Can windows xp be upgraded to run on 4 gigs ram

[cis_01]

I have three units at home running on Windows Xp service pk 3 and I do some general repairs to friends computers. I have had to deal with all windows systems and have found Vista to be over complicated and basically non function able for the average person and a memory hog. Windows 7 addressed some of the problems but is still over complicated and non function able to the average person.
I found out a lot just by putting two laptops side by side and comparing them.
One was a Gateway 2.0 with Vista Home Premium and 4 gigs of ram the other was an old HP 1.7 with XP home sp3 and 1 gig ram.
except for the operating system we ran the same programs at the same time and found the XP version out performed the much more powerful unit almost double and the memory usage difference was unbelievable the gateway used almost 2 gigs continuously and the Hp used 3-400 mg and was double the speed.
I would like to increase the speed on my home units as they are all capable of 4 gigs of ram but they only have 2 slots and 1.5 sticks are hard to find to run xp 0n 3 gig

 

[AntiZig]

you can put the 4 gigs in, it just won't be able to use all of those 4g completely.

PS> you should try comparing the same two machines except install win7 on the gateway.

also, you only considered ram in your tests, what about CPU and FSB? those are pretty significant factors too...

 

[hubbardt]

As AntiZig mentioned, you can put in 4GB but 32-bit XP will only see 3GB-3.5GB
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/237236-45-recognise-ddr2

When checking emmory utilization pay careful attention to the amount that is cached. If Windows reports using 2GB RAM then a lot of that could be cached memory, not memory in use.
http://searchstorage.techtarget.com/definition/cache-memory

Upgrading XP RAM from 1GB to 2GB usually shows pretty dramatic performance increase. I would recommend running both machines at 4GB RAM if you have it.

 

[cis_01]

The gateway is 2.0 intel 64 bit and the Hp is amd 1.7 in our home we have a 1.7 amd tower with 1 gig ram 1 old recycled amd 800 with 1 gig ram our Backup and a acer 5612 1.7 intel with 1 gig ram. I have found quite a big difference between Amd and intel the intel's appear to operate much slower than Amd .
95% of the operating systems in our area are XP a few have 7 in new computers but a lot of them wish it was Xp as it is a lot easier to use and does what they ask and funnily enough a lot have been made to look and sound like Vista. Vista looks good but operates terrible,you can't find anything unless your an expert.
All ours are set for use in Canada,it seems to make small differences in certain things spelling being one

 

[AntiZig]

The gateway is 2.0 intel 64 bit and the Hp is amd 1.7 in our home we have a 1.7 amd tower with 1 gig ram 1 old recycled amd 800 with 1 gig ram our Backup and a acer 5612 1.7 intel with 1 gig ram. I have found quite a big difference between Amd and intel the intel's appear to operate much slower than Amd .
95% of the operating systems in our area are XP a few have 7 in new computers but a lot of them wish it was Xp as it is a lot easier to use and does what they ask and funnily enough a lot have been made to look and sound like Vista. Vista looks good but operates terrible,you can't find anything unless your an expert.
All ours are set for use in Canada,it seems to make small differences in certain things spelling being one

in that case AMD is running faster because it's sitting on a faster FSB (typically twice that of intel)

 

[cis_01]

I,m getting an old acer in the next few days from our son as he bought a new unit with 7 in it, He is trying to learn how to find stuff but if he has any trouble he will revert back to XP. The old laptop has a virus in it so has to be reformatted but this time I'm going to try Ubuntu Ultimate it looks to be a good looking system. I had an old Tower before with Ubuntu in it and was very impressed with some of the programs in it. I still plan to upgrade all our Xp's with more memory as they should work a lot faster and build a Xp server behind a router for storage purposes no monitor keyboard or mouse and run from the backup through the router.

 

[tapko]

you can go with 4 gigs of ram..just because it does not recognize 4 gigs does not mean it is not using it...try putting 1 2 gig stick in see how it performs and then put both sticks inand you will see a drastic improvement.When you install 4GB of memory in a 32-bit Windows system, your system will see (and utilize) only 3GB or 3.5GB. The reason for this is that some of the addressable memory is reserved for use by page files or by some of the devices that you are using, such as a graphics card, PCI card, integrated network connections, etc., so it's unavailable for use as normal main memory.

The amount of memory needed for these devices is calculated by your system at startup; if you haven't maxed out the memory in your system, it's invisible to you, and all your physical memory (i.e. RAM) is available for use. However if you've maxed out the DRAM in your system, this amount will be deducted from your physicWhen you install 4GB of memory in a 32-bit Windows system, your system will see (and utilize) only 3GB or 3.5GB. The reason for this is that some of the addressable memory is reserved for use by page files or by some of the devices that you are using, such as a graphics card, PCI card, integrated network connections, etc., so it's unavailable for use as normal main memory.

The amount of memory needed for these devices is calculated by your system at startup; if you haven't maxed out the memory in your system, it's invisible to you, and all your physical memory (i.e. RAM) is available for use. However if you've maxed out the DRAM in your system, this amount will be deducted from your physical memory.
al memory.
When you install 4GB of memory in a 32-bit Windows system, your system will see (and utilize) only 3GB or 3.5GB. The reason for this is that some of the addressable memory is reserved for use by page files or by some of the devices that you are using, such as a graphics card, PCI card, integrated network connections, etc., so it's unavailable for use as normal main memory.

The amount of memory needed for these devices is calculated by your system at startup; if you haven't maxed out the memory in your system, it's invisible to you, and all your physical memory (i.e. RAM) is available for use. However if you've maxed out the DRAM in your system, this amount will be deducted from your physical memory.
If you had a 64 bit xp then it would identify the p4 gigs.
There are many many posts on the 32/64 issue, including at the level of 4 GB RAM.
Nothing has been resolved.

 

[cis_01]

The other laptop was an intel 1.7 acer 2428AWXCi Travelmate and also had everything the same as the wife's 5612 but the 5612 will have to be reformatted as the acer control programs appear to be competing with windows Xp and dragging it down.
When I put Ubuntu in the travelmate it kept wanting to upgrade to 11 I did and it had a few problems so reverted back to Xp the disk loaded a laptop version of Xp with all the controls built in power, etc and works very good. Have to do the same on the 5612. I will probably upgrade the memory all round as I can afford it.