Amount of Memory Used by MS-DOS (64526)
The information in this article applies to:
- Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 1.x
- Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 2.11
- Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 3.1
- Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 3.2
- Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 3.21
- Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 3.3
- Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 3.3a
- Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 4.0
- Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 4.01
- Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 5.0
- Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 5.0a
This article was previously published under Q64526 SUMMARY
Different versions of MS-DOS and different original equipment
manufacturers (OEMs) versions of MS-DOS may use slightly different
amounts of memory. Depending on the number of floppy drives and hard
drive partitions a machine has, MS-DOS uses different amounts of
memory. The following list describes the approximate amount of memory
used by each MS-DOS version:
Available Memory
MS-DOS Version Memory Used
-------------- --------- ------
5.0 with Shell
DOS = HIGH 618K 22K
5.0 with Shell
DOS = LOW 574K 66K
5.0 DOS = HIGH 623K 17K
5.0 DOS = LOW 579K 61K
4.0x with Shell 571K 69K
4.0x 575K 65K
3.3a 586K 54K
3.3 586K 54K
3.2 595K 45K
3.1 602K 38K
3.0 602K 38K
2.11 616K 24K
2.1 616K 24K
2.0 608K 32K
1.1 627K 13K
These values may be slightly different on your machine because the
manufacturer may have modified MS-DOS to function correctly on your
machine. This adaptability allows MS-DOS to function identically on
many different PCs, giving those manufacturers the flexibility to
design machines to meet hardware needs without sacrificing a
significant amount of internal memory for the operating system.
MORE INFORMATION
In the list above, each machine was booted with a minimum
configuration, no AUTOEXEC.BAT or CONFIG.SYS file, and BUFFERS = 8 by
default. MS-DOS 4.0 was booted from the 5.25-inch Operating System 3
disk.
Modification Type: | Major | Last Reviewed: | 11/26/2003 |
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Keywords: | KB64526 |
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