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Question

Windows Update affected Expanded Memory?

Oct 11, 2012 3:30AM PDT

Does anyone know if the most recent Windows Update for Win XP is likely to have affected access to expanded memory?

I was using an spreadsheet program a couple of days ago, available memory 4015k, now after update 104k

Thanks

Discussion is locked

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Answer
Expanded Memory System or EMS
Oct 11, 2012 3:38AM PDT

Is now quite the rare topic.

Let's go over that it was not enabled in a stock install so I'll supply an example link.
http://www.columbia.edu/~em36/wpdos/emsxp.html

Let me be clear this is far off the beaten path and if you own a system and software that uses Expanded Memory System (EMS) then you must be conversant and ready to go in and turn it back on.

This is not automatic and quite the old thing that is now dead and gone.
Bob

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Expanded memory
Oct 11, 2012 3:51AM PDT

To be honest, I set all this up so long ago I've forgotten how I did it. I use Supercalc for certain spreadsheets. I was using one two days ago, came back to it after running the Tuesday Updates and available memory has all but disappeared. No other changes took place.

I have tried tweaking the pif file but with no expanded memory made available the memory value is 99k
enabled it is 104k. Changing the EMS memory allocation does not change the 104k value. I have had this set on 4096k giving me 4015k in the program.

I have specifically tailored config and autoexec files linked to the batch files which start the programs which have run without problem since set up shortly after Win XP was launched.

I'll go over the procedures in the link you've posted and see if I get somewhere. Unfortunately, use of the spreadsheets is important - in the short term at least. I've started re-writing them in Excel, but it's quite a big job and it's design will depend upon external factors not yet established.

Thanks

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Once in awhile
Oct 11, 2012 4:00AM PDT

You find folk in that situation. The link I gave notes EMS Magic at http://www.emsmagic.com/

But it's not funny to find that person fighting this old issue yet unwilling to pay the man for the fix. Very very odd.
Bob

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Answer
Yes; due to Windows update 10/10/12
Oct 11, 2012 4:11AM PDT

Glad you posted; we have not been able to access expanded memory since yesterday (Wed 10/10 a.m.) After scratching our heads, backs and other parts, we checked our config.nt and autoexec.nt files and they seemed fine compared to a system that was not having the issue. Next, we compared the Windows shortcut (aka PIF file) that holds the properties. Both were also the same and pointing to the same config.nt autoexec.nt files.

Our theory was that it was the updates. We removed the 4 that were received and expanded memory was restored. We will further troubleshoot to identify the exact one causing the problem, but clearly it was one of those 4.

Good luck.

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Isolated and removed problem update
Oct 11, 2012 5:47AM PDT

I have just removed updates on by one. The offending update appears to be Security update for Windows XP KB2724197.

Colin

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Answer
Now I see it.
Oct 11, 2012 9:32AM PDT
http://www.bttr-software.de/forum/board_entry.php?id=11826

That covers it in more detail but there's been an exploitable hole in the old 16-bit system support for years.

It appears this finally closes that hole so you have a choice here.

Hope I don't have to spell it out but if you recall this has been kicked around for years. Another crack in the wall I guess. http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1587918/ancient-windows-flaw

Frankly I hope you can research a VirtualBox solution in the future to save yourself from the trouble.
Bob
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Expanded memory support ceased
Oct 11, 2012 6:06PM PDT

Thanks for the links - interesting reading.

Unfortunately, for the forseeable future I need to keep this working, although I will take a look at using some of the software options - Virtualbox/EMS Magic - which I've not needed to previously because the tools I had worked.

Thanks for all the responses,

Colin

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Answer
10-10-2012 update problems on win xp
Oct 11, 2012 2:53PM PDT

i've been running the 1993 dos game master of orion since it came out--win 95, 98, and on XP when XP first became available in 2001. i do have the game on a fat32 formatted drive (my win xp is on a ntfs drive)--i never needed dosbox, never had any compatibility problems of any kind for the past 11 years under XP--until today when i tried to run the game after yesterday's (10-10-2012) XP update. instead of running normally i get a dos window that says "at least 1024K of expanded memory must be available" (or words close to that). microsoft support through a chat window was unaware of any problems. one suggestion was that i contact the game's company (microprose, long defunct) for a compatible upgrade of the game--but a better suggestion was to remove the update. removing the update (KB 2724197 or KB 2661254-v2) lets me run the game again. my pc keeps wanting to reinstall the updates. something in the 10-10-2012 update caused a major compatibility problem.

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Re: reinstall the update
Oct 11, 2012 5:09PM PDT

In IE go to Tools>Windows Update and hide it. It won't come back. That's a fully supported way to tell Windows you don't want a particular update.

Kees