How much Memory can Vista 32 bit support?

My machine has 4 GB of RAM. I need to know absolutely if Vista 32 Bit RTM
will support this? I know for a fact that Windows XP Professional 32 bit
only supports up to 3 GB. I am certain Vista 64 will. Please do not answer
this question unless you are certain.

Thank you

Hi,

I'm certain that you will not be able to use all 4GB with the x86 version.
This is a limitation of 32-bit processing. There is only 4GB of addressing
space and some of this is used by the system. How much depends on the
hardware, but it is the remainder that can be used by memory addressing. So,
the max you can address is 4GB minus however much your system requires. This
figure could be 3.2GB, or only 2.9GB, or some other figure entirely.

Yes, you are correct that the x64 version will allow you to use all 4GB.
There are a tremendously larger amount of addresses available under 64-bit
processing.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP


"Jon Acord" <JOn@theacords.biz> wrote in message
news:3AEB6966-1AE2-4C29-B289-65298D7BFDF1@microsoft.com...
> My machine has 4 GB of RAM. I need to know absolutely if Vista 32 Bit RTM
> will support this? I know for a fact that Windows XP Professional 32 bit
> only supports up to 3 GB. I am certain Vista 64 will. Please do not
> answer
> this question unless you are certain.
>
> Thank you

All 32bit operating systems can see a maximum of 4GB. It is a mathematical
limit, not the OS. Vista x86 like XP x86 will show a little over 3GB on
System Properties. This is normal. The "missing" ram is not really
missing. It is used by the system and not presented to the user. There is
a range of addresses at the upper end of 4GB that is reserved. In a system
with less than 4GB these are logical addresses and are handled by the system
that way. However, when the system has 4GB it must block out physical ram
to protect the reserved addresses. In addition, the BIOS will reserve some
additional address space for use by devices detected by the BIOS.

"Jon Acord" <JOn@theacords.biz> wrote in message
news:3AEB6966-1AE2-4C29-B289-65298D7BFDF1@microsoft.com...
> My machine has 4 GB of RAM. I need to know absolutely if Vista 32 Bit RTM
> will support this? I know for a fact that Windows XP Professional 32 bit
> only supports up to 3 GB. I am certain Vista 64 will. Please do not
> answer
> this question unless you are certain.
>
> Thank you

Colin, Rick, I thank you both for the response. Being a technet
subscriber, I have been agonizing (yes i read the other threads on this)
whether I should go with 64 bit or 32 bit. Colin, if I understand you, the 4
GB of RAM will be used as needed by Vista 32 bit, but just not seen by the
OS, is that correct?

Seasons Greetings to one and all who read this!

By the OS and the BIOS.

In a 64bit system the OS uses much higher logical address spaces so the OS
will see all 4GB of physical ram. Only when you had 128GB of physical ram
on a 64bit system would you see any physical ram reserved.

"Jon Acord" <JOn@theacords.biz> wrote in message
news:AFC477F7-5247-4B44-996E-D429B1DC6305@microsoft.com...
> Colin, Rick, I thank you both for the response. Being a technet
> subscriber, I have been agonizing (yes i read the other threads on this)
> whether I should go with 64 bit or 32 bit. Colin, if I understand you,
> the 4
> GB of RAM will be used as needed by Vista 32 bit, but just not seen by the
> OS, is that correct?
>
> Seasons Greetings to one and all who read this!
>
>

The "missing" ram is seen by the OS, just not by the user.

"Jon Acord" <JOn@theacords.biz> wrote in message
news:AFC477F7-5247-4B44-996E-D429B1DC6305@microsoft.com...
> Colin, Rick, I thank you both for the response. Being a technet
> subscriber, I have been agonizing (yes i read the other threads on this)
> whether I should go with 64 bit or 32 bit. Colin, if I understand you,
> the 4
> GB of RAM will be used as needed by Vista 32 bit, but just not seen by the
> OS, is that correct?
>
> Seasons Greetings to one and all who read this!
>
>

Colin, the problem I am facing is that I have an ultra ATA Adaptec card. It
is impossible to find 64 bit drivers. It may never be supported. I need
this card. It works fine with Vista 32 bit. However, I have 4 Gb of RAM.
My wife is arguing with me to upgrade to the 32 bit version of Vista, and
remove a RAM chip, as she believes that Vista 32 will not use it in any way.
So, my question, if I upgrade to vista 32 bit,
will the OS be able to use the extra RAM? Or will it just be a dummy chip
sitting there? I understand I won't see it except when the PC posts during
startup..

Thank You! It is being used, just not seen in the properties. I believe I
will go with the 32 bit version and keep the extra RAM! ;) I am in Henderson
Nevada, where is everyone else at?

"Jon Acord" <JOn@theacords.biz> wrote in message
news:CF28E596-F960-4D3F-BC0E-03FC5CD7E29E@microsoft.com...
> Thank You! It is being used, just not seen in the properties. I believe I
> will go with the 32 bit version and keep the extra RAM! ;) I am in Henderson
> Nevada, where is everyone else at?


Why not go with the 64-bit version and actually be able to USE all 4GB?

Tom Lake
Malone, NY

Whereas I do technical support VIA the phone for a living it is different
when it is your own hardware. I did find an article on MS that addresses
this issue specifically: for one and all:

http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/system...AE/PAEmem.mspx

Tom: Because it is almost impossible to find some 64 bit drivers for my
hardware.
As I study the problem further, I see that Windows 32 bit actually does use
up to 4 GB of RAM. The system apparently reserves 1 GB of RAM for use, such
as onboard graphics, etc.

The ram allocation will done on the same principles as XP.

It is not a dummy chip under Vista any more than it is under XP.

It relieves the OS from having to use logical address space translation but
because it is system address space the OS must fence it off to keep user
programs from colliding with the system. There is no difference between XP
and Vista in this regard except that Vista may fence off a little more than
XP needed.

Vista does indeed use the space. The user can't tell much difference
between 3GB and 4GB but the OS sure can.

"Jon Acord" <JOn@theacords.biz> wrote in message
news:99DB05D7-C3D0-4A99-982A-8A6E38C62E8E@microsoft.com...
> Colin, the problem I am facing is that I have an ultra ATA Adaptec card.
> It
> is impossible to find 64 bit drivers. It may never be supported. I need
> this card. It works fine with Vista 32 bit. However, I have 4 Gb of
> RAM.
> My wife is arguing with me to upgrade to the 32 bit version of Vista, and
> remove a RAM chip, as she believes that Vista 32 will not use it in any
> way.
> So, my question, if I upgrade to vista 32 bit,
> will the OS be able to use the extra RAM? Or will it just be a dummy chip
> sitting there? I understand I won't see it except when the PC posts during
> startup..
>
>
>

He can't find a 64bit driver for a needed card.

"Tom Lake" <tlake@twcny.rr.com> wrote in message
news:7FAE021F-0067-4A90-A698-93677893B6DB@microsoft.com...
> "Jon Acord" <JOn@theacords.biz> wrote in message
> news:CF28E596-F960-4D3F-BC0E-03FC5CD7E29E@microsoft.com...
>> Thank You! It is being used, just not seen in the properties. I believe
>> I
>> will go with the 32 bit version and keep the extra RAM! ;) I am in
>> Henderson
>> Nevada, where is everyone else at?
>
>
> Why not go with the 64-bit version and actually be able to USE all 4GB?
>
> Tom Lake
> Malone, NY

I believe that the PAE swich only applies to 32bit editions of Server.

"Jon Acord" <JOn@theacords.biz> wrote in message
news:BDF84B87-7533-45DA-9788-3E56A955E334@microsoft.com...
> Whereas I do technical support VIA the phone for a living it is different
> when it is your own hardware. I did find an article on MS that addresses
> this issue specifically: for one and all:
>
> http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/system...AE/PAEmem.mspx
>
>

From what I've learned, the XP boot.ini by default addresses 2 GB of RAM for
programs.

however, if you add a 3 GB parameter to Windows XP boot.ini, this will be
allocated as needed by the OS thus:

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect /3GB

I simply added the 3GB and restarted, with no noticeable difference. The
missing 1 GB belongs to Windows XP. I presume when I upgrade to Vista 32 bit
it will be similar.