Ram Revisited: 2gig-4gig-XP-ASUS???

[SageOfTheWabash]

Hi all, I admittedly don't visit this site everyday, [but it is my favorite tech site]. So I am sure that I have missed some of the definitive discussion on this subject.
Briefly, I am running ASUS P4S800D-X mobo, Intel P4 @ 3.06ghz, four 1gig sticks of Corsair Value Select.
So, let me begin by simply asking a few questions.

1. Has anyone ever been able to run 4 full gigs of ram on XP 32bit using any mobo? [No hear-say please, only those who have done it or verified it by examination.]

2. After being unable to run 4gigs of ram on XP 32bit, has anyone solved the problem with a mobo update?

3. If mobos won't run 4gig on XP 32bit OS out of the box why isn't this made clear in the sales literature? [Indeed, why even make a board that supports 4gig of ram knowing that 32bit systems are by far the majority?]

Your efforts to help me unravel this mystery are appreciated. Thanx All.

 

[raybay]

On any board? Or just on those limited to an advertised 4 GB?

 

[SageOfTheWabash]

Hi Ray,
On any board that supports up to 4gig.

 

[howard_hopkinso]

As far as I`m aware and I stand to be corrected, but WindowsXP can see a total of 4gigs or memory, including the page file. You could try turning off the page file, but it may result in some programmes not working properly.

Regards Howard

 

[raybay]

On any board, the total will be a tad less... on some older boards, it can be about 3.63 GB . On others, it has to do with the math that is used to calculate the space available.
There is a lot of information available on this issue via a Google search.

 

[SageOfTheWabash]

Perhaps my Original questions were not clear. So let me ask you, are you personally or have you ever succeeded in running 4 gigs of ram on a 32 bit system? If so what were the hardware combos?

Same question for you Howard.

I am trying to eliminate the theoretical chatter and focus on who has done it, what they had to over come to make it work and what hardware was used?

 

[howard_hopkinso]

No I haven`t mate, but A little research leads me to believe that the problem lies with WindowsXP itself. If I`m correct in my assumption that Windows can only see 4gigs of memory in total, including the pagefile, then it makes sense why you can`t see your 4gigs of physical ram in Windows, but you can in bios.

As an experiment which should prove or disprove my theory one way or the other, try the following.

Right click my computer, and select properties, and then the advanced tab.

Under performance, click settings. Click on the advanced tab, and then on the change button. Click no paging file and click set. Click ok/apply/ok and reboot your computer. See how much ram Windows now recognises.

Let us know the results.

Regards Howard

 

[SageOfTheWabash]

Thanx for the info Howard. I may try this at a later date. However, right now I am in the middle of a few projects that I need to finish straight away. I don't want to do any disruptive experimentation presently.

Thanx again....Any Others Please weigh in.....