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Running Old MS-DOS Games Insufficient Memory Errors Situation: You're trying to run an older game that was written for the MS-DOS operating system, but you receive an "insufficient memory" error message like this: Not enough memory -- At least 590K of memory is needed. This is caused by the limitations of MS-DOS. DOS can only handle an upper limit of 640K of memory (RAM). However, some of that memory space is taken up by DOS itself. Windows systems that support DOS default to loading it into "upper" RAM, which gives your DOS programs about 590K to work with. However, certain system elements, like CD-ROM drivers, may take up more memory, which may cause certain DOS games to be unable to execute. What is DOS, anyway? What to Do: To run games that give you this error, you will have to tell Windows to execute them differently.

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1. Locate the executable file that starts the game. Such a file typically ends with an extension of .EXE. How do I check filename extensions? 2. Click on this file with the RIGHT mouse button. 3. Select Properties from the callout menu that appears. 4. Click the Program tab, then the Advanced... button. 5. Check the box next to MS-DOS Mode. This will enable the program to use the customized start-up configurations that are in the text boxes you see. They should look like this: CONFIG.SYS Box: DOS=HIGH,UMB Device=C:\WINDOWS\Himem.Sys DeviceHigh=C:\WINDOWS\EMM386.Exe AUTOEXEC.BAT Box: SET TMP=c:\windows\TEMP SET TEMP=C:\windows\TEMP SET PROMPT=$p$g SET winbootdir=C:\WINDOWS SET PATH=C:\WINDOWS;c:\windows;c:\windows\COMMAND SET CTSYN=C:\WINDOWS SET BLASTER=A220 I7 D1 H5 P330 T6 6. Click the OK button three times to implement the changes. 7. The next time you double-click the executable game file, Windows will temporarily shut down and reboot into the custom DOS mode you specified. NOTE: You should shut down all other Windows programs before doing this! Since you will be telling your PC to run in a "non-standard" manner, there is always the possibility your system will hang or be unable to return to Windows. Shutting down other programs decreases the likelihood of a system conflict, and ensures you won't lose any work. 8. With that in mind, double-click the game file. It should run, but you will have to wait a minute or two while your system reconfigures itself. 9. To get back to Windows, simply exit the game when you are finished ("Quit to DOS" if it asks you). Windows should detect that your game session has terminated and restart itself.

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This troubleshooting guide is based on the help resources found at Oldskool.org. We'd like to thank the authors of that site for all of their efforts. Take me back to the top of this page

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