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What is the maximum amount of memory I can install in Windows 7 Professional 32-bit?

bwDraco
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    **I** am aware this is a duplicate, however can some please post the correct link so I can actually close it. Thanks. – BinaryMisfit Feb 08 '10 at 19:45
  • @Diago: i'm not finding it either. this may be one of those where the answer is everywhere, but the question isn't actually a duplicate. most of the questions that bring up the issue are asking why windows detects an amount less-than-installed, or whether to install 32- or 64-bit Windows, or some other variation. try some of the links in the comments here: http://superuser.com/questions/49199/why-is-it-that-32bit-windows-xp-can-only-address-3gb – quack quixote Feb 08 '10 at 20:27
  • Memory Limits for Windows Releases : http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa366778%28v=vs.85%29.aspx – Brian Dec 02 '11 at 10:53

4 Answers4

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Technically 4GB (because with 32 bit you can address 2^32 bytes). Practically a little less (net avaiable) since the system and the operating system need some. But in the usual terms, you can upgrade them to 4GB.

Cairo
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You can have as much as your motherboard supports and using techniques such as Physical Address Extension (PAE) You can use it all - however, on most non 64 bit machines, you can use between ~3.2GB and ~3.5GB which depends on many factors such as shared graphics memory and the amount of additional cards and devices you have (they all take address space).

William Hilsum
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4GB ram. Give or take, because it includes your graphics card and other things, which all count towards the hard 4gb limit. Upgrading to 64bit will give you 4EB of ram, which is far more than you'll be able to use.

Phoshi
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  • well, one can "install" (as in plug-it-into-the-mainboard) more :) – akira Feb 08 '10 at 19:35
  • I'm sure I could find ways to use all that memory... – BBlake Feb 08 '10 at 20:00
  • Actually the limit for Windows 7 64-bit is between 8GB and 192GB (depends how much you pay Microsoft, they have different limits on different editions of Windows 7). – davr Feb 08 '10 at 23:16
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I have a max of 2.8 GB even though I have 4GB installed and Windows 7 64 bit.

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ripper234
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  • You likely have an outstanding video card. Sadly, all the RAM used by all the components in your machine -- including the video card -- is in the 4GB addressable limit under 32-bit Windows. – John Rudy Feb 13 '10 at 13:21
  • I have something like geforce 7900, if I recall correctly. – ripper234 Feb 16 '10 at 17:12