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is there a preformance hit in win32 for ram hotfix

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Pentium100:

--- Quote from: datora on February 29, 2012, 09:55:48 PM ---Aside from that, WinXP SP3 32-bit can handle ~3.5 GB RAM ...  The hotfix should only be necessary if you want to utilize over that ~3.5 GB. 
--- End quote ---

There is a hotfix for XPSP3 32bit that allows it to use more than 3-3.5GB RAM? If so, where can I get it? I don't want to reinstall Windows to get a bit more RAM, but I would like a way to make the current Windows use all available memory.

Windows Server 2000 and 2003 32bit can access more than 4GB RAM using PAE, but XP (AFAIK) can't, even though it uses PAE to get DEP.

punyloony:

--- Quote from: Pentium100 on March 01, 2012, 07:14:41 AM ---
--- Quote from: datora on February 29, 2012, 09:55:48 PM ---Aside from that, WinXP SP3 32-bit can handle ~3.5 GB RAM ...  The hotfix should only be necessary if you want to utilize over that ~3.5 GB. 
--- End quote ---

There is a hotfix for XPSP3 32bit that allows it to use more than 3-3.5GB RAM? If so, where can I get it? I don't want to reinstall Windows to get a bit more RAM, but I would like a way to make the current Windows use all available memory.

Windows Server 2000 and 2003 32bit can access more than 4GB RAM using PAE, but XP (AFAIK) can't, even though it uses PAE to get DEP.

--- End quote ---
no what I said is that to access more than 1.6gigs in vista back a few years back I got a hotfix. That hotfix was before xp sevice pack 3 and the first vista service pack I think if I am not mistaken. I think the hotfix allows the op sys to access as much as 3.5gigs

The newer service packs probably include the patch as standard due to games getting bigger and the need being essential.

Freedom Kira:
I thought Windows x86 can handle up to 4GB (GiB). That's the addressing limit for 32 bits anyway, assuming each address can address one byte and there are no reserved addresses. Or am I wrong there?

datora:
.

--- Quote from: Pentium100 on March 01, 2012, 07:14:41 AM ---There is a hotfix for XPSP3 32bit that allows it to use more than 3-3.5GB RAM? If so, where can I get it? I don't want to reinstall Windows to get a bit more RAM, but I would like a way to make the current Windows use all available memory.
--- End quote ---

I could well be misunderstanding that.  I have seen mention that there are supposed to be ways to get around the 3.5/3.6 GB addressing limits for a 32-bit operating system.

Given how this topic started out, I may have conflated that to an assumption that there is such a fix available for WinXP.  I have seen mention that 1) a 32-bit OS can be made to use more than this limit, 2) I have seen linux mentioned as having such fixes/pathches available, and 3) I have seen mention that "Windows" can be made to perform this hat trick.

However ... it could well be that 3) is my misunderstanding, and also that some versions of Windows can do this while WinXP specifically may not.  I am very certain about 1) & 2) though.

Sorry if I got that wrong.  I'll keep an eye open to it and see if I can remember where I ran across some of these discussions.  I don't have any 32-bit systems configured with 4 GB RAM, so I have never pursued it.  I just tucked the information away to research it in the future if I was so lucky one day.

Since the topic started off talking about breaking the 32-bit addressing limit, I sort of misled myself into the assumption about it applying to WinXP.  Reading through what the OP has now provided us with, I see several misunderstandings in effect.  At the minimum, this isn't a discussion about 32-bit operating systems so much as it is about common programming conventions for 32-bit games & applications ... in which case I am unaware of patches or hotfixes that would allow a game/app to exceed the addressing capability of the OS it is installed on.

Use of the term "hotfix" generated an expectation on my part that we were discussing an official Microsoft hotfix.  I think the OP is discussing some sort of independent app that supposedly boosts RAM use/efficiency/speed etc.

rkruger:

--- Quote from: Freedom Kira on March 01, 2012, 10:01:40 AM ---I thought Windows x86 can handle up to 4GB (GiB). That's the addressing limit for 32 bits anyway, assuming each address can address one byte and there are no reserved addresses. Or am I wrong there?

--- End quote ---
Some memory will be occupied by the kernel, so you could call it "reserved", since it will not be available to user processes.
Also, modern versions of the Windows kernel can handle more memory on x86 platforms, as Pentium100 said, due to PAE support. However, Microsoft restricts certain versions of Windows to 4GB due to "licensing issues". But even with PAE, a single process can only access up to 4GB minus "reserved" memory.


--- Quote from: datora on March 01, 2012, 12:53:20 PM ---At the minimum, this isn't a discussion about 32-bit operating systems so much as it is about common programming conventions for 32-bit games & applications ... in which case I am unaware of patches or hotfixes that would allow a game/app to exceed the addressing capability of the OS it is installed on.

--- End quote ---
And it's not possible to patch it in software anyway (for the OS), because it's a hardware limitation.
Then again, it's "possible" for an application/game to be divided into multiple processes that can each address up to ~4GB.

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