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Windows 7 x32 edition does not use 4 gigs of RAM, did you know?

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Published: 09.08.09 - 08:53 CET  |  9 Comments  |  1,932 views views  | 

Windows 7 is available to MSDN subscribers since yesterday. So I downloaded the 32 bit version to see if I could use all my RAM available on my laptop. As I expected, after a clean install of Windows 7 (x32), I saw in the control panel only 3 Gigs of RAM usable.

The exact message says that there is actually 4 Gigs of RAM, but only 3 Gigs is usable. Since My laptop has 4 gigs installed and I want to take the benefit of it, I’m going to download the 64 bit version of Windows 7. Exactly the same thing what happened to me  with Windows Vista when it came out.

windows7-32bits

I did not test any compatibility issues concerning VMware Client or VMware Workstation. I’ll inform you if I run into a difficulties or so. So stay tuned.

  capture2

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9 Comments

  1. mike
    Posted on August 9, 2009 at 9:53 am

    You were expecting something different? 32-bit OS’s can only see 3.5GB of memory. That’s all 32 bits can address.

    My 8GB laptop with Win 7 x64 RTM can see all 8GB. If I installed x86, it would only see about 3.5GB.

    mike

    Reply
    • Vladan SEGET
      Posted on August 9, 2009 at 11:59 am

      Mike,

      You might be right, but few weeks ago I was installing for a client one Fujitsu Celsius laptop with 4gigs of RAM with Vista x32 SP2 and I thought that I would see like 3.3 or 3.5 Gigs of RAM. No. I saw 4 Gigs of RAM on that Laptop. I was surprised. It’s a High End laptop… So there might be other thinks to take into consideration that OS only. The materiel is playing a good role too I think.

      Reply
  2. Tomi
    Posted on August 9, 2009 at 10:48 am

    This is nothing new. Windows XP and Vista works exactly the same.

    Reply
  3. Andrew Storrs
    Posted on August 9, 2009 at 2:21 pm

    Like the others have said, this is to be expected as 4GB is the maximum amount of memory addressable (without PAE) on 32-bit Windows; but you have to factor in device memory mapping – hence why you usually see less than the full 4GB.

    With that in mind have a look at this KB article as it covers why the Fujitsu laptop you mentioned was able to make use of all 4GB of RAM: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929605/en-us

    Reply
  4. Me
    Posted on August 9, 2009 at 3:50 pm

    This is nothing new. It’s following the expected behavior of Windows Vista. (Read the info at the following for an explanation about why this is happening, and why the 4GB was “noticed” on the Fujitsu laptop. Everything can be explained with a full understanding of the limits and features of the technology.)

    http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa366778%28VS.85%29.aspx

    Reply
  5. Vladan SEGET
    Posted on August 10, 2009 at 7:18 am

    Thanks guys for the links and infos… I digget a bit into and here are some interesting parts:

    “PCI configuration requirements reduce the memory that is available to the operating system by an amount that is between approximately 200 MB and approximately 1 GB.”

    “In confgurations with 4 GB and more the visible memory may be reduced to approximately 3.5 GB or less (for 32 bit operating systems) and confgurations with 8 GB the visible memory may be reduced to approximately 7.5 GB or less (depending on system confguration).”

    Well said… -:)

    Reply
  6. charles58
    Posted on September 24, 2009 at 12:51 pm

    I wasn't able to find the Windows 7 x32 Ultimate on the MSDN website. Can you point me to it? PLEASE…. I saw x64 and x86 but no option for x32.

    Reply
  7. Vladan
    Posted on September 25, 2009 at 11:46 am

    It was ment to be Windows 7 x86 version, of course….. sorry for the typo…. -:)

    Reply   More from author

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