DOCUMENT:Q65438  08-OCT-1999  [win95x]
TITLE   :Low-System Memory Messages in Virtual Machines of Windows
PRODUCT :Microsoft Windows 95.x Retail Product
PROD/VER:WINDOWS:3.0,3.0a,3.1,3.11
OPER/SYS:
KEYWORDS:

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The information in this article applies to:

 - Microsoft Windows versions 3.0, 3.0a, 3.1, 3.11 
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SYMPTOMS
========

When you run the MS-DOS Prompt from Microsoft Windows in 386 enhanced mode, you
see less than the 640K total system memory if you run utilities such as CHKDSK.

CAUSE
=====

If Windows 3.0 or 3.1 is installed on a system with an earlier version of
Windows (including run-time versions), the system may have retained the [pif]
section in the WIN.INI file. The [pif] section was used in earlier Windows
versions to set the memory size for certain applications. In particular, it may
have a memory size listed for COMMAND.COM that limits the size of the virtual
machine created when you run the MS-DOS Prompt. As a result, you may get an
inaccurate reading of your system memory.

If you have these limited [pif] settings, you may also generate the

   Insufficient memory

messages when you try to execute the MS-DOS Prompt, or the "Processing cannot
continue" message when you execute commands from within the MS-DOS virtual
machine.

Additional query words: 3.00 3.0 3.0a 3.00a 3.1 invoke run start dos window mode

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Keywords          :  
Technology        : kbWin3xSearch kbZNotKeyword3 kbWin300 kbWin300a kbWin310 kbWin311
Version           : WINDOWS:3.0,3.0a,3.1,3.11

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