3Com has observed a problem that may occur when using the NDIS3 miniport driver on the EtherDisk v2.1x for the 3Com EtherLink and Fast EtherLink XL NICs under Windows 95 OSR2. The problem usually occurs after installing several software applications with memory resident components and it appears on boot up with the following error message on a blank screen:
"Windows Protection Error. You need to restart your computer."
This problem does not occur with the retail release of Windows 95 or Windows NT when this driver is used. There is a problem with memory management under OSR2 that most often occurs on systems with 32MB of RAM when several device drivers and/or memory resident applications have been loaded. To resolve the problem 3Com changed the memory allocation scheme of the NDIS3 miniport for the 3C90x family of NICs.
The Windows Protection Error is a general error message that may occur due to several factors. In the case that this driver does not resolve the issue you may try using the following suggestions:
1) Install Retail version of Windows 95 or Windows NT.
2) REName SMARTDRV.EXE. Refer to MicroSoft document Q157924 on their web site for details.
5) On several models of the HP Vectra there is a BIOS setting, MEMORY HOLE, that can be set to resolve this problem. Follows these steps to make the appropriate BIOS configuration on the HP Vectra:
1) Press F2 upon boot up to enter the BIOS 2) Go under CONFIGURATION-->MEMORY AND CACHE 3) Select the MEMORY HOLE parameter and toggle it to 15-16MB.
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AR# 3469
Date
08/23/2001
Status
Archive
Type
General Article
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