Windows 98 - Improve memory behavior sustainably

The software company from Redmond promised during development that the speed would be greatly improved compared to Windows 95. In plain language, this means that Windows works faster and more efficiently than in previous and alternative versions. The Windows 98 administration of the Working memory is not very powerful and provides only minimal performance with many applications running simultaneously, which can be changed...

Unfortunately, Windows does not deploy its hidden secret weapons here and conceals its true speed from the user. There are a few ways to get the maximum speed out of Windows and release the annoying brakes. You will notice an enormous increase in speed as soon as you have applied the following tips.

In the important Windows file System.ini, you can enter some settings to squeeze the last resources out of your system

To open this file, click on the start menu and go to "Run". Enter "System.ini" in the command line.

The editor will now open with the contents of the file. For a better overview, I recommend clicking on "Full screen" at the top. Use the scroll bar to scroll down until everything under the line "[386Enh]" is visible, which belongs to it. Enter every command that indicated below as a single line. I have found the optimum values in the following...

PageBuffers=32

This setting allows the computer to use a large part of the working memory to store frequently used data on the hard disk. This value sets a fixed part of the working memory, which is better than the standard Windows setting: the operating system usually changes this size dynamically, which is not nearly as efficient as a fixed size.
If you have decided to use this tip, it is sufficient to set the command PageBuffers=32 at the bottom of the [386Enh] line, as described in the picture

ConservativeSwapFileUsage=1

This long command optimizes the Swap file from Microsoft Windows. Windows waits with the swapping to the hard disk until there is really hardly any memory left. Working memory is available, which has some advantages: For example, Windows used to start swapping even with 60 megabytes of free memory, thus throttling the speed. From now on, Windows waits until the end so that you can work longer and more efficiently.

MessageBackColor=8

This command has nothing to do with memory optimization. It allows you to set the background color in the event of crashes (blue screens with error messages). The number 8 means grey, which you can also replace with the following colors:

MessageTextColor=7

While you could comfortably adjust the background color above, you can change the text color here. The same color list applies as above. Both commands in the System.ini then look like this:

PerVMFiles=200

If you use this command, Windows 98 keeps the information (size, date, location, last access etc.) of 200 files that you are currently using in the working memory so that this information does not have to be read in again. This command speeds up reading from the hard disk considerably, because there is no need to access the information. And this is what the command looks like:

The most important system tuning measure in Windows 98

You can use the following command to individually adjust and enlarge the part of the working memory in which frequently used programs, drivers and files are loaded (called system cache) to your working memory. This setting is particularly important if you work intensively with Windows and, for example, play games or run many large applications.
The command is MaxFileCache=32786 and is not written under [386Enh] but under [vcache] The following table shows the appropriate numbers that you enter for your working memory.

If you have now entered the correct values for your system (they are always 1/8 of the available working memory in kilobytes), the section looks as follows:

Finally, a few important words

Once you have saved the file and restarted your computer, you will notice a significant increase in speed: Applications load and work faster, higher performance for frequently used files. I have tested each value in detail and was therefore able to clearly see the improvement in programs and games.

A few users have reported problems or even speed drops, which is why I recommend resetting the values one by one to find out who or what is the culprit. Please send me your experiences at webmaster@windows-tweaks.info to make it known.

NOTE FOR NEW PUBLICATION: This article was produced by Sandro Villinger and comes from the Windows Tweaks archive, which has been built up since the late 1990s.