anyone got win98 running with 16Mb of memory?

bacillus

Lifer
Jan 6, 2001
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got a P166 with 16Mb of memory & 3.4Gb hdd. it presently has win95 on it but due to unsurmountable registry problems, I have to reinstall. I'm having difficulties finding the win95 cd so I'm wondering if I could get away with using a win98 install instead!
will this result in an incredibly user unfriendly machine?
 

glenn1

Lifer
Sep 6, 2000
25,383
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I think (doing this from memory) that 16mb is the minimum requirement for running Win98. Although with sdram prices so cheap (128 megs for 40 bucks, give or take), the question becomes why would you even bother to run a machine with only 16mb?
 

potz

Senior member
Feb 22, 2001
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i used to run w98 using 16mb... this was a while ago. i got so sick of the swapping that i bought another 64mb for a total of 80.
 

bacillus

Lifer
Jan 6, 2001
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71


<< the question becomes why would you even bother to run a machine with only 16mb? >>


it's not my pc &amp; the owner doesn't want to part with any cash. in any case the memory is not sdram or edo so any addition ram will prove expensive!
you are also correct in stating that 16Mb is the minimum requirement for win98.
 

Hawk

Platinum Member
Feb 3, 2000
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Well, you could just put Win95 back on...but I think it'll be pretty slow (though I just got a P150 laptop with 48 MB of RAM and it's decent).
 

sharkeeper

Lifer
Jan 13, 2001
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<< it's not my pc &amp; the owner doesn't want to part with any cash. >>



Not to rain on anyone's parade or anything...

I guess he or she doesn't mind parting with time--a lot of time! I upgraded someone's machine with 32 MB to windows 98SE and for all intents and purposes, it was unusable!

Cheers!
 

Dunbar

Platinum Member
Feb 19, 2001
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I use Win98 on my Dell w/ P166 and 32MB SDRAM. It is actually much quicker than Win95 but then again my computer was long overdue for a Win reinstall. I also went from Win95 to 98 on my mom's Gateway P120 with 16MB of SDRAM. I didn't notice any difference in program loading but it boots a lot quicker. I would recommend disabling all the default programs that load at startup and only use what is necessary. I'm very happy with my Dell with Win98.
 

Rand

Lifer
Oct 11, 1999
11,071
1
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Well... it'll run but it'll be damn slow. I'd recommend sticking with 95'.
 

BFG10K

Lifer
Aug 14, 2000
22,709
3,000
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I've tested Windows 95 on a 16 MB computer. Beyond simple emailing and web browsing it would page heavily. I can assume that Windows 98 will use slightly more resources, although it might be a bit faster due to better memory management.
 

burnedout

Diamond Member
Oct 12, 1999
6,249
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You can probably find someone who will give you two free sticks of 8 MB 72 pin fast page memory. I just sold 15 - 8 MB SIMMs for $31. 104 - 4 Megabyte SIMMs for $53. Go to a local computer store and see if they will trade something.

Yes, Win98 will run with 16 MB. Keep a clean systray. Whatever you can do to convince this person to go to at least 32 MB is to their advantage.

 

Paladinexe

Senior member
Jul 18, 2000
307
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Had a Pentium 133 running 98SE thru 16 megs Fast Page. Later added 64. The cost of adding ram will probably pay for itself in the increased life span of the hard drive. The hard drive will run a lot less with additional ram at that minimal level.
 

ledzepp98

Golden Member
Oct 31, 2000
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i had a 486 with the overdrive upgrade (made it like a pentium 75 or 100?), 12megs of ram (yes 12, i swear), and a 640meg hard drive. this computer was able to run win98se, not very quickly, but it ran it.
 

Vyle

Senior member
Feb 8, 2001
292
0
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I'd say put 95 back on. I have an old P75 with 16mb ram and Win 95 on and it runs great. Win 98 would slow that puppy down to a crawl.