Getting the last byte


Tip
Does your Windows 3.x system need every last byte of memory you can find? If you have VGA video but never need it in monochrome mode, you can free up a bit of memory by telling Windows to ignore the area of upper memory reserved for monochrome adaptors -- specifically address spaces B000h through B7FF.
First, make a backup of system.ini in the Windows directory in case of trouble. Then, in File Manager or Program Manager, choose File--Run, type system.ini and press <Enter> to open this configuration file in a text editor. Find the section under the [386Enh] heading, and look for a line that begins "VGAMonoText=". Modify it to read VGAMonoText=off (or just add the line if it's not there). Then save the file and restart Windows. As long as no other hardware uses this memory space (you'll know if you receive an error message or your hardware doesn't work properly) and no applications need your VGA monochrome mode, the extra memory will be available to Windows.

Category: Digital Helpline, Windows 3.x
Issue: Dec 1996
Pages: 178

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