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by technogeek-1995 1 view

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Yes I'm back...I have increased the RAM in an old PC, I think there is something somewhere that may need to be changed to increase it in the OS (New OS/Memory Upgrade to Windows XP MCE). Also, I was told a while back that PCs don't use all there memory out-of-the-box. How do I make it use it all?

To wrap up, I need to know what to change if the RAM is increased (in the OS). And, I also need to know how to make a PC use all of its memory out-of-the-box.

Thanks in Advance!

7 replies

by older mycroft

You have to manually adjust the Pagefile settings, because Windows will not notice the increased RAM.

Therefore, if you originally had an OS with 512MB, the Pagefile would be running at a maximum of 768MB.

If you upped the RAM to 1GB, Windows would still be showing a Pagefile maximum of 768MB - which would clearly cause a potential lock-up. It would also cause system slowdowns due to increased Pagefile activity attempting to keep up with the larger RAM image.

by oh smeg

Somewhere around the 3.2 GIG which is the Upper Limit including Video RAM. This varies on different hardware but it is always somewhere around that upper limit.

Unlike with 98 there are no Registry Settings to change to allow more than the upper limit of RAM to be used under the NT type OS which XP is a development of.

The only other setting that you will need to alter is the Page File which should be 1.5 times the amount of RAM for a Minimum and 2 times the available RAM as a Max though those figures are loose and can be altered to give the best performance for individual Hardware/Software loads which may be bigger or if there is sufficient RAM installed you may be able to turn the Page File off all together.

Col

by thechas

While many other aspects have been covered, with many computers, the first thing you have to do after adding more RAM is to enter BIOS setup and save changes so that the BIOS will register the additional RAM.

As stated, while a 32 bit OS can address up to 4GB of RAM, you will never be able to make use of any RAM past about 3.2GB. With some system configurations and video cards, the usable system RAM can drop below 2.5GB.

This RAM limitation is NOT a Windows problem, it is a limitation of 32 bit memory addressing. The hardware needs a number of memory addresses reserved for the chip-set and processor to support the hardware.

Chas

by technogeek-1995

I understand that you can't go over about 3.2 gb of RAM with a 32 bit OS.

Where is the "Page-finder?"
And, what is "Page-finder?"

by older mycroft

I assume that you are meaning [b]Pagefile[/b] ?

[u]In XP navigate to:[/u]
Start > right click on My Computer > Properties > Advanced [TAB] > Performance | Settings > Advanced [TAB] > Virtual Memory | Change.

Make the necessary adjustments to the boxes here, depending on what quantity of RAM is installed on the motherboard.

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