windows ME does not parse the config.sys file in any way; therefore, settings used by MS-DOS based apps are not set inside the config.sys file. Among these settings is the FILES value, which determines the number of file handles in an apps job file table (JFT).
Even if additional file handles are needed by an MS-DOS app, the FILES setting does not function. Instead of the FILES setting, the PerVMFILES setting is used. This setting increases the number of available file handles and is implemented by adding the following line to the [386Enh] section of the System.ini file:
PerVMFiles=200
the default number of file handles is 30 and then maximum you can assign is 255 – it will be necessary to reboot for the changes to take effect.