Win XP Pro (32bit) -- only 3gb Ram not 4?

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Korialstrasza

Gawd
Joined
Jan 21, 2004
Messages
561
Well, I'm stumped.
I can't get XP to recognize more than 3gb even though I have 4 and BIOS says so.

Here's a screen of the vital info.



Is this possible? Did I waste my money getting 4gb and not 3?
 
Nope sorry. 32bit versions of winxp can't use more then 3gb since the OS reserves some space for itself. To use all 4gb you'd have to run a 64bit version of windows.
 
My friend had this problem with his asus board. One of the newer amd64 939 pin boards. Shit I think its like.. a8n32 sli or some crap.

There was an option in the bios about limiting the size, and on xp 32bit it went back up to 4gb when he changed this setting.. kind of odd.
 
XP reserves address ranges for stuff like PCI devices, so at most, I think you can pull off 3.5 GB.
 
You can enable PAE in the boot.ini file, but expect a massive performance hit. Or move to 64bit.
 
Korialstrasza said:
How do I "pull it off" ? What do I need to change?
Click to expand...
I'd sit tight until Vista 64 is released....and hope it has drivers for your hardware. I wouldn't go buying XP 64 right now, with Vista about to be released in about a month.
 
You can get XP64 for like $65 these days; doesn't hurt to have a legit copy around for future purposes. Considering that's practically the lowest cost ever for an actual legit Windows product, it's a great deal.

You won't be able to buy Vista in a 64 bit version, however. Only the 32 bit versions will be offered for retail sale; not sure about OEM versions. Once you purchase the 32 bit version you can then request the 64 bit version be sent to you for a nominal shipping & handling charge - whereas you could buy that XP64 edition and probably get it in a week or less.

Which means even if Vista does come out January 30th and you buy it on that day, it would probably be March or even April before you'd get your hands on the actual 64 bit install DVD from Microsoft or whoever provides it.

Just my $.02...
 
I thought I read in a few places that 32 and 64 bit code would be on the same DVD...with the exception of the MSDN downloaded versions?
 
I am also under the impression that the release DVD will have both x32 and x64 installations on it.
 
bbz_Ghost said:
You can get XP64 for like $65 these days; doesn't hurt to have a legit copy around for future purposes. Considering that's practically the lowest cost ever for an actual legit Windows product, it's a great deal.

You won't be able to buy Vista in a 64 bit version, however. Only the 32 bit versions will be offered for retail sale; not sure about OEM versions. Once you purchase the 32 bit version you can then request the 64 bit version be sent to you for a nominal shipping & handling charge - whereas you could buy that XP64 edition and probably get it in a week or less.

Which means even if Vista does come out January 30th and you buy it on that day, it would probably be March or even April before you'd get your hands on the actual 64 bit install DVD from Microsoft or whoever provides it.

Just my $.02...
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I use XP x64 almost exclusively and I love it.

It seems much snappier for general purpose use. :)

(Yes, I am aware that anecdotal evidence is inadmissible...) :p
 
duby229 said:
You can enable PAE in the boot.ini file, but expect a massive performance hit. Or move to 64bit.
Click to expand...
Unless you *really* need the RAM more than the speed hit (doubtful), then don't do it!

Use a 64-bit OS!. :cool:
 
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