How to patch windows 7, 8, 10 32-bit to see above 4gb ram (new patch)

Hello!



I know this has been discussed before many months in a rather old thread, but now I discovered a new patch that works in my current v21H2 build! I created a new thread so this info is not lost in a very old thread.



As we all know Microsoft has restricted all 32-bit Windows versions to 4GB RAM total, no matter how much RAM you have installed in your system. This in practice means 3.2GB (or 3.5GB in very rare cases) available for use while the rest 0.8GB is system reserved. One could suggest to install Windows 10 64-bit to take advantage of the full available RAM, but this is not always easy. For a typical computer with Office and a couple or other applications doing a clean installation of Windows 10 64-bit and reinstalling them is easy. What about a work computer loaded with tens of applications and several GB data? It would be asking for trouble!


In my case, an old Core-i3 laptop recently upgraded with SSD and 8GB RAM, the only option to use all this RAM is to patch Windows 10 32-bit. It is a small file with a script included to patch the system automatically. Once run (as Administrator of course) it creates a new boot entry. The default is to use the patch and see the whole RAM and the second is to run the original system, just in case something goes wrong and you need to restore. So far I have seen at least 4x faster response of my work laptop and no issue. If I ever see a BSOD or any other issue I will report here. I'm looking forward to test it on my old Acer laptop (running Windows 10 Pro 32-bit v21H2 on purpose to maintain compatibility with old games and hardware, also successfully running Windows 11 64-bit on a spare SSD)


Download the patch from this site: Windows Vista/7/8/10 x86 128gb Ram Patch | Operating System Revival

Disclaimer: Use this at your own risk. I won't be responsible if you lose any data to anything else happens to your system. I'm just trying to help fellow posters that are still stuck with a Windows 32-bit system hard to replace or upgrade to 64-bit.

I was able to see more than 4 GB of RAM using XP 64. So there's that. I've read however that XP 64 may have been somewhat of a hack job. The 64 bit version of XP was the last OS I used before I went with Windows 7, and I here am! LOL One day I'll strip 11 down and reinstall/configure everything, but it's not in my interest right now. It's a real project that I'm not willing to dive into.

I know that this is off topic but somebody may find it informative to know that modifying an O/S to use more RAM than the CPU normally supported is not new.

CP/M Plus was released in 1983. CP/M Plus incorporated the bank switching memory management of MP/M in a single-user single-task operating system compatible with CP/M 2.2 applications. CP/M 3 could therefore use more than 64 KB of memory on an 8080 or Z80 processor.

I had a Lobo Max80 computer that had a 8-bit Z80 CPU and came with 128MB RAM. Normally with CP/M 2.2 it could only use 64MB RAM. With CP/M Plus it could use all 128MB RAM. Like later attempts there was compatibility problem with drivers. Also, very little software existed that could take advantage of the additional RAM.

I also built a computer in the mid 1980's that also had a 8-bit Zilog Z80 CPU. It had 7 64-MB memory cards. Using the MP/M operating system it could support up to seven simultaneous users. It also supported 5 printers. Each user was allocated 62MB of RAM. Looking back now I find it amazing that it could do that considering the CPU probably was only 5 or 6 MHz which is over 1000 times slower than current CPUs.

If you have a simple PC running Office and surfing the internet, then yes it would be better to clean install Windows 7 64-bit or higher. Any 64-bit Intel or second generation 64-bit AMD or higher can even run Windows 11 in MBR (Legacy BIOS mode) if you bypass compatibility check. But if we are talking about an old Pentium 4 (32-bit CPU) or a work computer with tons of data that is very hard to reinstall, then it makes sense to patch Windows to see 4GB or more RAM. In the Pentium 4 case it would make a huge difference to use the full 4GB RAM instead of 3.2GB. Do it and see for yourself.

- - - Updated - - -

Compatibility report: In my work laptop, Windows 10 32-bit, some feature updates fail to install. I just restart the original system (without the patch), complete all updates and then restart at PAE mode (full RAM access).

Dear spapakons, I realize this is quite an old thread but I hope you are still around I came across this post just a little while ago and decided to try and install your patch to see if it would add some punch to my old HP desktop with Win 7 Home Premium 32bit with 6 GB RAM. The installation process went smooth but upon reboot, it hung on the screen that says "Starting Windows". I was able to shut down my system and restart successfully in the original boot mode. Sir, have you ever experienced this problem and would you know of a solution please?

Many Thanks!
Shawn


P.S: My computer specs:
Windows 7 Home Premium 32-bit (SP1)
Intel Pentium E2200 2.20Ghz
6 gigs dual-channel DDR2
ASUStek Benicia Motherboard (CPU 1)
1 TB Western Digital HD

226er said:

Dear spapakons, I realize this is quite an old thread but I hope you are still around I came across this post just a little while ago and decided to try and install your patch to see if it would add some punch to my old HP desktop with Win 7 Home Premium 32bit with 6 GB RAM. The installation process went smooth but upon reboot, it hung on the screen that says "Starting Windows". I was able to shut down my system and restart successfully in the original boot mode. Sir, have you ever experienced this problem and would you know of a solution please?
Many Thanks!
Shawn

P.S: My computer specs:
Windows 7 Home Premium 32-bit (SP1)
Intel Pentium E2200 2.20Ghz
6 gigs dual-channel DDR2
ASUStek Benicia Motherboard (CPU 1)
1 TB Western Digital HD

I don't understand why you are bothering to patch your system. Why don't you just reinstall with Windows 7 64-bit and be done with it. BTW, the same product key works for both Windows 7 32-bit and 64-bit on one computer.

I have following two desktop computers that originally had 4GB RAM and Windows 7 32-bit . I subsequently upgraded the computers to 8GB RAM and Windows 7 64-bit. A few years after Windows 10 came out I did the free upgrade to Windows 10 64-bit. I am glad I did.

Computer #1
Original:
Build date: August 2009
RAM: 4GB
O/S: Windows 7 Home Premium 32-bit
Upgrade #1:
RAM: 8GB
O/S: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Upgrade #2:
O/S: Windows 10 Home 64-bit

Computer #2
Original:
Build date: July 2011
RAM: 4GB
O/S: Windows 7 Ultimate 32-bit
Upgrade #1:
RAM: 8GB
O/S: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
Upgrade #2:
O/S: Windows 10 Professional 64-bit