memory, with dual boot vista

[Kienzle]

Hey guys.

I've been having some glitches on my computer, so sure enough memtest showed that both my Corsair 1 GB sticks were bad.

So, my warranty has expired since I built my computer and I need to get some more ram. I was considering these OCZ 2 x 2 GB sticks (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227270) because I've been wanting to dual boot Vista with my current XP.

Now I know that XP won't recognize 4 GB of ram, but I wanted to get Vista 64 bit which of course will take advantage of the sticks, and any more I choose to add.

So I just wanted to ask a few questions.

1) Will I run into any problems dual booting a 32 bit OS('s) with a 64 bit OS? (They're going to be on separate HDD's- Ubuntu and XP on one, Vista on another.)

2) Will I run into any problems with more memory than XP can handle? I don't run any super intensive games on XP, so if the OS is a little slower than usual I can handle that.

System Specs: Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 2.66 GHz, nVidia GeForce 8800 GTS.

Any help is appreciated. :)

[Kienzle]

Okay, so nobody here knows anything about 64 bit Vista?

I really need some help here, guys. Just giving your input on whether the memory looks good would be really appreciated.

In addition, I would really like it if someone could give help me understand if this zalman 9700 fan (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118019) would fit in my mobo, I have an Asus P5N-E SLI motherboard and the aforementioned Core 2 Duo... I have heard that this fan is quite big, too big to fit in my mid tower?

Help appreciated, and thank you. :)

[RickyTick]

Sorry man. I didn't reply to your first post simply because I don't know the answer. I use Vista 64 bit with 4 gb of ram and it performs flawlessly. I have G.Skill DDR2 1000 (PC2 8000). Its excellent ram.

I've read where people claimed that using 4 gb of ram on XP 32bit was actually slower than 2gb of ram. Sounds strange, and I have no way to prove or disprove it. Its just what I've read a time or two. IDK

I've never dual booted, so I don't want to give any misinformation. Sorry.

Also not sure about the Zalman cooler fitting or not. It might depend on what case you have.

[Kienzle]

No problem. I think I'll just bide my time with Vista until I find out more, and buy that ram asap... It is sooo agravating, having my comp fail in some way basically every 10 minutes. Even now, I have to post this quickly, before I freeze up big time.

[The Wise Monkey]

1. You shouldn't have any problems dual booting 32/64 bit OSs, so you don't need to worry there.

2. You need to implement a boot parameter in XP to allow it to see up to 3GB - you need to edit your boot.ini file by adding /3GB to the end of the OS boot line. Microsoft have a good article on editing the boot.ini:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;q289022

So you'd add /3GB after where it says /fastdetect, for example.

[Rob]

Very interesting, Wise Monkey. I wasn't aware of that. A google search turned up this link from Microsoft as well, which may be helpful.

http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/system/platform/server/PAE/PAEmem.mspx

[The Wise Monkey]

Very interesting, Wise Monkey. I wasn't aware of that. A google search turned up this link from Microsoft as well, which may be helpful.

http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/system/platform/server/PAE/PAEmem.mspx


You learn something new every day. :D

Nice link btw - you may want to incorporate that into your newer build instructions.

[Kienzle]

Much obliged, everyone.


1. You shouldn't have any problems dual booting 32/64 bit OSs, so you don't need to worry there.

2. You need to implement a boot parameter in XP to allow it to see up to 3GB - you need to edit your boot.ini file by adding /3GB to the end of the OS boot line. Microsoft have a good article on editing the boot.ini:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;q289022

So you'd add /3GB after where it says /fastdetect, for example.
Okay, I'll get one of my friends who is pretty good with the whole command prompt thing to make sure I don't much anything up... :p

I take it then that it'll just ignore the extra 1 GB, which is fine.

And thank you for the link, Rob. A lot of info there.