Is there any uptodate patch that safely hack Windows 7 x86 to use more than 3GB of RAM(4, 6, 8....GB) currently there is an application named Readyfor4GB, but last time it got update was April of 2009 !! I fear I face BSOD to use it for SP1 of Win7; So please help me or suggest a safe way in this subject; I wonder why there is not such an important software_with this functionality_in this forum Thx for your attention
there have been several apps (patches) or (fixes) that will force windows to show up more ram some of them will show even over 8gb . But the one thing they all have in common ,they all modify important system files that can and often does cause instability . and it does not matter how much ram you see listed as "available" because even if you have 8gb , windows 32bit) will not use it ,nor will any other 32bit programs ,simply because they were written to utilize much less .you will be hard pushed to find any 32bit proggies that will ever demand anywhere near the 4gig limit let alone more. even in 64bit systems 32bit apps will never demand anything over what they would have used on 32bit , the only real benefit with 64bit and 8plus gigs of ram are because 64 bit is far more stable when multitasking and many newer 64bit programs are finally being written to make the most of that RAM .If you really want to make the most of RAM then simply dump the x86 processor .
32-bit Windows can use more than 4GB of RAM through PAE. For example, the 32-bit version of Server 2008 Enterprise can use 64GB of RAM, and Windows 2000 Advanced can use 8GB of RAM (2K DC can use 32GB). Although PAE is available (and probably in use, since Windows uses PAE when it uses DEP), the ability to use more than 4GB of RAM is disabled on consumer editions and on the standard server editions. This is because most 32-bit drivers assume that there is nothing beyond 4GB and will behave erratically (i.e., crash hard) when suddenly presented with addresses beyond the lower 4GB, and your system will be unusable. High-end server editions are used on specialized computers with specialized drivers that are PAE-aware, so Microsoft deemed it okay to turn on this ability for those SKUs. To get this to work on Windows 7, you will need to hack the kernel to re-enable this feature. At least with Vista, you might get away with using the Server 2008 kernel, but no 32-bit version of 2008 R2 exists. You will also need 32-bit PAE-aware drivers that won't blow up in your face. And finally, the address space of your applications/software is still limited to 32 bits, and for any one process to access memory beyond that, they will have to use selectors like the old 16-bit days. In all, this is a HUGE, painful mess, and it makes absolutely no sense to pursue this when you can just use a 64-bit Windows, with a nice, flat, no-selectors-needed address space. There is a good reason why Microsoft decided to push 64-bit Windows instead of try to make PAEing 32-bit Windows work for the general computing, and there is a good reason why Microsoft dropped the ugly 32-bit nonsense for 2008 R2 Enterprise/DC.
@Enigma256, Nice explanation dude. Simple and Concise. @ehsan405, Instead of going through all the trouble of trying find some sort of hack/patch, that will effect the stability of your system, and could possibly brake your system at any update. Why not just use the x64 version of Windows 7 ? The CD Key for the version your using now will also install/activate the x64 version.
Don't waste time with the Physical Address Extension hack. As has been posted already , all you will achieve OS instability . Go 64 bit if you need more RAM.
I agree, go x64. PAE is effectively just an emulation mode anyway, it uses 36-bit memory addressing plonked on top of a 32-bit operating system. Each extra bit doubles the maximum RAM availability, hence why there is a 64GB limit with Windows Enterprise edition: 32 --> 33 --> 34 --> 35 --> 36 == Bit addressing 04 --> 08 --> 16 --> 32 --> 64 == GB Ram Availability. Note device driver and video ram takes up address space and is subtracted from these values. 32 bit apps will only use a maximum of 2gb of RAM, unless compiled with largeaddressaware which enables them to use 3gb. Downside with PAE as mentioned by others is hardware compatibility, but also software compatibility is also an issue. Its simply not worth pursueing!
I know this reply is a bit old, but I had to post a +1 on that. This is the best explanation of PAE, DEP and the 4GB limit that I have ever read. One thing that can be noted is that the 4GB limit was partially a financially motivated limitation on Microsoft's part. I read an internal article years back when I was contracting for MS (amazing how lax their network security was at that location) and it was talking about the price points, and why the 4GB limit should be discussed and used when dealing with software sales to clients. It should be noted that even the older versions of the Server OS, such as 2003 Data Center or Enterprise also see and use up to 64GB of RAM. Flat out, if they made it work with these 32 bit OSes, they could have done it with all of them. Frankly, I believe they should have forced the 64bit OS as soon as they had it perfected. Software vendors would have followed in suit, and we would all have nothing to worry about. =) For the record, I agree w/ the general opinion. If you need more RAM, upgrade to a 64bit OS. I would post an MS link with some really good info about the hacks and stabilizing them but MDL bans new users from posting URLS. Lame. That's what moderators are for.