Editing Windows 98 (section)

==System requirements==
The majority of copies of Windows 98 were distributed in [[CD-ROM]]. A {{frac|3|1|2}}-inch floppy disk version was available for older machines, albeit only via mail order. The floppy disk version of Windows 98 came on 39 [[Distribution Media Format|DMF]] formatted floppy disks and excluded some additional software components that the CD-ROM version might have featured. The original release of Windows 98 was the last version of Windows to be available on floppy disks, as Windows 98 Second Edition was only available on CD-ROMs. [[Microsoft Plus!]] for Windows 98 was also only available on CD-ROMs.

The two major versions of Windows 98 have minimum requirements needed to be run.

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center; font-size: 90%"
|-
|+Minimum system requirements
!rowspan="2"|Field
!colspan="2"|System
!class="unsortable" rowspan="2"|Comments
|-
!class="unsortable"|Windows 98<ref name=gs98>{{harvnb|Getting Started: Microsoft Windows 98|1998|p=26}}</ref>
!class="unsortable"|Second Edition<ref name=SCv6i6p30>{{harvnb|Smart Computing, June|2000|p=30}}</ref>
|-
!Processor
|colspan="2"|[[Intel 80486]] 66&nbsp;MHz or higher
|Pentium processor recommended<ref>{{cite web|url=http://support.microsoft.com/kb/189670|title=Err Msg: Windows 98 Requires a Computer with a Math Coprocessor|date=January 23, 2007|website=Microsoft Support|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121026121053/http://support.microsoft.com/kb/189670|archive-date=October 26, 2012|access-date=April 23, 2019}}</ref>
|-
!RAM
|16&nbsp;MB
|24&nbsp;MB
|24&nbsp;MB recommended; it is possible to run on 8&nbsp;MB machines with /nm option used during the installation process
|-
!Storage
|colspan="2"|
*Upgrading from Windows 3.1 or 95: 120–295&nbsp;MB (typically 195&nbsp;MB).
*New installation (FAT16): 165–355&nbsp;MB (typically 225&nbsp;MB).
*New installation (FAT32): 140–255&nbsp;MB (typically 175&nbsp;MB).
|The amount of space required depends on the installation method and the components selected, but virtual memory and system utilities as well as drivers should be taken into consideration.
|-
!Display
|colspan="2"|[[VGA]] or higher resolution monitor (640×480)
|
|-
!Media drive
|colspan="2"|CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive
|Floppy install is possible but slow<!-- Floppy disk install was available from Product Support, but this does not belong in the article. -->
|-
!Input
|colspan="2"|Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing device
|
|}

Users can bypass processor requirement checks with the undocumented /NM setup switch. This allows installation on computers with processors as old as the [[Intel 80386]].<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qk4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA45|title=Exploring the latest secrets and tips for using Windows 98|last=Livingston|first=Brian|magazine=[[InfoWorld]]|date=September 13, 1999|access-date=October 26, 2019|volume=21|issue=37|page=45|archive-date=May 30, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240530005528/https://books.google.com/books?id=qk4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA45#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Limitations ===
The original release of Windows 98 may fail to boot on computers with a processor faster than 2.1&nbsp;GHz. The Active Channels Channel bar will also not set up properly on computers with a processor faster than 1.5&nbsp;GHz.{{citation needed|date=May 2024}}

Windows 98 is only designed to handle up to 512&nbsp;[[Megabyte|MB]] of RAM without changes;<ref name="Microsoft_2007_KB253912">{{cite web|title="Out of Memory" Error Messages with Large Amounts of RAM Installed|url=http://support.microsoft.com/kb/253912/EN-US|edition=2.1|date=2007-01-27|work=Support|publisher=[[Microsoft]]|access-date=2013-09-03|id=253912|quote=If a computer running Windows contains more than 512 megabytes (for example, 768 megabytes) of physical memory (RAM), you may experience one or more of the following symptoms: You may be unable to open an MS-DOS session (or command prompt) while Windows is running. Attempts to do so may generate the following error message: "There is not enough memory available to run this program." The computer may stop responding (hang) while Windows is starting, or halt and display the following error message: "Insufficient memory to initialize Windows."|archive-date=September 22, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130922050847/http://support.microsoft.com/kb/253912/EN-US|url-status=dead}}</ref> the maximum amount of RAM the operating system is designed to use is up to 1&nbsp;[[Gigabyte|GB]] of RAM. Systems with more than 1.5&nbsp;GB of RAM may continuously reboot during startup.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://support.microsoft.com/kb/304943|title=Computer May Reboot Continuously with More Than 1.5 GB of RAM|work=Microsoft Support|publisher=Microsoft|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150602223109/https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/304943|quote=Windows Me and Windows 98 are not designed to handle more than 1&nbsp;GB of RAM. More than 1&nbsp;GB can lead to potential system instability.|archive-date=June 2, 2015|url-status=dead|access-date=April 17, 2019}}</ref>

Windows 98 may have problems running on hard drives of capacities larger than 32&nbsp;GB in systems with certain Phoenix BIOS configurations. A software update fixed this shortcoming.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.microsoft.com/windows98/downloads/contents/WURecommended/S_WUFeatured/bigide/Default.asp|title=Windows 98 Large IDE Update|date=December 28, 1999|work=Microsoft Windows Update|publisher=[[Microsoft]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20001205173800/http://www.microsoft.com/Windows98/downloads/contents/WURecommended/S_WUFeatured/bigide/Default.asp|archive-date=December 5, 2000|url-status=dead|access-date=August 30, 2006}}</ref>