Himem.sys missing or corrupt

The himem.sys file could be corrupt or missing. Boot from a known good bootable floppy diskette. If the computer boots successfully with the diskette, the himem.sys on the hard drive is missing or not set up properly in the config.sys.

Because the file may be missing or corrupt, once at the A:\> prompt type the following commands.

If you are running MS-DOS 6.x or Windows 3.x type:

copy himem.sys c:\windows <press Enter>
copy himem.sys c:\dos <press Enter>
copy himem.sys c:\ <press Enter>

If, when typing any of the above commands, you receive a prompt that the file already exists, ensure to overwrite it. Note: While this file is only located in the Windows directory, it may also to be located in the root or DOS directory.

If you are running Windows 95, Windows 98, type:

copy himem.sys c:\windows <press Enter>

If when typing any of the above commands you receive a prompt that the file already exists, ensure to overwrite it.

Reboot the computer; if the issue continues to occur, verify that the config.sys is properly set up. The line himem.sys should read:

DEVICE=C:\Windows\HIMEM.SYS

or

DEVICE=C:\DOS\HIMEM.SYS

For additional information about config.sys, see our autoexec.bat and config.sys guide.

If, when booting from a known working bootable diskette, you encounter a himem.sys error, it's likely the computer has a physical memory or related hardware issue causing this error. Because this could be a physical defect, we recommend you contact the computer manufacturer, take the computer into a local service center or replace memory or motherboard.