# Removing the 4GB limit of 32-bit Windows 7



## Flash (Dec 28, 2013)

First and foremost, this is not my tutorial. I've tried the method and it worked flawlessly.
So thought of sharing it here, who're stuck with 32-bit version with >=4GB RAM. 

Try the methods in the below link at your own risk.

HOW TO: Removing 4GB Memory Limit on 32 bit Windows | EVGA Forums

With these steps, am able to unlock the 4GB limit of Windows 32-bit as below: 

*i.imgur.com/TJ6qKMp.png


----------



## harshilsharma63 (Dec 28, 2013)

> With these steps, am able to *unlock *the 4GB limit of Windows 32-bit as below



You aren't 'unlocking' anything. you are just enabling PAE which isn't 'locked' or something. Good guide though


----------



## ASHISH65 (Dec 28, 2013)

Good one


----------



## rijinpk1 (Dec 28, 2013)

nice one.


----------



## rajnusker (Jan 1, 2014)

I did rather install a 64bit OS than waste time on tweaking the 32bit one.


----------



## ASHISH65 (Jan 1, 2014)

rajnusker said:


> I did rather install a 64bit OS than waste time on tweaking the 32bit one.



 Best way


----------



## harshilsharma63 (Jan 1, 2014)

I read somewhere that even with PAE, a 32 bit OS is working very close to it's capacity of managing addresses and is not as efficient than a 64 bit OS. Though I cannot post any link as I read this thing about 2 years back


----------



## whitestar_999 (Jan 1, 2014)

tampering with kernel that too of windows is just not worth it in my opinion.also the gain is around 500mb & if you can't manage with 3.5gb ram i seriously doubt you will gain significantly by extra 500mb which comes with the price of possible fundamental kernel instability.either you use 4gb or more with 64bit os or you use 3.5gb or less with 32bit os.the 500mb in between is just not worth it.if it works without issues on your system then consider yourself lucky.


----------



## rajnusker (Jan 1, 2014)

^I think TDF should have a "Like" button


----------



## snap (Jan 1, 2014)

^^
nope and it should never happen


----------



## harshilsharma63 (Jan 1, 2014)

rajnusker said:


> ^I think TDF should have a "Like" button



You can like a post by saying "I agree" or "+1".


----------



## ASHISH65 (Jan 1, 2014)

harshilsharma63 said:


> You can like a post by saying "I agree" or "+1".



+1


----------



## snap (Jan 1, 2014)

^^

i agree


----------



## rijinpk1 (Jan 1, 2014)

whitestar_999 said:


> tampering with kernel that too of windows is just not worth it in my opinion.also the gain is around 500mb & if you can't manage with 3.5gb ram i seriously doubt you will gain significantly by extra 500mb which comes with the price of possible fundamental kernel instability.either you use 4gb or more with 64bit os or you use 3.5gb or less with 32bit os.the 500mb in between is just not worth it.if it works without issues on your system then consider yourself lucky.



i guess it is not 4gb but rather 64 gb 32 bit os can handle since 36 bits are allotted for address allocation.


----------



## flyingcow (Jan 1, 2014)

whitestar_999 said:


> tampering with kernel that too of windows is just not worth it in my opinion.also the gain is around 500mb & if you can't manage with 3.5gb ram i seriously doubt you will gain significantly by extra 500mb which comes with the price of possible fundamental kernel instability.either you use 4gb or more with 64bit os or you use 3.5gb or less with 32bit os.the 500mb in between is just not worth it.if it works without issues on your system then consider yourself lucky.


----------



## whitestar_999 (Jan 1, 2014)

windows drivers use certain reserved memory space below 4gb ram limit to make them compatible with 32bit windows.this is also one major difference between 32bit & 64bit windows drivers as 64bit drivers reserve space above 4gb ram limit.this tampering with windows kernel may interfere with address space reserved by drivers as mentioned in source link itself.though it is mentioned that such drivers are few but given large no. of windows drivers it is still a risk & that's why not every system can work fine with this tweak.


----------



## rijinpk1 (Jan 1, 2014)

whitestar_999 said:


> windows drivers use certain reserved memory space below 4gb ram limit to make them compatible with 32bit windows.this is also one major difference between 32bit & 64bit windows drivers as 64bit drivers reserve space above 4gb ram limit.this tampering with windows kernel may interfere with address space reserved by drivers as mentioned in source link itself.though it is mentioned that such drivers are few but given large no. of windows drivers it is still a risk & that's why not every system can work fine with this tweak.



what about windows 8? windows 8 required a cpu with PAE when it came out. so i think they could have removed those driver limitation for ram. or has they removed it? if yes why still 32 bits os access less than 4gb? so i guess no. then why windows 8 insisted to get a cpu with PAE which was available even many years ago in cpus? i also suggest to instal 64 bit os if the amount of ram is more than 3gb.


----------



## whitestar_999 (Jan 1, 2014)

windows 8 does not require PAE per se but to run NX:
Your PC


> “No-eXecute (NX) is a processor feature that allows marking of memory pages as non-executable. The feature allows the CPU to help guard the system from attacks by malicious software. When the NX feature is enabled on a system, it prevents malicious software code from being placed in accessible regions of memory to be executed when control reaches that memory location. *Windows 8 requires that systems must have processors that support NX, and NX must be turned on”*
> "*To use the NX processor feature, the processor must be running in Physical Address Extension (PAE) mode.*


----------



## ico (Jan 15, 2014)

It's time that 32-bit died.


----------



## SaiyanGoku (Jan 15, 2014)

ico said:


> It's time that 32-bit died.





Software makers won't have to publish 32 and 64 bit versions.


----------



## harshilsharma63 (Jan 15, 2014)

Almost all modern processor are 64 bit. At least Adobe is taking a step in this direction.


----------



## Prashmith (May 14, 2014)

hahaha,nice guide

 but wanted to share my school computer lab has 3 or 4 pc each wont 32 bit <counterfeit> or illegal torrented verson of windows 7 professional and have 8 gb of hyper ram installed lol al those pc are kind of i am going to tKe a screw driver and remove 4 gigs out of all of them SERIOUSLY, will ask my teacher,as I can get over 16 gb for my current pc like that


----------



## game22 (May 14, 2014)

I agree. It is flawless. It was also very easy to understand through this tutorial. Thank you for sharing.


----------

