wrote:
I read somewhere (in a magazine) that there was a way for 32 bit Vista
to use all 4 MB of RAM - but I can't remember where I saw it. Anybody
know?

There is a way to use RAM above 4 GB but here's the deal. A 32 bit
binary number can only "Count up to" 4 Gigabytes, and when you get there
and add one it rolls back to zero again. This means that if you have
hardware that only has a 32 bit address bus, or Vista 32 that is a 32
bit operating system, you cannot have a memory address that is bigger
than 4 GB.

What you can do is "Page" memory, in other words you can have like a
book of 4GB "Pages" and swap from one to the next. This is called "PAE"
but is not terribly useful for normal use, you would be much better to
use a 64 bit operating system.

So 4GB is like a limit fixed by hardware or the operating system, and
since your hardware needs some permanent memory addresses to work you
lose those addresses from the maximum available. In short you will get
3.2 or 3.3 GB max, although I would still suggest you install 4 GB
rather than 2GB.

If you upgrade from Vista 32 I strongly suggest you go for Windows 7 64
bit or you could run a Linux 64 bit solution. W7 looks pretty good to me
so far and although I have not had that much time to spend with it MS
have taken a step forward.

On Mon, 31 Aug 2009 21:03:58 -0500, Charlie Tame
wrote:

wrote:
I read somewhere (in a magazine) that there was a way for 32 bit Vista
to use all 4 MB of RAM - but I can't remember where I saw it. Anybody
know?

There is a way to use RAM above 4 GB but here's the deal. A 32 bit
binary number can only "Count up to" 4 Gigabytes, and when you get there
and add one it rolls back to zero again. This means that if you have
hardware that only has a 32 bit address bus, or Vista 32 that is a 32
bit operating system, you cannot have a memory address that is bigger
than 4 GB.

What you can do is "Page" memory, in other words you can have like a
book of 4GB "Pages" and swap from one to the next. This is called "PAE"
but is not terribly useful for normal use, you would be much better to
use a 64 bit operating system.

So 4GB is like a limit fixed by hardware or the operating system, and
since your hardware needs some permanent memory addresses to work you
lose those addresses from the maximum available. In short you will get
3.2 or 3.3 GB max, although I would still suggest you install 4 GB
rather than 2GB.

If you upgrade from Vista 32 I strongly suggest you go for Windows 7 64
bit or you could run a Linux 64 bit solution. W7 looks pretty good to me
so far and although I have not had that much time to spend with it MS
have taken a step forward.

My concern with 64 bit is driver availability.

No they won't.

"f/fgeorge" wrote in message
...

As more and more people move to the 64 bit os's mroe and more 64 bit
drivers will become available. I have heard, but never personally
tried, that 32 bit drivers will work with a 64 bit os.

If you upgrade from Vista 32 I strongly suggest you go for Windows 7 64
bit or you could run a Linux 64 bit solution. W7 looks pretty good to me
so far and although I have not had that much time to spend with it MS
have taken a step forward.

My concern with 64 bit is driver availability.
..
If you're concerned about drivers for hardware you already have then it's
easy enough to find out if they are available. It's not generally a problem
with new hardware though it's still good to check to make sure x64 is
supported immediately and not "coming soon".