3G of RAM or 4G of RAM
At my work our curent XPs have been upgraded with 3G of RAM. The IT dept. is in process of obtaining and installing Windows 7 on the same machines next year. (this is government, so don't laugh). As a tech liaison for my area, I have just found out that they will add another 1G of RAM to our 32bit machines.
Some users who already got that extra RAM are complaining that they do not "see it". One of the managers responded to that:
"...we currently have Windows XP 32 bit which has a limit of 3G of memory that is available. The extra memory has indeed been installed, however the additional 1G will not be available until the PCs are upgraded to Windows 7"
I have read a lot about this subject, and the manager's response did not make sense, but I admit I am also confused on the whole 3 vs. 4 G on these PCs.
All the PCs are on domain.
Thank You for clarification,
MickeyDC
Software/Hardware used:
Windows XP, sp 2; 32 bit; Dell Optiplex 745/755
Software/Hardware used:
Windows XP, sp 2; 32 bit; Dell Optiplex 745/755
ASKED:
November 8, 2012 9:15 PM
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It doesn’t matter if anyone can see it or not. It only matters if memory management can see it and make use of it. The best discussion of it that I’ve seen is this Licensed Memory in 32-Bit Windows Vista page. (WinXP is also discussed.) That article helps to show how complicated all of it is and why no good explanation is ever going to work for most developers (including me) much less general users. — Tom
actually for my side we are still running on xp too and its a great OS to work with. as for 3gb or 4gb, I guess even running 3gb on win 7 is more than enough unless the user really pushes the machine to the extreme level.
You are only installing Windows 7 next year? We were forced to do it before FY 13, I also work for the government. Trust me, having the customers make the change over was like pulling teeth and they are already talking about the possibility of migrating to Windows 8 by FY 15 and all of our servers MUST be on 2008 R2 NLT March of next year. The fun part is also making the third party vendors upgrade their software to match the OS. Oh, the inhumanity!!!!
I was off for few days.. but thank you all for commenting on my questions. I have read till I turned blue about 3G vs 4G on XP 32 bit. My opinion is that they should give us new 64bit boxes but I am only low tech support and in government it is soooo slow. I am also concerned that 4G (even if it is completely utilized on 32 machine) will not be enough. We are running whole bunch of programs (Windows Office, Outlook, bunch of security patches and scans all the time) including web based Siebel application. Our PCs are very slow now..so when W7 is loaded I am not sure what is going to happen.
Thanx,
Mickey
If your computers are very slow right now then it would be recommeded to have 4Gb installed. After Win7 in installed you should see an overall increase in performance. Most office apps should not be eating to much memory. If its still slow then look into what kind of processor you are using.
Newserver,
Thank You for the input. Our PCs are showing 2 Intel(R) Core(TM)2 with 6400 @ 2.12GHz.
There is no plan to change any hardware (other than having 4G RAM) when W7 is loaded.
I think it is network security that is creating ever increasing problem with slowness, on the top of the heavy usage. Internet is very slow (we depend on it since we are heavily using Seibel web base application), and opening Outlook is very glacial.
Thanx,
Mickey
Have you gone to your NetOps section to see if, or what, is causing the slow down? If you are working for the government, it might be a setting in the HBSS since they are in the process of upgrading parts of it and it is causing a bit of a problem here. See about moving a couple of systems, ones that you have full control of, into a no GPO group in your ADUC and see what happens. From there, start stripping things down and see where the problem might be coming from, network, hardware, software, IA…. Can’t hurt, but be sure to keep very good notes and timelines so that you can show your bosses the what and why to CYOA. Iy has saved mine oh so many times. Good luck.
Harris,
I’ll be sure to follow your advice. It will be a great learning opportunity. Thank You so much for your input.
Mickey