Hey there folks: I’m having a problem running a DOS game, and I hoped one of you guys could help me out.
I’m running Windows 98 on my 366mhz, 64MB RAM PC. I got the itch to play Star Control 2. Unlike many other DOS games, it cannot be played in a shell. However, when I try to load it through DOS, I get the error:
FATAL ERROR: Not enough RAM available!
(It recommends trying to stop running ‘stay resident programs’ and unnecessary device drivers.)
It them says I only have 566kb RAM (zuh?), 16 more required.
Well, I know how to close down programs running Windows, but not DOS. Is there some other problem here? I know my computer shouldn’t have problems running this old game. I’ve run it before on this computer with no problems.
There might be some instructions on how to run Star Control 2, but I don’t remember anymore. Please help! Thanks in advance!
Welcome to the world of the 640k barrier. Back in the dark old days of DOS, the OS could only see the first 640k of memory as “conventional” memory. Anything extra was “expanded/extended” memory. I’m a little fuzzy on the technical details, but the one thing you need to know is this: if you don’t have enough conventional memory free, it doesn’t matter how much physical RAM your computer has.
I assume by your description that you are booting into full-time DOS mode. To free up memory, you’ll have to cut things from your config.sys and autoexec.bat until you have enough free conventional memory.
Windows 9x lets you do this pretty easily without having to mess with your system’s “real” config.sys/autoexec.bat. Create a shortcut to the program executable; right-click the shortcut and select properties. One of the tabs allows you to set the shortcut so that it reboots the computer into DOS and runs custom config.sys/autoexec.bat files, then launches the DOS executable.
This all probably sounds pretty confusing. I’m sure there are web resources that go into more detail. Suffice it to say that every DOS game was really two games: the game in the box, and the “game” of getting the damn thing to fit into memory, play nice with sound cards, etc, etc.
IIRC, Star Control 2 wasn’t that bad. If you really want to tear your hair out over DOS memory issues, try running Ultima 7 or Strike Commander sometime. 
BTW, SC2 is one of the all-time classics. A friend of mine and I basically wasted an entire weekend in college playing it through, from early in the morning into the wee hours. Of course, we only meant to play for an hour or two – it kind of sucks you in.
A more thorough discussion can be found here:
Also, I forget if SC2 is speed-limited to the PC’s clock. If it isn’t, your PC will almost certainly be too fast to run it – unless you’ve got ungodly, otherworldly, comic-book-superhero-type reflexes, the action sequences will simply be run too fast for you to handle. In which case you’ll need a little app like Mo’Slo to slow your PC down. Mo’Slo:
http://www.hpaa.com/moslo/
Thanks very much for your help, Dewey. I’ll try what you suggested. As I said I have played SC2 on this computer before, and didn’t have speed problems. We’ll see what happens when I install X-Com later this weekend. In the meantime, do you know why it worked before, but not now? I’m puzzled.
I can only guess that something you’ve installed in the interim has made some change to the autoexec.bat/config.sys files. I’m not sure why it would, though – Windows doesn’t really use them anymore; they’re only kept around for legacy hardware purposes.
PC Gamer (www.pcgamer.com) gave away the full version of X-Com (and a bunch of other classic games) on one of their magazine CDs a couple of years back. You might try searching their message board archives if you have trouble running it – I remember there was a specific problem with X-Com and GeForce video cards that was answered pretty quick over there.
Ah, I figured it out.
The game actually included a shortcut that automatically restarts in DOS – however, the shortcut that the Sci-Fi Collection installed in the Start menu doesn’t refer to it! Rather, the shortcut says to quit to DOS and run it manually, which, of course, doesn’t work. Sigh!
Anyhow, I got it running – but I can’t find my bleeding copy protection map anymore! You’d think it’d be available online, but I can’t find a working copy anywhere. (I’ve found web sites that say my particular version should be runnable without it, but it doesn’t work that way in actuality. Crud.)
Anyhow, problem solved. Thanks very much!