I have/had similiar problem with a gateway 9100. Gateway tech support said
problem was with Norton
and suggested putting the following

set dos16m=2

as the first line in the autoexec.bat file.
Worked great - no problems since

Jim
>
> That's real interesting since the A20 line has got to do with the
> keyboard. Are
> you using an external keyboard when the error occurs?
>
> >         I have a weird problem on a Compaq Presario 1610
> laptop.  I recently
> > installed Windows 98 (upgrade CD, clean install).  It is now giving a
> > "Himem.sys cannot control the A20 line" error whenever I
> restart.  Powering
> > off and turning it back on works fine, though.  It started
> after I installed
> > several programs (unfortunately, the company I work at uses a program to
> > install the programs over the network, so I don't know which specific
> > program caused it to start acting up).  The programs are MS
> Office 97 Pro,
> > NAV 4.0, Reflection 1 and 8 (terminal emulators), and Lotus
> Notes 4.5b.  Any
> > ideas?

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