How many people get this?

[draggar]

Many people now, including some supervisors, are demanding we upgrade their computers from 2GB to 4GB.

They're on XP Pro (32 bit).

Anyone?

Ding ding ding!!

A 32 Bit OS will not see beyond 2GB (sometimes you can get it up to 3 but that's it).

I'm sorry, you have to wait for the next OS roll out which may not happen until very late 2010 or 2011.

[Broomjockey]

Actually, it will see up to 3 always, but that includes any memory on video cards. So if they have a 512MB video card, it would only see 2.5 of the RAM.

[draggar]

99.99% of our systems have integrated video so they're not seeing that.

[Pedersen]

Actually, I have to point out that it's very possible to deal with an arbitrary amount of memory, even past four gigs, in a 32 bit OS. Techniques such as memory banking, which tells the processor to use a different memory segment before looking for the addresses, allowed the older processors to address up to 1MB of RAM, even though they only used 16 bit pointers (which directly addressed only 64KB of RAM).

Now, XP is built so that it doesn't use those techniques. But that doesn't stop other 32 bit operating systems from being able to do so.

Incredibly minor nitpick, sorry.

[technical.angel]

I'm sorry, you have to wait for the next OS roll out which may not happen until very late 2010 or 2011.

We're going to wait to roll out until we have Windows 7. Big boss is testing it now.

[SteeleDragon78]

sadly i get requests for 2gigs to be added to old 3.11 and 95 machines. but yeah i have had a few ask for 3 and 4 gig upgrades. one in particular said that the dell system he had should be able to take 8 gig, had to explain that it would only if configured as an x64 server with a 1kw power supply. he was all for it until i told him the 4 grand to do that would come out of his departmental budget. took the wind out of his sails.

[Broomjockey]

Now, XP is built so that it doesn't use those techniques. But that doesn't stop other 32 bit operating systems from being able to do so.

Incredibly minor nitpick, sorry.

Mr. Fancy-pants shiny operating systems, I can do what yours can't blah blah blah. *smacks with a tuna* Sorry, out of salmon.

[Pedersen]

Mr. Fancy-pants shiny operating systems, I can do what yours can't blah blah blah. *smacks with a tuna* Sorry, out of salmon.

Sushi! Yay!

Now, keep in mind that I did not specify which other operating systems could do this, mainly because I don't think that any current operating system has support built in for it. But that doesn't mean it can't

[draggar]

OK - to give some background:

99.99% of my users wouldn't know how to tweak the OS (XP 32bit) to accept over 2GB - no Lunux, Unix, etc.. in my office.
99.99% of my users are also locked out of admin rights - they most likely wouldn't be able to do it anyway.
Almost everyone (maybe between 1-2 users) has integrated video.

All of my requests are futile.

[sld72382]

We're going to wait to roll out until we have Windows 7. Big boss is testing it now.

How does he like it? From what I have been reading, Win7 uses the Vista kernel but that's where the similarities end. Gone is the memory leak the Micro$oft has refused to address (leave a Vista PC on for more than a day and you get slowdowns and random errors, doesn't matter if you put it in standby or not), the windows sidebar and the constant user account control nags (It now lets you decide the level of security).

An online publication put it on a computer with only 512mb of RAM and the difference was night and day according to them, so apparently Microsoft has figured out memory management - let's hope it stays that way.

One thing that pissed me off was Microsoft was going to use an all-new kernel for Win7 that used only 40mb of memory idle (instead of the 400+ mb Vista uses), but new PC manufacturers cried foul: They whined that if Win7's system requirements were light people would be tempted to put them on older PCs rather than buying new ones, resulting in lost sales. What did Microsoft do? Instead of standing up for themselves, they folded like a deck of cards and re-released the beta with the Vista kernel.

[technical.angel]

How does he like it?

He said he likes it, it's like vista on a diet, and that's a direct quote. He's getting me his copy of the beta so I can test it on my lappy.

[Broomjockey]

(leave a Vista PC on for more than a day and you get slowdowns and random errors, doesn't matter if you put it in standby or not),

Uh...no I don't. I never have. I've left it on for a month and not gotten that.

[technical.angel]

Same here. The early version I tested didn't like staying on, but the current version is not having problems.