HowToFixComputers.com

ML · Guest

RAM price is getting quite reasonable nowadays and I bought 4 1GB of DDR2
RAM with my Asus P5WD2 Premium? I know the board supports up to 8GB of RAM
but now my XPP SP2 only recognizes 3GB. I tried using /3GB switch but it
does not help.....

Guest

Hello,

Open your boot.ini file (remove its Read-Only and Hidden attributes) and
delete the 3GB switch. Then add the /PAE switch. Reboot your computer. XP
will now see all 4 GB of RAM.

Have a nice day.

"ML" <marshall_lai@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:J_OdnQ8v5YhU0oTeRVn-vQ@cyberec.com...

Mercury · Guest

if you get only 3.x GB ram reported in xp, check the bios. there is often
now a switch to hoist chipset reservations over the 4gb mark.

"ML" <marshall_lai@yahoo.com> wrote in message
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Uncle John · Guest

I find that it is only possible to show 3.5 GB in Windows even though 4 GB
is present and used.
Do not use the 3 GB switch.
The PAE switch enables certain applications so designed to use memory above
4 GB and can cause trouble in a standard 32 bit Windows XP system, in my
experience.

--
Uncle John

ML · Guest

Thanks. My system already shows PAE on the properties page of My Computer.
However, still only 3GB is visible (BIOS reports 4GB at boot).....
<workinghard@news.postalias> wrote in message
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Al Dykes · Guest

In article <#cLda7HsFHA.1032@TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl>,
Uncle John <unclejohn@uselesnospam.com> wrote:

Peter · Guest

Hi,

Pls read from this link:
http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/system/platform/server/pae/default.mspx
--
Peter

"Al Dykes" wrote:

Uncle John · Guest

Peter
"Windows XP Professional and Windows Server 2003 Memory Support. The maximum
amount of memory that can be supported on Windows XP Professional and
Windows Server 2003 is also 4 GB. However, Windows Server 2003, Enterprise
Edition supports 32 GB of physical RAM and Windows Server 2003, Datacenter
Edition supports 64 GB of physical RAM using the PAE feature."

So AL and I were right already!
--
Uncle John

Mercury · Guest

Duh. Iam refering to chipset reservations that cause often the better part
of a GB to disappear on a system with 4GB. So stop patting you self on the
back. You may be right, you may not be - depends on the h/w. /PAE is not
part of a solution, /3GB may help (likely), but is not a solution either.

Nothing to do with PAE or 3GB.

It is the hardware (chipset) via bios that reserves this space during
initialisation. On h/w that supports 64bit, the bios often now has a switch
to hoist these reservations over 4GB mark so that if a **32 bit OS** is
running, it gets to see all the RAM if there is 4GB.

If the h/w does not support 64bit (specifically >32bit addressing), then
this option will not exist.

PAE is poor man's extended ram = overlayed programming (puke).

"Uncle John" <unclejohn@uselesnospam.com> wrote in message
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donisys · Guest

I have encountered this problem and found that the bios was set to map 512mb
for video which at that size precluded it from windows.

"Mercury" wrote:

hoopsomuah · Member Joined: 05 Oct 2005 Posts: 1

Marshall,

There was a change in Windows XP SP@ that causes it to show less than 4GB of memory

See the following KB article:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;888137

The article doesn't really explain whether this means that you actually can't use teh full 4GB or if it's just a reporting error but I suspect the memory is actualy unavailable. I'm still trying to track someone down who can clarify this for me. I'll post back when I hear more.
_________________
Hoop Somuah

Uncle John · Guest

Hoopsomuah

Windows XP Pro+SP2 32-bit version can use 4 GB Ram. As it starts it uses 0.5
GB and therefore shows 3.5 GB available. To show more than 3.5 GB you need
to install the 64 bit Windows on your system.

Uncle John