Problems installing Windows Vista with More than 3GB ram?

[alstein]

Has anyone encountered problems installing Windows Vista when more than 3 GB of ram is installed on the PC?

I've read about this problem wich appears to have been resolved with Vista SP1. However my version of Vista is pre-sp1 and I am concerned. There are apparently 3 conditions that need to be present for the problem to occur:

1)The computer uses more than 3 GB of RAM.
2)The computer uses a storage system that is running the Storport miniport driver.
3) The computer uses a controller that uses 32-bit direct memory access (DMA).

Microsoft has an article about this problem:

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=929777

I don't understand what conditions 2 or 3 actually mean, and wold appreciate some advice. I am tempted to first install Vista with only 2 or 3 gb ram and then install the 4th gb after.

[RickyTick]

I am tempted to first install Vista with only 2 or 3 gb ram and then install the 4th gb after.

I would install with 2gb, get it running, install all updates including SP1, and then add 2 more gigs.

[The Wise Monkey]

The second and third conditions depend on your motherboard - the storage and memory controllers respectively. If you bought the board recently, these will all be fine, as 99% of modern motherboards have support for 64-bit addressing, and the Storport miniport driver is designed for servers and is part of Windows Server 2003, so wouldn't be present on standard desktop PCs.

[alstein]

The second and third conditions depend on your motherboard - the storage and memory controllers respectively. If you bought the board recently, these will all be fine, as 99% of modern motherboards have support for 64-bit addressing, and the Storport miniport driver is designed for servers and is part of Windows Server 2003, so wouldn't be present on standard desktop PCs.

The board that I bought is the ASUS P5K DELUXE/WIFI-AP LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard. Can I assume that it has 64-bit addressing? Thanks.

[The Wise Monkey]

Yes - if it supports the latest CPUs, then it has 64-bit addressing. :)

[alstein]

Yes - if it supports the latest CPUs, then it has 64-bit addressing. :)

Thanks.

[The Wise Monkey]

No problem, but you don't need to worry about this at all any more. Intel have supported 64-bit since Socket 775, and AMD have supported it since the AM2 socket was introduced, 2-3 years ago.

[zburns]

Installed Vista Ultimate, 32 bit, about 80 updates, then SP1. Four gigs of ram; AMD 5600 CPU; Asus M2N32 Deluxe mobo. In the middle of the process, had a brief period of screens changing for no reason,but I had antivirus installed; turned it off. Everything went smooth after that.

No problems before the antivirus incident, none afterwards. If I dismiss the antivirus incident, I would say that the Vista install was flawless. The updates downloads and the Vista SP1 download were without incident. Since the "full install", no problems of any kind. zburns.