There are a number of ways you can increase the amount of conventional memory available to you. Conventional memory is that first 640 KB of memory which all programs hog for. Since it is in such demand, keeping it optimized and available is important.

Many of these actions involve making changes to the CONFIG.SYS file. Remember, you want to keep a backup of the last CONFIG.SYS that your system last worked correctly with. So, backup yours before making any of these changes. Most name their backup copy CONFIG.BAK.

Here are some things you could try:

• Thin out your AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS file. Many times these files call up programs that are simply not needed or not there. These lines can be removed. Better yet, just add REM to the beginning of the line you want to take out. This makes it a \”remark\” and the computer will not execute that line.
  
• Use the HIMEM.SYS file. At the top of CONFIG.SYS, add two lines: \”DEVICE=C:WINDOWSHIMEM.SYS\” and \”DOS=HIGH,UMB\”. This will call up HIMEM.SYS, a program that loads DOS into high memory, or that first 64K of memory, that all DOS programs fight over.
  
• Use EMM386.SYS. This program enables DOS to load drivers and other automatically loaded programs into the upper memory while conserving conventional memory. To use it, add the following to CONFIG.SYS right after the HIMEM.SYS line: \”DEVICE=C:WINDOWSEMM386.EXE\”. There are a couple parameters you should add to this line. To disable expanded memory, which hardly anybody needs, add \”NOEMS\” to disable the EMS buffer. To disable the Monochrome Video Area, add \”I=B000-B7FF\”. This disables the monochrome area that is used by the really old DOS programs that were monochrome. Today, with everything in color, this is just a waste of 32K of conventional memory.
  
• With HIMEM.SYS and EMM386.SYS working, it gives you the ability to move drivers and programs that would usually reside in conventional memory up to the upper memory. To do this, you simply add HIGH to the lines loading up the drivers. For example, in the CONFIG.SYS file, a driver will be loaded by \”DEVICE=\”. To load this driver into upper memory, you call it up by \”DEVICEHIGH=\”. In AUTOEXEC.BAT, you can place a program in upper memory by adding \”LOADHIGH\” to the line that runs the program. Most drivers can be moved to upper memory, including CD-ROM, mouse, etc.

Taking this into account, a typical CONFIG.SYS may look something like this:

DEVICE=C:WINDOWSHIMEM.SYS
DEVICE=C:WINDOWSEMM386.EXE NOEMS
I=B000-B7FF

DEVICEHIGH={Your System Drivers Go Here}
DOS=HIGH,UMB
FILES=100
BUFFERS=40
BREAK=ON
LASTDRIVE=Z

I\’ll just make a note here that this page pretty much refers to Windows 3.x users. Windows 3.x still depends on the conventional memory. Windows 95 has the ability to take full advantage of all of the system memory, so these tips don\’t have much impact.