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Windows 98 Virtual memory on PCMCIA RAM

Spun_bearingSpun_bearing
edited September 2004 in Software
I have been playing with some 486 laptops and have been trying to set one up to use PCMCIA RAM for virtual memory (actually Compact Flash with an adapter) as a half-assed way to give it more RAM. As far as I know guys who use old Mac's do this but when using windows 98 Virtual memory starts before the PCMCIA driver recognizes the card and it returns to the default setting of using Drive C. Is there any way to either make it load Virtual memory later or make it load PCMCIA drivers earlier? It is no problem with Windows 3.11 since that runs off DOS anyway but the twelve megs of RAM the machine already has is plenty for anything I can do with 3.11. Also before somebody tells me I can't run 98 with twelve megs of ram I used the /im switch when running setup.exe from a DOS prompt. If anybody has any ideas it would be appreciated.

Comments

  • DevilsJim89DevilsJim89
    Man, that's gotta be slow as hell. Look for a driver or utility online or just use the windows swapfile as virtual memory (as thats what it is) and give it like 400MB (if you can). How much space is the HDD?
  • AnonymousAnonymous
    Using that PCMCIA Compact Flash adapter is going to hurt more than not using it.

    I've got one myself, and my XP 2400+ laptop goes to about 90% CPU when that adapter is in use. They're software-based adapters, much like WinModems, I believe.
  • Spun_bearingSpun_bearing
    this one just registers as a pcmcia RAM when it's used. The point of using it was that it should be a lot faster than the HDD (525 MB 4000 RPM, I will be swapping in a 2 gig soon) for virtual memory.
    So I could just move the swap file after it boots up and that would work? If that would do it I may just be able to make a batch file that runs at start up. I wouldn't be running 98 all the time. This would just be for anything I want to do that requires 98 then use 3.11 most of the time. If anybody actually cares about the results I could maybe try some before and after performance tests (and maybe a third test with just four megs of ram for the hell of it).
  • Spun_bearingSpun_bearing
    Never mind, I am kind of an idiot. It turns out that You can only write to compact flash at between four and one megs a second depending on the card. Apparently PCMCIA supports writing up to twenty megs a second, but if there is a RAM card that can be used at that speed it would probably cost more than a faster laptop. I guess I can just use the Compact Flash card to store all the letters I wrote to Emanuel Lewis and a secret emergency porn stash.
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