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A 32-bit OS cannot reference more than 3.5G of RAM because of the size of the address. You need 64-bit Vista or XP to see 4 gig or more.

55 posted on 04/11/2008 7:44:38 AM PDT by AppyPappy (If you aren't part of the solution, there is good money to be made prolonging the problem.)

Well, I may repent, but I got 3 gig of memory rather than pay for 4 gig, because of that limitation. And it’s pretty spritely, for the moment at least.

A 32-bit OS cannot reference more than 3.5G of RAM because of the size of the address. You need 64-bit Vista or XP to see 4 gig or more.

When the hardware supports it, a 32-bit OS can access 4 GB (any extensions aside). Due to legacy reasons, Windows limits the usable memory because the space above 3.5 GB was reserved back when Microsoft thought nobody would have 4 GB of memory.

32-bit Windows also limits the memory available to applications to 2 GB (the other two reserved for Windows) unless you use the /3GB switch at boot, but programs have to be modified to take advantage of that.