Hey computer geeks, yes I mean you Krandall. Memory question.

[russ-russ]

OK, I'm an ebay dork and I wound up with too much RAM, oh well, it's mine now.  I have 6GB of DDR2 coming and I'm running XP.  I'm told XP won't recognize more than 4GB, is that right?  Is there anything useful I can do with 6GB or should I just find some other use for one stick?

[Ranger]

If you have the 64-bit version of XP it should recognize it, unless it's Vista I'm thinking about.

[Krandall]

you can put it in. It won't harm anything. But if you run a 64 bit version of any OS it'll pick it right up. 

[Kamakazi]

just because the OS doesnt recognize it doesnt mean it doesnt use it 

[Krandall]

just because the OS doesnt recognize it doesnt mean it doesnt use it  

32bit Windows XP only has enough memory address space to utilize 4gigs. 

[Mad Dog]

Yep, and the video card, pci bus, and other items on the motherboard can reserve a half a gig, more if you have lots of video memory.

64bit xp is not a great move from a driver aspect.  64bit vista or win7 would do the trick.

[russ-russ]

Thanks for the input fellas.  I've been considering 7, I thought I read somewhere the a full version is licensed for install on up to three machines, but I could be thinking of something else.  I'll only consider it seriously if I can upgrade my desktop and laptop both without buying two packages of 7. 

I think the rest of the family is so far behind that they are all still using DDR, not DDR2, so I can't even give it as a Christmas present.

[Mad Dog]

You can buy family packs of Win7 upgrades for pretty cheap, 3 copies of win7 home premium would run in the 180 dollar range.  The regular retail or upgrade boxes are good for one computer at a time only, you need to buy multiple licenses. 

I have been running win7 on my old p4 2.4 ghz single northwood core with 2gb of PC3200 DDR with no issues with speed.

[Kamakazi]

You can buy family packs of Win7 upgrades for pretty cheap, 3 copies of win7 home premium would run in the 180 dollar range.  The regular retail or upgrade boxes are good for one computer at a time only, you need to buy multiple licenses. 

I have been running win7 on my old p4 2.4 ghz single northwood core with 2gb of PC3200 DDR with no issues with speed.

is it really that cheap???  if it is i may jump on it soon MD, a quick question though, i have 2 win7 evaluation copies going, will they run out ever or do i get them for free since im "testing" them?

[Krandall]

The run out in june of 2010.

At that point, they will still work, but will reboot every 3 hours I believe. (may be 2 hours)

[Mad Dog]

I lied, it's actually 150 dollars for 3 upgrade licenses to Win 7 Home Premium.

http://windowsteamblog.com/blogs/windows7/archive/2009/07/31/windows-anytime-upgrade-and-family-pack-pricing.aspx

[russ-russ]

I was reading about the upgrade version somewhere and it only listed Vista for the upgrade compatibility.  Can you upgrade XP also or do you have to do a full install from XP?

[Kamakazi]

I was reading about the upgrade version somewhere and it only listed Vista for the upgrade compatibility.  Can you upgrade XP also or do you have to do a full install from XP?

also it doesnt clarify if it is 64bit or not. again if it was 3 win7 64-bit liscences i would jump all over it now.

[Mad Dog]

I was reading about the upgrade version somewhere and it only listed Vista for the upgrade compatibility.  Can you upgrade XP also or do you have to do a full install from XP?

Your XP license is valid for the windows 7 upgrade versions as well as Vista licenses.  However, only Vista computers will be able to upgrade without doing a clean install of the OS, and only if they are upgrading to a similar version of the software.  So you can use the upgrade license with your XP, you'll just have to do a clean install instead of upgrading the software with your data and programs in place.

I was reading about the upgrade version somewhere and it only listed Vista for the upgrade compatibility.  Can you upgrade XP also or do you have to do a full install from XP?

also it doesnt clarify if it is 64bit or not. again if it was 3 win7 64-bit liscences i would jump all over it now.

With upgrade versions you choose whether you want 32bit or 64 bit at the time of purchase.  Technically I believe the licenses themselves are good for either version, but they will only ship you or allow you to download one version.


I pre ordered a Win 7 Pro upgrade 64bit yesterday which will be using a Win XP home license to upgrade from.

[russ-russ]

I was reading about the upgrade version somewhere and it only listed Vista for the upgrade compatibility.  Can you upgrade XP also or do you have to do a full install from XP?

Your XP license is valid for the windows 7 upgrade versions as well as Vista licenses.  However, only Vista computers will be able to upgrade without doing a clean install of the OS, and only if they are upgrading to a similar version of the software.  So you can use the upgrade license with your XP, you'll just have to do a clean install instead of upgrading the software with your data and programs in place.

I was reading about the upgrade version somewhere and it only listed Vista for the upgrade compatibility.  Can you upgrade XP also or do you have to do a full install from XP?

also it doesnt clarify if it is 64bit or not. again if it was 3 win7 64-bit liscences i would jump all over it now.

With upgrade versions you choose whether you want 32bit or 64 bit at the time of purchase.  Technically I believe the licenses themselves are good for either version, but they will only ship you or allow you to download one version.


I pre ordered a Win 7 Pro upgrade 64bit yesterday which will be using a Win XP home license to upgrade from.

So just to make sure I understand correctly, I can use the upgrade version of 7 on my XP machine, but I'll lose everything I currently have installed on that machine by doing a clean install.  Is that correct?

To do a clean install I need to reformat the hard drive and completely wipe the current data?