XP Pro and 4GB ram - where's my memory?

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elksman · #1 Post by **elksman** » Tue Mar 20, 2007 12:21 am

Hi -

This is a tough one (for me anyway). The party line is that Windows XP Pro cannot recognize more than 3GB. I know for a fact that many of my peers can usually use up to 3.5, even 3.7. The difference (between that and 4GB) is the sum of the 32-bit address space (4GB) that the BIOS and or the OS sets aside for other things, like the 256MB of RAM on the Fire GL card.

The typical prescription when dealing with a situation like this is to go into the BIOS and change the memory settings (like mirroring, etc), PCI resources, etc. to try and get some of that address space back.

Unfortunately, all of the advice I have gotten (including from the consultant I hired to help me with this!) boils down to what I can do with the BIOS. None of the options that people have suggested EXIST IN THE THINKPAD BIOS. The folks at IBM support in Atlanta have not really tried at all to help me. They just spew the party line.

Does anyone know how I can make some changes in resource allocation to get back some of my physical RAM (the BIOS sees 4GB physical ram, as does the System Info).

My clock is ticking, as I have only a few days to send back that extra (expensive) 2GB stick to Crucial if I can't make use of more than 3GB.

Thanks for your help!

Best regards,

Eric

P.S. I'm already using the /3gb switch, and a LAA application, to get the most of the 3GB that Windows does report.

arni · #2 Post by **arni** » Tue Mar 20, 2007 4:23 am

I don't think there is any chance to get the extra memory allocated on this machine. I would suggest you either to move to a x64 os or stick with only 3gb or ram in xp x32.

IMHO with all the caveats with the x32 architecture all memory above 3gb is just wasted money.

Take a look at this blog post from Jeff Atwood http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/000811.html

masterus · #3 Post by **masterus** » Tue Mar 20, 2007 7:42 am

Hi

As I Know..there's no sense to input 4GB RAM into T60 because it will not support it..wait for T61 , that model will do that..

Regards

nxman · #4 Post by **nxman** » Tue Mar 20, 2007 8:31 am

I’ve' read here at the forums that the T60 cannot Handel 4 Gigs of Ram 3 is max its not IBM-Lenovo issue it’s the motherboard it self or something like that.

dsalyers · #5 Post by **dsalyers** » Tue Mar 20, 2007 8:38 am

I don't know of any Intel 945 mobile based motherboards that have the options you speak of. Maybe some do, but there is no known solution for what you want to do with your T60. This is fixed in the upcoming Santa Rosa Chipset.

typical8o8 · #6 Post by **typical8o8** » Tue Mar 20, 2007 4:44 pm

it's probably this.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/888137/en-us

and this

http://www.crucial.com/kb/answer.asp?qid=4251

#7 Post by **Kyocera** » Tue Mar 20, 2007 4:56 pm

Guys, there are many post's referencing this very issue back in this series conference, please use the search function.

3nigma · #8 Post by **3nigma** » Tue Mar 20, 2007 5:22 pm

Not only the search function, but even Google itself. Instant answer for this question.

XP Pro and 4GB ram - where's my memory?

XP Pro and 4GB ram - where's my memory?

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