You can overcome the limit with Windows but it is expensive! You have to purchase Server :-)
We have a Windows Server 2008 (32-bit, NOT R2) machine that has 12 GB of RAM and is able to use it all. There are limits on how much RAM a given process can use and it isn't as good as a 64-bit OS but as long as the CPU and BIOS will support an extension called PAE, a machine running various OSs can use more than 4 GB. However, all client versions of 32-bit Windows (XP, Vista, 7, etc) do NOT support PAE hence the need for a 64-bit version of Windows to use more than 4 GB (in some cases the limit is more like 3 GB depending on what devices are in the machine). I know Solaris (UNIX) has supported PAE for a long time to allow large memory systems on 32-bit CPUs but that isn't optimal. I don't have any Linux experience so can't comment on that. I'm running a MacBook Pro (8 GB RAM) dual boot with OS X and Windows Server 2008 32-bit. I need Windows (and ONLY 32-bit) for some specialized hardware and Server 2008 32-bit allows use of all available RAM unlike the client versions of Windows. I use OS X most of the time as it works well except for the 32-bit Windows only hardware :-( See: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa366778(v=vs.85).aspx#physical_memory_limits_windows_server_2008 Stuart On Mar 25, 2011, at 2:06 PM, Rob Bell wrote: > Stefan Monnier wrote: >>> from NewEgg). You will, of course, need a 64-bit operating system to >>> take advantage of more than 4GB of RAM. The X100e uses DDR2, and the >> >> I don't understand the "of course" above. Don't know about Windows, but >> Linux kernel compiled for ia32 can use more than 4GB, assuming you >> compiled it with the appropriate config options. >> That doesn't mean it's the recommended way to use such a machine, just >> that you don't *need* a 64bit OS to make use of more than 4GB. >> >> >> Stefan > > Do some Googling for 'windows 32-bit 64-bit memory limitation'. You'll find > tons of discussions about the issue. I don't know technically whether it is > possible to overcome that issue or not, but it is generally accepted that you > need 64-bit Windows to use over 4GB of RAM. > > Rob > _______________________________________________ > Thinkpad mailing list > [email protected] > http://stderr.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/thinkpad _______________________________________________ Thinkpad mailing list [email protected] http://stderr.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/thinkpad
