Good thing I am a Windows troubleshooter and Poser user. I have Win 98se with 512 megs of RAM and I have no rendering problems because I know the fix. You will need to add one line to the system.ini file. Add the line ConservativeSwapfileUsage=1 under the [386Enh] section. This forces Windows to use all main RAM before going to Virtual Memory on the hard drive. This is recommend for systems that have more than 128 megs of RAM. This does NOT work on WinME or WinXP Home. Win 2000 does not have this problem. Remember, Windows 98 has a memory leak feature. Windows will hold memory from a program after it was closed. The idea is that if you open it again, it will reuse the memory and load faster. The problem is the program must be written to use this, otherwise that memory is not used and more memory is held when the program is closed again. Remember "It is not a bug; it is a feature." Note: I am not responsible for any problems with your computer if you take my advice. Hey I am just protecting myself.

Will it work on Win98 (first ed)? Thanks for the tip STORM

This is really exiting. I've never heard of a fix for this before. So this fix will give Poser access to the rest of the RAM?

This is NOT recommended unless you have at least 356MB of Ram. What it does is tell Windows not to use virtual memory unless it really deparately needs it. The savings is mostly because Windows will not constantly resize the disk cache as you work. However, if you have only 128MB of RAM you are very likely to experience significant slow downs in many of your windows programs because many use the cache as you work. This also has nothing at all to do with windows "memory leak" issues as described by will. By design, windows holds dlls of recently used programs in memory regardless of the virtual memory size...they are held in active memory, not the virtual disk memory. The purpose is so that frequently used programs open faster, but windows often waits a very long time to release the dlls. Its one (among many) reasons windows memory deteriates the longer you use it and the more programs you open and close. If you have lots of memory, taking control over the disk cache (the one windows uses to remember which files and folders have been accessed recently) can give you more performance than restricting conservative swap file usage. A thread was recently posted about this issue. You can get cacheman from cnet.com downloads and other places to change the registry is you aren't comfortable doing it yourself. Cacheman will let you set all of windows cache variables, including conservative swap file, and has a setting to tell windows not to hold dlls in memory. I recommend running it to set the cache sizes, but don't run it all the time for its memory recovery feature. Memory recovery can only work well when the processor isn't maxed out on a task...such as it is when poser is rendering...so all you achieve is sucking away some resources to have another program running. Also, be sure to go into msconfig and disable any superflous programs that may be running. Lots of programs these days seem to think they should start some of their crap at start up "in case you want to use their program". Take the extra 5 seconds for that program to start when you want it to and have more resources available at start up. Common memory leeches include "autoupdate" tasks, anything related to MSOffice or MSWorks, and agents for Quicken and Money. To get an idea, right click "My Computer" and select Performance. Note your system resources. Disable some of the crap programs, then check it again. You may be shocked at the size of the jump.

Oh...and conservative swap file does work on WinMe willdial.

The best fix for Windows 98 is Windows XP.

Thanks for the information.

I always assumed that Windows crashed every hour or two on me due to some sort of bug that was never fixed. I didn't know that frequent crashing was a feature.

When I hear of frequent crashes, I have to ask if you have "done your homework." 1.) Have you made sure you have the latest Windows Updates? 2.) Updates for all your hardware and software? 3.) Do you run scandisk and defrag on a regular basis? 4.) Do you leave your computer on all day, or do you shut it off when you're not using it? Sometimes it is good to restart once and awhile just to "clear things up." I had frequent crashes a year or so ago, and I was complaining on the Windows 98 newsgroups. I kept ignoring the advice that I just outlined at the beginning of this message. I finally listened to the advice, and all my crashes went away. And since then I've upgraded to Windows ME and now Windows XP. These are some suggestions, based on my own experience. ] I don't always know the full extent of someone's knowledge if that information is not given up front. So I try to feel you out and offer some good suggestions. Beyond that, I can say that Microsoft is always trying to make things better, and that is why we come out with new versions of our operating systems. Times change. Computers change. The best thing we can do for ourselves is to keep up with the times. Ron

Yes, yes, yes, and the office computer is shut off when I leave the office every day, and the home computer is shut off every night.

I always thought it would be fun one day to keep track of how much time I spend every day at work waiting for my computer to reboot after a crash related to memory leak.

But, in any event, I'm hoping that Cacheman will help solve some of the problems.

Although updates, defragging, turning the PC off are all good suggestions, various threads here clearly establish the memory leak problem, though it may not be exclusively attributable to Win 9x. Anyone with this problem would be well-advised to run a search on the forum for MaxMem or MemMax or rambooster, all apps that largely solve the leak problem.