W7 32b DRAM Capacity

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Feb 6, 2010
Messages
4,836
Location
Central Texas
I'm curious if I install 6GB of DRAM, if it'll make any difference.

Pro. Explr shows only 3.3G/4G (about 77% installed) total to begin with with FF only open! I freq. find the machine low on avail. DRAM after a few woodworking videos, and 12 to 15 FF tabs open. FF uses far more memory now than it used to. Further, it doesn't appear to release it when an application finishes. So I have to Quit, run CCleaner, then restart, then choose "Restore Previous Session" to retain the tab links but release the memory.

I thought I read somewhere that 32b W7 will access DRAM over 4G if installed. Is this correct?

Please advise.
 
A 32 bit system can only access 4 GB total, for everything. Even if you have 4 GB worth of RAM chips, the video system and I/O devices need some of the address space, so you end up with about 3.5 GB usable RAM.
 
Originally Posted By: Bottom_Feeder
Short answer: Nope.


If you load Ubuntu, it will address all 6Gb. (true
grin.gif
)

MS didn't incorporate (for obvious reasons) a kernel with PAE functionality.

Regarding your memory consumption, do you understand caching? Does the machine report low on memory or are you deciding that from the stats you see; Unused memory is wasted; the OS will expand buffers and cache to use all available memory as the machine is used, regardless of the # of programs running.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: sleddriver
What about upgrading to W7 64-bit? Will the current MS key work for that?

It should. I went from W7 32-bit to 64-bit and used the same key.

As far as FF specifically, there is an add-on called Memory Restart that lets you "reboot" FF with a click of one icon. It will reclaim memory hogged up by FF and will restore all your tabs.
 
Originally Posted By: simple_gifts
Originally Posted By: Bottom_Feeder
Short answer: Nope.


If you load Ubuntu, it will address all 6Gb. (true
grin.gif
)

MS didn't incorporate (for obvious reasons) a kernel with PAE functionality.

Regarding your memory consumption, do you understand caching? Does the machine report low on memory or are you deciding that from the stats you see; Unused memory is wasted; the OS will expand buffers and cache to use all available memory as the machine is used, regardless of the # of programs running.


Microsoft did have PAE in some OS for upto 128GB RAM use

but pretty much worthless for home use.. however the 64bit version will work fine.
have to wipe and reinstall the 64bit version with same key as the 32bit version.

The images for windows are available for download.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows7
 
Microsoft says there's a PAE flag you can set in certain x86 Windows versions that'll enable you to use over 4gb of ram

https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa366796(v=vs.85).aspx
 
Originally Posted By: Rand
Originally Posted By: 2004tdigls
you can hack the registry,

https://www.raymond.cc/blog/make-windows-7-and-vista-32-bit-x86-support-more-than-4gb-memory/



you can but very few normal home use programs will take advantage of it.



much better to just fresh install 64bit.


It doesn't benefit individual programs; they are still limited. It increases the # of programs you can run simultaneously without causing the machine to swap or page.

I can understand the practicality of not loading this on millions of machines, few of which would need it, but to discard it as a possible $0 solution is premature IMHO.

This nonsense is primarily why I discourage use of this OS; somehow you one ends up paying extra or again to 'unlock' the real capability of the machine. SAD! lol

I do think a 64-bit install is the 'least troublesome' path forward.
 
Last edited:
If I can use the same MS key and just load 64b rather than 32, that'd be great. I checked the Optiplex CPU: It's good to go with 64b.

Wonder if Dell has a 64b OEM version for an i3 Optiplex?
 
Originally Posted By: sleddriver
If I can use the same MS key and just load 64b rather than 32, that'd be great. I checked the Optiplex CPU: It's good to go with 64b.

Wonder if Dell has a 64b OEM version for an i3 Optiplex?


Yes, you can definitely go that route without issue. You can snag the ISO's direct from MS, no need to worry about DELL.
 
Originally Posted By: 55Test
Microsoft says there's a PAE flag you can set in certain x86 Windows versions that'll enable you to use over 4gb of ram

https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa366796(v=vs.85).aspx
That was interesting. Thanks.
 
How much extra memory will be in use by going rom a 32-bit to a 64-bit operating system? ie if you only have 4 GB installed, what's the penalty?
 
If you have 4GB of RAM on Windows, you may get a few hundred megabytes back, as 32-bit Windows typically won't use the entire 4GB. I think I only got about 3.5GB of usable memory in my old XP laptop.
 
PAE is something Microsoft tiptoed around. Long ago Windows Server 2003 R2 Standard had PAE support but it still could not address more than 4 GB of RAM.

RAM limitations were tied to the editions of Windows for pricing reasons. For example, Server 2008 R2 Standard was full 64-bit but would only address up to 32 GB of RAM.

And I agree with Jetronic that the 64-bit OS uses more RAM and disk space, not only because pointers are now all 64-bit, but Windows 64-bit effectively contains almost a full 32-bit Windows file set (and two copies of all the .NET libraries) to support 32-bit programs.

But there is no denying that 64-bit is the way forward.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top