Max & Min OS boots

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I would like to be able at will to boot Win98SE

EITHER with the minimum number of files/features/accessories/backward-compatibility-ensuring DLLs and junk etc.,

OR with the full cartload that MS otherwise dumps upon the unwary novice user with enough RAM to allow MS to go hog-wild.

a) where can I find a minimum list of the files that must be loaded in order to have an OS that will run?

how can I then arrange that only those files are selected for loading from the longer list of files in what MS calls a “full installation”?

I want to be able to force a boot in a mode that will max the amount of RAM that will be available for an application and its fastest-possible run support – in this case MS’s own Flight Simulator 2000. My video card does not have as much memory as I would wish.

Thoughts? Comments? Suggestions? Help? – all appreciated!
Peter

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about the closest you can get is to use msconfig to disble stuff at boot. type it in start menu > run.
alternately, you might consider partitioning the drive and installing a second OS copy. Use the min. install and disable what you don’t need from msconfig.

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PS – tightly controling the boot may not affect the free video memory.

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Tks. I agree that the only ‘video’ benefit I can get will come from being able to hold more scenery files in the RAM after they have been opened, so that less time will be lost re-retrieving files from my HD.

I had hoped that someone knows a utility similar to EndItAll or StartUp Cop (both PC Mag freebies from ZDnet) that will dump out of RAM all the files that are not in use when the utility is run – so that I could boot conventionally, run the OS minimizing utility, and immediately open Flight Simulator, secure in the knowledge that I have maxed the available RAM. (sigh! – I have a partitioning utility, but there’s gotta be a better way …)

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EndItAll works fine for me when I want to prepare to install a new program. For video capture, I use a separate bootable partition, controlled by PowerQuest’s Bootmagic (and set up with their Partition Magic). You should try the same for games. If you keep the partition clean, it boots in a jiffy, and the delay for using BootMagic is very slight. If you don’t play network games, then the way to really respond to your original inquiry of booting Win98 as clean as possible if to use 98Lite on such a separate partition. There are several versions of the program, all intended basically to get Internet Explorer out of Win98, which dramatically reduces overhead and makes the OS load and run faster and with fewer hangs. I use the free version of 98Lite, and for my purposes it has been adequate. Even “cleaner” and more customized operation of win98 w/o IE can be achieved with the pay versions. http://www.98lite.org as best as I recall

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Very interesting – and very smart!
A quickie search on “98lite” in Google brought up many worthwhile references and showed that http://www.98lite.net is the better place to go for a free copy.
Many thanks for the heads-up on this one. It looks like a keeper. I already have PartitionMagic/BootMagic in anticipation of setting up separate partitions for OS / MS Apps / Other Apps / Data Files, so what you have proposed can easily become part of the larger ‘do it better’ plan.
Peter

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Hi Peter:
I’ve been lurking in this thread, hoping there’d be a good solution. I don’t have Partition Magic, but was thinking of getting it.

Could you post back after you’ve set this up & let me know how it works out?

I also have a question or two. I have Win98SE & my C drive is ~13Gigs. I also have a second drive that’s divided into 3 partitions. This drive is a little older & slower.

Would it be better to install a lite version of Win on one of the partitions of the second drive, or should I partition the first & use that? Will Partition Magic be able to do either for me without any trouble, as I’ve heard of problems after trying to install 2 systems for dual booting?

Thanks in advance.

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I’ll be glad to report, but you won’t hear from me for about 2 months.

I have not yet used Partition Magic, but I’ve never heard a bad report of it. My plan now is to partition my main drive into OS1 / OS2 / MS apps / Other Apps / Data Files, and to use a utility that comes with PMagic to image everything onto my second drive, with near real-time backups of work in progress down to the second drive. I’ll then do a weekly backup of all data files using the Adaptec utilities that came with my HP CD-RW to burn backup data files that can be walked over to any PC, in the event of disaster. I’ve learned the hard way never to trust my PC again!
Best,
P.

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