Win98SE,
as I have that one too (upgrade disc).

These are the limits I've seen before, but rather than take a
chance, I just cut my MaxPhysPage to 20000 or 512MB, just to be
sure.

[vcache]
MaxFileCache=524288 (or a lesser number if you want)

[386enh]
MaxPhysPage=40000 (limits physical RAM reported to Win98 to
1GB)

Only one core is visible in Win98, but it was still pretty snappy.
The drive with Win98 on it, sits in the corner, and I really haven't
had a reason to plug it in again. I have drivers for everything, and
Device Manager is just as clean in Win98SE as it is in WinXP. (I
leave my HDAudio turned off and use a PCI sound card instead, and it
has Win98 drivers available.)

Paul

Just to clarify, I already had Win98 installed on C: partition and it
ran fine until after the RAM increase.

I did a whole lot more research last night and found several
references to MaxPhysPage and also MaxFileCache. The latter was not
mentioned in the Microsoft article I originally found. I also
discovered that during Safe Mode boot, System.ini is ignored by Win98
so any alterations to the .ini file will not be effective, but I only
had the option to use Safe Mode when I tried to boot because "Windows
was not shut down properly" and so on. I added the MaxFileCache line
to System.ini anyway and did a Safe Mode boot with the step by step
choice, clicking `Y` for most of it, and it booted OK. I was then
able to restart and boot normally. I haven`t been able to check if my
programs run OK as yet. If I do have problems, I shall probably try
increasing the MaxPhysPage and MaxFileCache figures, as at least one
poster on the forum threads I found mentioned that they had not had
problems at 1GB RAM.

Kate

 

[Kate]

How do I find out if I am using dual boot, please? When I boot the
computer, I am offered the choice of Win XP or Windows. XP is first
and if I do nothing, the machine will start up XP in F: drive. I have
to manually select "Windows" if I want to use Win98 in C: drive. When
I am in XP, I can access C: drive directory with Windows Explorer, but
when in Win98, I cannot access the XP directory.

Kate

If you're using Microsoft dual boot, the Windows 98 partition
contains the boot files for Windows XP, so Disk Management won't let
you delete the partition. If you delete the partition using other
means, you won't be able to boot Windows XP.

My HD has two partitions : F:/ is the main one I use, running Win XP
SP3, but the other uses Win 98SE. I very rarely use this partition
and it was only created so that I could run old software. I
increased
RAM to 1.5 GB a while back, and when I tried to boot into Win 98SE
today, I got the "Insufficient memory to initialize Windows. Quit
one
or more memory-resident programs..." message. I tried the system.ini
workaround modification of adding MaxPhysPage=30000 to [386Enh], but
that didn`t work, so I think I shall have to finally say farewell to
Win 98 and delete the partition. I have never had to do this
before.
Is it just a matter of going to Disk Management, highlighting the
volume letter and pressing delete? Also, will the freed disk space
be
automatically added to F:/ drive? Unless, of course, someone knows
of
another workaround I could try, short of physically removing some
RAM,
please?

Many thanks
Kate

 

[Bob I]

That is Dual Boot.

How do I find out if I am using dual boot, please? When I boot the
computer, I am offered the choice of Win XP or Windows. XP is first
and if I do nothing, the machine will start up XP in F: drive. I have
to manually select "Windows" if I want to use Win98 in C: drive. When
I am in XP, I can access C: drive directory with Windows Explorer, but
when in Win98, I cannot access the XP directory.

Kate

If you're using Microsoft dual boot, the Windows 98 partition
contains the boot files for Windows XP, so Disk Management won't let
you delete the partition. If you delete the partition using other
means, you won't be able to boot Windows XP.

My HD has two partitions : F:/ is the main one I use, running Win XP
SP3, but the other uses Win 98SE. I very rarely use this partition
and it was only created so that I could run old software. I
increased
RAM to 1.5 GB a while back, and when I tried to boot into Win 98SE
today, I got the "Insufficient memory to initialize Windows. Quit
one
or more memory-resident programs..." message. I tried the system.ini
workaround modification of adding MaxPhysPage=30000 to [386Enh], but
that didn`t work, so I think I shall have to finally say farewell to
Win 98 and delete the partition. I have never had to do this
before.
Is it just a matter of going to Disk Management, highlighting the
volume letter and pressing delete? Also, will the freed disk space
be
automatically added to F:/ drive? Unless, of course, someone knows
of
another workaround I could try, short of physically removing some
RAM,
please?

Many thanks
Kate

 

[Kate]

Thanks for the confirmation, and to Andy for the warning.

Kate

That is Dual Boot.

How do I find out if I am using dual boot, please? When I boot the
computer, I am offered the choice of Win XP or Windows. XP is
first
and if I do nothing, the machine will start up XP in F: drive. I
have
to manually select "Windows" if I want to use Win98 in C: drive.
When
I am in XP, I can access C: drive directory with Windows Explorer,
but
when in Win98, I cannot access the XP directory.

Kate

If you're using Microsoft dual boot, the Windows 98 partition
contains the boot files for Windows XP, so Disk Management won't
let you delete the partition. If you delete the partition using
other means, you won't be able to boot Windows XP.

On Wed, 13 Jan 2010 21:41:08 -0000, "Kate"
<@*slamaspam*.demon.co.uk>
wrote:

My HD has two partitions : F:/ is the main one I use, running Win
XP
SP3, but the other uses Win 98SE. I very rarely use this
partition
and it was only created so that I could run old software. I
increased
RAM to 1.5 GB a while back, and when I tried to boot into Win
98SE
today, I got the "Insufficient memory to initialize Windows.
Quit
one
or more memory-resident programs..." message. I tried the
system.ini
workaround modification of adding MaxPhysPage=30000 to [386Enh],
but
that didn`t work, so I think I shall have to finally say farewell
to
Win 98 and delete the partition. I have never had to do this
before.
Is it just a matter of going to Disk Management, highlighting the
volume letter and pressing delete? Also, will the freed disk
space
be
automatically added to F:/ drive? Unless, of course, someone
knows
of
another workaround I could try, short of physically removing some
RAM,
please?

Many thanks
Kate