Okay, since i reformatted… my computer is not up to par. Things are slower, and I cant run some large programs. I also get memory errors from sound blaster live everytime the computer starts, stating that emm386 is not installed. My config.sys files contains only this:
DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\HIMEM.SYS
DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\EMM386.EXE
Also, under system performance, this is stated:
Compatibility mode paging reduces overall system performance.
Drive C is using MS-DOS compatibility mode file system.
I seem to think that i’m having a memory problem somewhere…also, i forgot to mention i have 128 mb of ram. Thanks in advance.
Conti
Looks like your computer can’t recognise the Hard drive and has defaulted to DOS compatibility mode, which will slow your whole system to crawl. Check your hard drive manufacturors web site for possible fixes.
Ok, here goes, without know more about your hardware.
Windows doesnt need the himem.sys or emm386 in the config.sys rem them out
The compatability mode thing is not a memory error, it is a hard drive controller error. It usually means that either you dont have the correct driver loaded for your controller, or there is a dos driver in the config.sys loading that is interfering with it. RENAME your config.sys and your autoexec to config. bak and autoexec.bak. reboot. if the machine still comes up in msdos compatability mode, you need to find the right driver for your controller. What sort of machine is this? what model of soundblaster card do you have? and most important, what is your os? win95,98,me,3.11 ? Once you get this problem solved, then re-stall your sound card drivers, and make sure that these are the correct driver for your os, not the dos or 3.11 driver if you are using a newer os
If your drives are running in compatability mode, your speed will be screwed.
Thanks bdgr and AgentofEvil.
Ok, i took out my config.sys and autoexec.bat. However, autoexec.bat kept coming back with all the soundblaster stuff in it. I could REM and delete and change the properties to READ ONLY all i wanted to, but it still kept coming back when i’d restart. Which would give me the emm386 errors again. Also, the compatibility mode was still on.
I’m running Windows 98 on a Dell XPS T700r. How do i find and load the correct driver for my controller…thanks a lot.
Conti
This technically isn’t a Soundblaster problem; it is a Soundblaster compatibility issue, something you get when you buy an inferior product, i.e. a cheap sound card or poor on-board sound hardware. True Creative Labs Soundblaster* hardware needs no legacy support since all legacy software (except some really old stuff) supports it directly.
As far as the IDE busmaster drivers, first find out what chipset your motherboard uses. Then get the appropriate files from Intel, AMD, or VIA (with Dell, it’s probably Intel BX/8xx, unless it uses an AMD CPU). If your board uses a HiPoint or Promise UltraATA controller (it will have 4 IDE connectors rather than 2), you can get the appropriate drivers from their sites.
*Not the cheap Ensoniq-based stuff they started selling after acquiring that company, but the good stuff, like all the ISA cards and the PCI Live! series.
Actually, The original Ensoniq cards were superior, I have one of the pre-Creative cards, and the sound quality was great for the time. Especially the wave table stuff. Ensoniq is a pro music gear company, and really know sound equipment. The creative ensoniq doesnt have quite the sound quality of the original, but its still a good card for the money.
Thanks so much for the help people.
I got a driver for my controller and it works fine now. The only problem now is that everytime the comptuter boots, I still get a sound blaster live error, saying that emm386 is not installed and that it couldnt find a windows memory manager. And that i need to locate free PCI resources for my sound card.
Thanks again people.
Conti
Try downloading soud card drivers from dell(if it is the original sound card), and removing them and re-installing. I bet you have the wrong drivers loading.