"XMS Driver not installed" - Memory Problem?

[James A. Eshelman]

S C <ser...@writeme.com> wrote in message
news:#jgatnUW$GA.277@cppssbbsa05...
> During initialisation and shortly after the Windows 95 Startup page
appears,
> there is a buzz sound and the following messages appear :
>
> "Windows XMS Driver Version 3.95
> Extended Memory Speificatin (XMS) Version 3.0
>
> ERROR : Unable to control A20 line!
> XMS Driver not installed."
>
> "Himem.sys is missing
> Make sure that the file is in your Windows directory."

Make sure the CONFIG.SYS file has an explicit calling of the HIMEM.SYS file,
rather than relying on Windows to load it automatically; and make sure the
path of the filename is correct.

There is an old fix for this, going way back, which I can't remember or find
right now; but if the above doesn't handle the problem, I'd suggest adding
the following parameter to the HIMEM line in CONFIG.SYS:
/A20CONTROL:OFF

--
James A. Eshelman - MS-MVP (DTS)
See: Windows 95/98 Support page at http://members.xoom.com/Khephra
How to make a good newsgroup post:
http://members.home.com/mvp-l/goodpost.htm

[S C]

During initialisation and shortly after the Windows 95 Startup page appears,
there is a buzz sound and the following messages appear :

"Windows XMS Driver Version 3.95
Extended Memory Speificatin (XMS) Version 3.0

ERROR : Unable to control A20 line!
XMS Driver not installed."

"Himem.sys is missing
Make sure that the file is in your Windows directory."

I checked and found that Himem.sys was not missing but still in the Windows
directory.
Nevertheless, I copied another Himem.sys into the same directory and
overwrote the existing one.

When the system is rebooted, it is able to launch into Windows. But it
freezes again and the same messages appear
during the next rebooting. It requires another rebooting to get the system
to work again. The problem repeats
in the same manner over and over again.

Any suggestions on how I can resolve this problem?

TIA

[David B.]

More often than not this is a hardware problem, not necessarily memory,
possibly processor or motherboard.

--

_________________________________

"S C" <ser...@writeme.com> wrote in message
news:#jgatnUW$GA.277@cppssbbsa05...

[Ron Martell]

"S C" <ser...@writeme.com> wrote:

>During initialisation and shortly after the Windows 95 Startup page appears,
>there is a buzz sound and the following messages appear :
>
>"Windows XMS Driver Version 3.95
> Extended Memory Speificatin (XMS) Version 3.0
>
> ERROR : Unable to control A20 line!
> XMS Driver not installed."
>
>"Himem.sys is missing
> Make sure that the file is in your Windows directory."
>
>I checked and found that Himem.sys was not missing but still in the Windows
>directory.
>Nevertheless, I copied another Himem.sys into the same directory and
>overwrote the existing one.
>
>When the system is rebooted, it is able to launch into Windows. But it
>freezes again and the same messages appear
>during the next rebooting. It requires another rebooting to get the system
>to work again. The problem repeats
>in the same manner over and over again.
>

This is an old DOS error, seldom seen in recent years, but still
represents a valid problem.

What is happening is that himem.sys is not able to properly control
the A20 memory access, which is the key to accessing all memory above
1 megabyte in 16 bit mode. It is necessary for this to be controlled
in order to successfully initiate the startup phases of Windows.

You will have to put a line in the config.sys file as follows:

device=c:\windows\himem.sys /cpuclock:on

If this does not resolve the problem then the next step is to amend
this line so it reads:

device=c:\windows\himem.sys /cpuclock:on /machine:N /v

Where N is a numeric value from 1 to 16. Try different values of N
until you get one that works consistently. The recommended sequence
of numbers to use for trials is as follows (most likely values are
listed first):
1, 11, 12, 13, 8, 2-10, 14-16.

The /v parameter in the command line is just to activate verbose mode
so it gives a more detailed report when it loads or attempts to load.

Good luck.

Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

"Software is a gas. It expands to fill whatever container it is placed in."

[S C]

Thanks Ron, the problem was solved after I put the following line in the
config.sys file:

device=c:\windows\himem.sys /cpuclock:on /machine:1 /v

S C

"Ron Martell" <r...@onlinehelp.bc.ca> wrote in message
news:FP52OBjmUNAoi8...@4ax.com...