How much memory does the WinXP system support? How much memory does WinXP support?

Recently, users of WinXP system have reported that the system memory is not enough. I want to add a memory stick, but the computer does not recognize the memory stick added, and the memory stick is not bad. So what is the problem? How much memory does the WinXP system support? Let's take a look together.

WinXP system memory introduction

How much memory support depends on the number of bits of the operating system. It depends on whether it is 32 or 64. 32-bit and 64-bit hardware are not compatible with each other. The 32-bit XP system only supports 3.2G physical memory, and the system does not recognize it. 64-bit can use up to 128G of physical memory and 16TB of virtual memory.

32-bit systems can support 3.25G (except Win2003), which means that you can only display 3.25G memory on 4G memory. 64-bit systems can support 128G (XP also has a 64-bit version, but generally 32-bit, 64-bit XP is said to have no official Chinese version). However, Win7 and VISTA 32-bit systems can be modified to enable PAE support to 128G, which is the same as Win2003.

In theory, 32 bits = 2^32B = 4 * 2^30B = 4GB, so a 32-bit operating system can access addresses in the 4GB range.

In practice, I have never seen any 32bit WinXP able to access 4GB of physical memory.

Theory and reality seem contradictory, but it is not. Note that "access to the 4GB range of addresses" does not mean that "4GB of memory can be supported"!

Detailed analysis:

32-bit operating system can access 4G space, but here 4G refers to the addressing space, and can not simply correspond to the memory, we often put This space is considered as memory size because memory is the main object of CPU addressing. In fact, the addressing of the operating system includes addressing in memory modules, graphics memory, sound card NICs, and other hardware interrupts, so 4GB is the sum of all device addresses that the operating system can handle. That is, the memory space is only a part of the addressing space.

The fundamental solution is to upgrade to a 64-bit operating system or use the 2003 Enterprise Edition.

There are a lot of friends who have a misunderstanding about computer memory, that is, as long as you install a computer with a lot of memory, the system will read how much memory, in fact, no matter whether WinXP, Win7 read memory will have a The limit, when the memory we installed exceeds the limited memory, the extra part is completely ineffective.

So how much memory can the WinXP system support? The WinXP system is divided into a 32-bit system and a 64-bit system. The limited memory is different. For example, the WinXP32 system can only read 3.25G of memory. If you install a 4G memory stick, the extra memory is completely absent. use. If you have a WinXP64 bit system, you can read 128G of physical memory and 16TB of virtual memory.

The above is a detailed introduction to the WinXP system memory, in summary, if you want a larger memory, it is best to install a 64-bit WinXP operating system.