From the VMware guest OS installation guide:
http://pubs.vmware.com/guestnotes/wwhelp/wwhimpl/js/html/wwhelp.htm

Windows 98
Support
This guest operating system is supported on the following...

if you remove the memory, all you will get is a bunch of beeps...not sure how that will test anything other than post.

Does safe mode work? Lock ups can occur for many reasons, especially in the Win9x code base. If safe mode works, you can try disabling devices one at a time and see what happens. You either have a...