4GB RAM on Vista 32

APoc184

APoc184

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I understand that Vista 32bit systems can only access 3GB of RAM.

So will it be a waste for me to upgrade one of my laptops from 2Gb to 4Gb?
Does this problem also exist in XP or only Vista?
 
APoc84 said:
I understand that Vista 32bit systems can only access 3GB of RAM.

So will it be a waste for me to upgrade one of my laptops from 2Gb to 4Gb?
Does this problem also exist in XP or only Vista?
Click to expand...

Just get the extra ram. You'll actually be able to use around 3.25gigs.
 
charlie_82 said:
The 3GB RAM is a 32-bit OS issue
If you run XP 64-bit or Vista 64-bit more than 3GB will be registered
Click to expand...

What does a 64bit system offer me more than my current 32bit system except for the RAM thingy.

Can someone explain it to me in Layman's terms?
 
It's neither a Windows XP nor a Windows Vista issue - it's a limitation of 32-bit addressing for any 32-bit operating system running on AT architecture hardware, where certain device spaces are mapped into the 4GB address space, the maximum that any 32-bit operating system can see. There are fiddles, but they all involve mechanisms to swap bits of memory in and out.

The solution is to use a 64-bit operating system, provided of course your hardware is capable.
 
Where will I check up to see if my hardware is 64bit compatible?

A website maybe?
 
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