Clayton wrote:
> Windows is reading 3.25GB how can I get it to read 4GB? I have searched
> Google and ran the /PAE in the boot.ini but it's still reading as 3.25GB
> Can some please tell me what I need to put in the boot.ini for it to
> read 4GB
>
> cheers
>
I suspect the rules are different for SP1 versus SP2. SP2 includes
DEP (Data Execution Protection), and NoExecute and PAE are tied together
for SP2. So SP2 changed some things.
http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?p=4705537
The bottom post on that page shows a boot.ini, but to me it looks like
a boot.ini suitable for WinXP SP1. For SP2, you might need something
like /noexecute=AlwaysOff /PAE in the boot.ini .
This shows a list of the boot.ini options, but does not explain all
the consequences of using them.
http://web.archive.org/web/20070224...technet/sysinternals/information/bootini.mspx
I really think you should be happy at the 3.25GB level. Yes, you've lost
0.75GB of memory, but DEP is working for you, so some buffer overflow
exploits will be stopped.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_Execution_Prevention
You'll notice in the ocforums thread (first link), the guy doing the
experiments kinda gave up. He had two drivers failing with some of that
stuff enabled. If doing these kinds of experiments, make sure you are
prepared for the worst (i.e. use a throwaway boot HDD). You don't want
to do this to a working system with valuable data on it.
SP2 caused less RAM to be reported, in exchange for enabling DEP and
making the OS slightly more secure. The article here gives examples.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/888137/en-us
By including "noexecute alwaysoff pae 4GB" in your search terms,
you may find more experiments by the dedicated few.
Paul