How much memory can Windows XP handle?

[Raelynn]

Can Windows XP handle more than 2GB of memory? Tried 4GB but appearantly it won't work.

It is a 32-bit OS so theoretically it should be able to handle up to 4 gigs.

Upon doing some very short research, it appears that there is a hard max of 4 gigs of every type of memory that Windows can see. If you're off by a small amount, it was suggested to try turning off the page file (which is a type of memory so it counts against the limit).

Another possibility is to double check your MB and bios to make sure that it supports the amount of memory that you're putting in.

A third poster in a thread concerning the same issue, who contacted a computer maker, received a response that stated that the amount showing up in the Windows property shows a slightly different value that what most people think it is (they said something about addressable space, which didn't make sense to me). It also said that as long as the BIOS recognized the 4 gigs, Windows should be using it.

If it's a program such as photoshop only seeing a certain amount, I found this comment:

There is a way to assign more memory to the application. The problem starts out when XP grabs about 2GB of your 4GB total for system processes and system control. That leaves only about 2GB available for your applications. Hence Adobe is still only seeing 2GB available.

At the root of your C:\ drive is a read-only file called Boot.ini, change it to writable, and add the following text to the end of the entries

/3gb /userva=2900

That will skew the way XP apportions memory so that XP will only get about 1GB for itself, and 3GB will be available for your applications.

Do some research on adding these switches to the boot.ini file. You'll see there're some restrictions for XP SP1 users and ways to avoid getting a non-bootable system.

Hope this helps. :)