XP ram allocation in Boot ini

[Rob]

If one has extra ram with XP there is a way to allocate that ram in the
boot.ini file, did have it somewhere but can;t find how the line are added,

thanks

[Fred]

"Rob" <me...@mine.com> wrote in message
news:4a4b1...@news.peopletelecom.com.au...

> If one has extra ram with XP there is a way to allocate that ram in the
> boot.ini file, did have it somewhere but can;t find how the line are
> added,

Desktop versions of Windows XP and Vista limit physical address space to 4
GB for driver compatibility reasons so it's a waste of time really. Though
you might be able to create some sort of Ram disk I suppose.
Some server versions can address more so might find the switch useful.
64 bit versions don't need PAE to address more than 4GB ram.

Enabling PAE in boot.ini
http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/system/platform/server/PAE/PAEdrv.mspx

[son of a bitch]

the 4 Gig limit is a Hardware limit not a M$ Limit
which is 2^32 = 4,294,967,296 bytes to be precise

You then have to subtract all the bios space, video card memory space
and any other cards that use system memory. This is also a
hardware limit not a M$ feature.

So adding 4 gig of ram can actually make your system slower on
some systems because of the video card memory. So adding 3 x 1Gig on
some systems can also be slower because of unbalanced set of rams.
Best to use 2 x 1 gig + 2 x 512 meg if you have 4 slots.

[Fred]

"son of a bitch" <bitchi...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:4a4b5837$1...@dnews.tpgi.com.au...

> Fred wrote:
>> "Rob" <me...@mine.com> wrote in message
>> news:4a4b1...@news.peopletelecom.com.au...
>>> If one has extra ram with XP there is a way to allocate that ram in the
>>> boot.ini file, did have it somewhere but can;t find how the line are
>>> added,
>>
>> Desktop versions of Windows XP and Vista limit physical address space to
>> 4 GB for driver compatibility reasons so it's a waste of time really.
>> Though you might be able to create some sort of Ram disk I suppose.
>> Some server versions can address more so might find the switch useful.
>> 64 bit versions don't need PAE to address more than 4GB ram.
>>
>> Enabling PAE in boot.ini
>> http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/system/platform/server/PAE/PAEdrv.mspx
>>
>>
>
> the 4 Gig limit is a Hardware limit not a M$ Limit
> which is 2^32 = 4,294,967,296 bytes to be precise

I could argue that it is a mathematical limit but I can't be bothered

>
> You then have to subtract all the bios space, video card memory space
> and any other cards that use system memory. This is also a
> hardware limit not a M$ feature.

Yes the pci devices use address spaces that reduce the amount of RAM that
can be addressed.
But I think the OP was referring to the Physical Address Extensions
technique that allows 32 bit operating systems to address more than 4GB RAM.

As I stated I believe Microsoft has set a 4GB limit on desktop versions of
Windows since one of the XP service packs because of driver compatability
issues.

Looking for some info to support my belief this came up
http://whyamistilltyping.wordpress.com/2008/05/29/vista-sp1-and-the-red-herring-breaking-the-32bit-4gb-limit/
Since Windows XP Service Pack 2, Microsoft has used PAE for security
purposes coupled with the NX bit. This is a hardware security feature built
into a processor which allows program and system developers greater control
over what they designate to be executable and non-executable user/memory
space. Microsoft has set a fundamental limitation of the amount of RAM being
used by home versions of 32bit Operating Systems to 4Gb regardless of the
fact the technology to increase this is in place