Using my extra RAM for other things in an old, updated 32-bit XPPro. SP3.

On 12/22/2010 4:00 PM PT, Alias typed:

I put all OSes on separate hard drives and use the BIOS (not grub) to
choose to which OS I want to boot into.

Ah, that's a good idea. How did you install OS without touching the
other drive? Did you disconnect the other drive?
--
"None preaches better than the ant, and she says nothing." --Ben Franklin
/\___/\ Phil./Ant @ http://antfarm.ma.cx (Personal Web Site)
/ /\ /\ \ Ant's Quality Foraged Links: http://aqfl.net
| |o o| |
\ _ / If crediting, then use Ant nickname and AQFL URL/link.
( ) If e-mailing, then axe ANT from its address if needed.
Ant is/was listening to a song on this computer: Barbarellas - Body Rock
(rip)

Alias wrote:
On 12/22/2010 10:15 PM, Patok wrote:

After multiple mentions (by you?) I went to that site to check it out.
And I see that Mint is based on Ubuntu. What is the difference, then?
Here
http://www.linuxmint.com/about.php
they don't say anything that is not the same as Ubuntu. What is your
reason to like it better? (I already have Ubuntu installed in a
VirtualBox.)

If you download the DVD, you get Flash, Java, Fonts and many programs
installed at the same time as you install Mint. Mint installs T-Bird
instead of Evolution. I find it to be a polished Ubuntu. I also like the
default desktop lay out better. For people coming from Windows, it's
easier to manage the learning curve.

I see. Thanks.

--
You'd be crazy to e-mail me with the crazy. But leave the div alone.
--
Whoever bans a book, shall be banished. Whoever burns a book, shall burn.

Ant wrote:
[snip]

I heard that I can use the unused memory for other things like a RAM
drive for swap files, %temp%, etc. How do I do that?
[snip]

I suspect you heard a reference to expanded memory and/or
extended memory from DOS era. See:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expanded_memory
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extended_memory

On 12/23/2010 4:04 AM PT, Richard Owlett typed:

I heard that I can use the unused memory for other things like a RAM
drive for swap files, %temp%, etc. How do I do that?
[snip]

I suspect you heard a reference to expanded memory and/or extended
memory from DOS era. See:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expanded_memory
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extended_memory

Yes. I was told that using unused RAM like a RAM drive but others says
no in these newsgroups.
--
"After World War III, the ants will still be around." --unknown
/\___/\ Phil./Ant @ http://antfarm.ma.cx (Personal Web Site)
/ /\ /\ \ Ant's Quality Foraged Links: http://aqfl.net
| |o o| |
\ _ / If crediting, then use Ant nickname and AQFL URL/link.
( ) If e-mailing, then axe ANT from its address if needed.
Ant is currently not listening to any songs on this computer.

On Wed, 22 Dec 2010 15:10:51 -0800, Ant wrote:


Note that the hardware is using the address *space*, not the actual
RAM itself. If you have a greater amount of RAM, the rest of the RAM
goes unused because there is no address space to map it to.

Dang. So I can't use it at all for anything.

You could make a lamp out of it. Or a planter.


I heard that I can use the unused memory for other things like a RAM
drive for swap files, %temp%, etc. How do I do that?

Sorry, you heard wrong.

Bummer.

On 12/24/2010 10:28 AM PT, mm typed:

Note that the hardware is using the address *space*, not the actual
RAM itself. If you have a greater amount of RAM, the rest of the RAM
goes unused because there is no address space to map it to.

Dang. So I can't use it at all for anything.

You could make a lamp out of it. Or a planter.

Hahah. No thanks! Only if it dies and I can't RMA it. I still want to
use it in the future. :P
--
"In a battle between elephants, the ants get squashed." --Thailand
/\___/\ Phil./Ant @ http://antfarm.ma.cx (Personal Web Site)
/ /\ /\ \ Ant's Quality Foraged Links: http://aqfl.net
| |o o| |
\ _ / If crediting, then use Ant nickname and AQFL URL/link.
( ) If e-mailing, then axe ANT from its address if needed.
Ant is currently not listening to any songs on this computer.

On 22/12/2010 6:10 PM, Ant wrote:
On 12/22/2010 1:35 PM PT, Ken Blake, MVP typed:
Note that the hardware is using the address *space*, not the actual
RAM itself. If you have a greater amount of RAM, the rest of the RAM
goes unused because there is no address space to map it to.

Dang. So I can't use it at all for anything.

Why not upgrade to Windows 7 64-bit? What is it that you have that can't
run on it?

Yousuf Khan

On 12/24/2010 9:36 PM PT, Yousuf Khan typed:

Note that the hardware is using the address *space*, not the actual
RAM itself. If you have a greater amount of RAM, the rest of the RAM
goes unused because there is no address space to map it to.

Dang. So I can't use it at all for anything.

Why not upgrade to Windows 7 64-bit? What is it that you have that can't
run on it?

I used it at work, and didn't see anything important. I use old stuff
and don't need the fancy stuff. Old stuff like PowerVCR II for my old
analog TV tuner card, ASUS TV Tuner Card 880 NTSC (cx23880), etc. I also
did not want to reinstall/find new ones if unsupported in W7,
reconfigure, etc. Since XP SP3 is still supported, I will just wait a
few more years.
--
"We have to break with what must be broken with once and for all... and
we have to take the suffering upon ourselves... Freedom and power--power
above all. Power over all the tumbling vermin and over all the
ant-hill!" --Fedor Dostoevsky
/\___/\ Phil./Ant @ http://antfarm.ma.cx (Personal Web Site)
/ /\ /\ \ Ant's Quality Foraged Links: http://aqfl.net
| |o o| |
\ _ / If crediting, then use Ant nickname and AQFL URL/link.
( ) If e-mailing, then axe ANT from its address if needed.
Ant is currently not listening to any songs on this computer.

On Sat, 25 Dec 2010 00:36:37 -0500, Yousuf Khan
wrote:

On 22/12/2010 6:10 PM, Ant wrote:
On 12/22/2010 1:35 PM PT, Ken Blake, MVP typed:
Note that the hardware is using the address *space*, not the actual
RAM itself. If you have a greater amount of RAM, the rest of the RAM
goes unused because there is no address space to map it to.

Dang. So I can't use it at all for anything.

Why not upgrade to Windows 7 64-bit? What is it that you have that can't
run on it?


Several points he

1. An upgrade from 32-bit Windows to 64-bit Windows is not possible.
He would have to do a clean installation of 64-bit Windows to get
there.

2. He couldn't even upgrade to 32-bit Windows 7. An upgrade from XP to
Windows 7 is not possible, and again, he would have to do a clean
installation.

3. He's presently seeing 2.5GB of his 6GB. It depends on what
applications he runs, but it would be very rare for anyone running XP
with 2.5GB to see any improvement by having more RAM available.

4. It's similarly unlikely that he would see any improvement in
performance by running Windows 7 with 6GB over Windows XP with 2.5GB.
There are, in my view, several good reasons to go to Windows 7, but
that's not one of them.

--
Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP (Windows Desktop Experience) since 2003
Please Reply to the Newsgroup

On 12/25/2010 7:36 AM PT, Ken Blake, MVP typed:

Why not upgrade to Windows 7 64-bit? What is it that you have that can't
run on it?

Several points he

1. An upgrade from 32-bit Windows to 64-bit Windows is not possible.
He would have to do a clean installation of 64-bit Windows to get
there.

2. He couldn't even upgrade to 32-bit Windows 7. An upgrade from XP to
Windows 7 is not possible, and again, he would have to do a clean
installation.

Yeah. Even if I could do an OS upgrade, it would be too messy and ugly.
Clean, from scratch, is better.


3. He's presently seeing 2.5GB of his 6GB. It depends on what
applications he runs, but it would be very rare for anyone running XP
with 2.5GB to see any improvement by having more RAM available.

I just wished I could have my 512 MB back to have 3 GB. Dang hardwares
(ATI Radeon 4870 videoc card?)!


4. It's similarly unlikely that he would see any improvement in
performance by running Windows 7 with 6GB over Windows XP with 2.5GB.
There are, in my view, several good reasons to go to Windows 7, but
that's not one of them.

Yeah, I will just wait until I am forced. I am happy with it. Again, I
bought 6 GB because it was cheap and on sale. I didn't know the unused
RAM could not be used for other stuff like RAM drive/disk.

I will just keep the RAM for future OS'. You never know. My old XP might
commit suicide to force me to install an 64-bit OS! I only back up my
personal datas anyways. Other stuff, I don't care.
--
"... Ooh, we haven't done that in a long time. I love picnics. I'll
bring my ant jar." --The Berenstain Bears (unknown episode)
/\___/\ Phil./Ant @ http://antfarm.ma.cx (Personal Web Site)
/ /\ /\ \ Ant's Quality Foraged Links: http://aqfl.net
| |o o| |
\ _ / If crediting, then use Ant nickname and AQFL URL/link.
( ) If e-mailing, then axe ANT from its address if needed.
Ant is currently not listening to any songs on this computer.

On 25/12/2010 11:59 AM, Ant wrote:
On 12/25/2010 7:36 AM PT, Ken Blake, MVP typed:

Why not upgrade to Windows 7 64-bit? What is it that you have that can't
run on it?

Several points he

1. An upgrade from 32-bit Windows to 64-bit Windows is not possible.
He would have to do a clean installation of 64-bit Windows to get
there.

2. He couldn't even upgrade to 32-bit Windows 7. An upgrade from XP to
Windows 7 is not possible, and again, he would have to do a clean
installation.

Yeah. Even if I could do an OS upgrade, it would be too messy and ugly.
Clean, from scratch, is better.

Well, that's your only choice when going from XP to 7, so your wish is
fulfilled.

3. He's presently seeing 2.5GB of his 6GB. It depends on what
applications he runs, but it would be very rare for anyone running XP
with 2.5GB to see any improvement by having more RAM available.

I just wished I could have my 512 MB back to have 3 GB. Dang hardwares
(ATI Radeon 4870 videoc card?)!

XP's handling of newer aspects of PCs is braindead, not just the extra
RAM that's now available, but also things such as IRQs. XP seems to
think it's stuck still living in a world of AT-style 16 IRQ's, in a
modern world of 1000's of available ACPI-style IRQ's. As a result far
too many IRQ's get shared between totally unrelated hardware under XP.
It becomes a nightmare pinpointing hardware errors when it happens.

Windows Vista and 7 are much closer to the way Linux handles IRQs now.
Distributes them out amongst 16,000+ IRQ ports, and only shares them if
they are really part of the same peripheral.

4. It's similarly unlikely that he would see any improvement in
performance by running Windows 7 with 6GB over Windows XP with 2.5GB.
There are, in my view, several good reasons to go to Windows 7, but
that's not one of them.

Yeah, I will just wait until I am forced. I am happy with it. Again, I
bought 6 GB because it was cheap and on sale. I didn't know the unused
RAM could not be used for other stuff like RAM drive/disk.

I will just keep the RAM for future OS'. You never know. My old XP might
commit suicide to force me to install an 64-bit OS! I only back up my
personal datas anyways. Other stuff, I don't care.

While I waited for 64-bit Windows to mature, I did have 64-bit Ubuntu
running on my system, even before I went over 4GB. I'd been running
64-bit Ubuntu since version 5.04. It was fairly mature already at that
point, and just as well supported as 32-bit Ubuntu.

Yousuf Khan

On 12/25/2010 9:34 PM PT, Yousuf Khan typed:

2. He couldn't even upgrade to 32-bit Windows 7. An upgrade from XP to
Windows 7 is not possible, and again, he would have to do a clean
installation.

Yeah. Even if I could do an OS upgrade, it would be too messy and ugly.
Clean, from scratch, is better.

Well, that's your only choice when going from XP to 7, so your wish is
fulfilled.

Only Vista can depending on the correct bit, right?


3. He's presently seeing 2.5GB of his 6GB. It depends on what
applications he runs, but it would be very rare for anyone running XP
with 2.5GB to see any improvement by having more RAM available.

I just wished I could have my 512 MB back to have 3 GB. Dang hardwares
(ATI Radeon 4870 videoc card?)!

XP's handling of newer aspects of PCs is braindead, not just the extra
RAM that's now available, but also things such as IRQs. XP seems to
think it's stuck still living in a world of AT-style 16 IRQ's, in a
modern world of 1000's of available ACPI-style IRQ's. As a result far
too many IRQ's get shared between totally unrelated hardware under XP.
It becomes a nightmare pinpointing hardware errors when it happens.

Windows Vista and 7 are much closer to the way Linux handles IRQs now.
Distributes them out amongst 16,000+ IRQ ports, and only shares them if
they are really part of the same peripheral.

16K? Wow.


4. It's similarly unlikely that he would see any improvement in
performance by running Windows 7 with 6GB over Windows XP with 2.5GB.
There are, in my view, several good reasons to go to Windows 7, but
that's not one of them.

Yeah, I will just wait until I am forced. I am happy with it. Again, I
bought 6 GB because it was cheap and on sale. I didn't know the unused
RAM could not be used for other stuff like RAM drive/disk.

I will just keep the RAM for future OS'. You never know. My old XP might
commit suicide to force me to install an 64-bit OS! I only back up my
personal datas anyways. Other stuff, I don't care.

While I waited for 64-bit Windows to mature, I did have 64-bit Ubuntu
running on my system, even before I went over 4GB. I'd been running
64-bit Ubuntu since version 5.04. It was fairly mature already at that
point, and just as well supported as 32-bit Ubuntu.

Cool. I still use 32-bit because it works fine. It only had 2-3 GB of
RAM on the old Debian installation from 2005. Maybe I will go 64-bit
when I reinstall it from scratch whenever that is.
--
"Look not to the windmill's turning while the ant still burrows." --unknown
/\___/\ Phil./Ant @ http://antfarm.ma.cx (Personal Web Site)
/ /\ /\ \ Ant's Quality Foraged Links: http://aqfl.net
| |o o| |
\ _ / If crediting, then use Ant nickname and AQFL URL/link.
( ) If e-mailing, then axe ANT from its address if needed.
Ant is currently not listening to any songs on this computer.

On 26/12/2010 12:07 PM, Ant wrote:
On 12/25/2010 9:34 PM PT, Yousuf Khan typed:
Well, that's your only choice when going from XP to 7, so your wish is
fulfilled.

Only Vista can depending on the correct bit, right?

Yeah, 32-bit XP to 32-bit Vista will work, 32-bit XP to 64-bit Vista won't.

XP to anything on Windows 7 won't upgrade. However, Windows 7 does offer
to back up all of your old Windows files into a new directory structure
called "Windows.old", which can be used to revert to XP at a later time.
Your old "settings and documents" folders will also be backed up here.

Windows Vista and 7 are much closer to the way Linux handles IRQs now.
Distributes them out amongst 16,000+ IRQ ports, and only shares them if
they are really part of the same peripheral.

16K? Wow.

Yeah, I don't expect to ever see an IRQ-related problem in these newer
systems.

While I waited for 64-bit Windows to mature, I did have 64-bit Ubuntu
running on my system, even before I went over 4GB. I'd been running
64-bit Ubuntu since version 5.04. It was fairly mature already at that
point, and just as well supported as 32-bit Ubuntu.

Cool. I still use 32-bit because it works fine. It only had 2-3 GB of
RAM on the old Debian installation from 2005. Maybe I will go 64-bit
when I reinstall it from scratch whenever that is.

As far as I'm concerned, with any distribution of Linux, I see no reason
why anybody should be running 32-bit Linux at all, even if they don't
have more than 4GB of RAM installed.

Yousuf Khan

Ant wrote:
Hello.

A couple days ago, I upgraded my old 32-bit Windows XP Pro. SP3 (IE6)
system/computer/system to an Intel i7 with 6 GB of RAM. I know that
32-bit operating systems/OS' cannot see all that RAM due to old software
designs' limitations. Currently, my working Windows only sees about 2.5
GB of physical RAM (shouldn't it be 3 GB though?).

I heard that I can use the unused memory for other things like a RAM
drive for swap files, %temp%, etc. How do I do that?

And yes, I will get 64-bit W7 or another OS one day. At this time, I am
not going to do that since XP Pro. SP3 does fine for what I need.

Thank you in advance.


I quite accidentally came across the Ramdisk product:
http://memory.dataram.com/products-a...tware/ramdisk?
which does exactly what you want, as long as your motherboard has Physical
Address Extensions enabled. If it does, you can have a nice 2GB ramdisk for free.
I didn't read this thread carefully, so I don't know if this product was
mentioned, or not. Sorry if it was.

--
You'd be crazy to e-mail me with the crazy. But leave the div alone.
--
Whoever bans a book, shall be banished. Whoever burns a book, shall burn.

On 1/15/2011 3:19 PM PT, Patok typed:

A couple days ago, I upgraded my old 32-bit Windows XP Pro. SP3 (IE6)
system/computer/system to an Intel i7 with 6 GB of RAM. I know that
32-bit operating systems/OS' cannot see all that RAM due to old
software designs' limitations. Currently, my working Windows only sees
about 2.5 GB of physical RAM (shouldn't it be 3 GB though?).

I heard that I can use the unused memory for other things like a RAM
drive for swap files, %temp%, etc. How do I do that?

And yes, I will get 64-bit W7 or another OS one day. At this time, I
am not going to do that since XP Pro. SP3 does fine for what I need.

Thank you in advance.


I quite accidentally came across the Ramdisk product:
http://memory.dataram.com/products-a...tware/ramdisk?
which does exactly what you want, as long as your motherboard has Physical
Address Extensions enabled. If it does, you can have a nice 2GB ramdisk
for free.
I didn't read this thread carefully, so I don't know if this product was
mentioned, or not. Sorry if it was.

Oooh, I think that's the program I heard about. Free for 4 GB and less.
Sweet.
--
"I used to command a battalion of German ants." --Tom
/\___/\ Phil./Ant @ http://antfarm.ma.cx (Personal Web Site)
/ /\ /\ \ Ant's Quality Foraged Links: http://aqfl.net
| |o o| |
\ _ / If crediting, then use Ant nickname and AQFL URL/link.
( ) If e-mailing, then axe ANT from its address if needed.
Ant is/was listening to a song on this computer: Meco - Empire Medley