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From: sellers@maverick.esd.sgi.com (Scott Sellers)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: A little confused...
Message-ID: <1991Jan5.002714.23607@odin.corp.sgi.com>
Date: 5 Jan 91 00:27:14 GMT
Sender: news@odin.corp.sgi.com (Net News)
Reply-To: sellers@maverick.esd.sgi.com (Scott Sellers)
Organization: sgi
Lines: 23

I posted this before, but i don't think it made it to the newgroup...

Anyway, i am new to the pc world and am confused over how DOS handled memory.
Please correct me if I am wrong, but I believe that, without any memory 
management programs, a program can only use the lower 640K of memory.  DOS itself, though, occupies some of that area, so you only have about 580K to work with.

Let me preface the rest of this message by saying that I have an 386 clone, which should be able to access higher memory (32 bit machine).
Anyway, I have 2 MB installed, and have not figured out how to allow programs to use this extra memory...

first off, what is "extended" versus "expanded" memory?  Which is referenced by
EMS?  What is EMS 4.0?  Does a software program have to be specifically written to take advantage of higher memory, or will a good memory manager allow a program to automatically use the higher memory.

It seems a waste, that as of now, I am unable to use over 1M of memory!

An unrelated question:  does anyone know of a software program that could
load in memory and act as a printer buffer?

Also, in regard to the previous question, does anyone know of a good memory
manager to accomplish what I am describing?

thanks in advance...

sellers@sgi.com