4 gig iMac... running windows XP?

SooTyLaD · 9 Nov 2007 at 09:12

what will happen if i stick 4 gig in my imac to the windows partition run through bootcamp? will it work happily?

the only reason i ask is that i know you need vista normally to work well with 4GB?

TheKnat · 9 Nov 2007 at 09:16

If I understand what your asking, then you need Windows XP x64 to use the full 4 GB.

WotDa · 9 Nov 2007 at 09:18

TheKnat said:
If I understand what your asking, then you need Windows XP x64 to use the full 4 GB.

Aye, I think it will only address 3Gb of it. Not so up to date on Windows stuff myself though.

SooTyLaD · 9 Nov 2007 at 09:53

my question is not so much will windows take full advantage as much as will it cause problems?

ichabod crane · 9 Nov 2007 at 10:06

id like an answer to this as i have 4g on the way.

keogh · 9 Nov 2007 at 10:11

I don't understand what your asking? Are you asking if Windows will run ok with 4gb? In bootcamp, it doesn't matter, it will run Windows natively like a PC... so yes it will run fine.

As its bootcamp, OS X would share the 4gb also, you wont just be giving 4GB to Windows, when you boot to Windows you have 4GB and when you boot to OS X you will have 4GB.

But as mentioned above by Knat, you need x64 (Vista or XP) for the full 4gb, you will only get 3.2gb (ish) with 32 bit windows

Xenoxide · 11 Nov 2007 at 22:51

I think what he's asking is that if he installs XP 32-bit on his iMac with Boot Camp, will XP have problems with the fact that it's using 4GB, or will it simply only use 3GB of it.

From my recollection I think it will be fine, it's just that only 3GB will be seen.

theheyes · 11 Nov 2007 at 23:23

It wont cause any problems it just wont use the full 4GB.

Caged · 11 Nov 2007 at 23:52

As above, it will work fine but only see 3GB. This can be solved by using XP 64bit or any 64bit version of Vista.

Darryn · 12 Nov 2007 at 11:31

Are you guys 100% sure about these replies?

I know for a fact that my Macpro with 4gb only lets me use 2gb under Vista64bit, its a known EFI/Bios issue with the macpro and id be suprised if the iMac doesnt have the same issue. Ive not tried it recently though so maybe ive had a update and it will now work, im not reinstalling Bootcamp+Vista just to find out.

theheyes · 12 Nov 2007 at 18:03

I dont think 64bit versions of Windows are officially supported by Bootcamp, only 32bit, which leads to a bit of a catch 22 concerning RAM limitations.

AFAIK, 32bit Windows WILL work. It just wont use all the RAM.

Caged · 12 Nov 2007 at 18:08

Maybe that's an Apple bug then, I just assumed that as they used standard PC hardware the same limitations would apply. Either way, it will still boot Windows, it just won't see all the RAM.

zetec452 · 13 Nov 2007 at 18:20

It’s my understanding that although 32bit versions of XP and Vista only see 3.2 or 3.5 gig of ram the kernel does actually use up to 4 GB.

If you will encounter limitations by running 64bit software I’d be inclined to go for 32bit software as you probably aren't really going to notice the difference.

Also, Vista doesn't need 4GB of ram to run nicely, 2 GB is enough.

ichabod crane · 14 Nov 2007 at 19:38

well i now have 4gig in my iMac, and in windows xp home edition it reads 2.98gb
when i had 1gig in xp saw 0.98gb, and all is running smoothly