Windows 7 6gb ram installed (3.24 usable)

[mysickfix]

rc edition 32 bit
never had this problem on first beta
amd phenom triple core 2.3ghz
gigabyte ga-ma78gm s2hp rev 2.1 mobo
2x 2gb pc 6400 ddr2
2x 1gb pc 5400 ddr2 (i know i know, but i just had them laying around)



havent installed the rc update, doing so now

update:

the reason for not installing the 64 bit os is im using a 32gb ssd, and with 64bit installed there is no room to install world of warcraft

 

[MayPLaY56]

Tell me, with your old 32-bit OS, you were able to use all your 6gb RAM? Or this is a misreading from me?

 

[mysickfix]

yes vista 32bit showed all 6gb, that was yesterday

 

[MayPLaY56]

if you were looking at it in Propriety on "Computer" it's wasn't the right place to look at it, this place will tell you how much RAM you got, not how much RAM is used for real (This feature has been added in Vista' Service Pack 1). you had to go in task manager, than in performance. That place show the real amount of RAM used in total. Because it's just impossible for a 32-bit OS to use all the 6gb. It is designed to use maximum 4gb RAM, that's why must people switch to 64-bit version, to be able to use more than 4gb RAM, and get more stability. That's the principal reason why Microsoft will devellop their next Server OS exclusively with 64-bit OS, to let administrator of the biggest compagnies to use RAM as much as they want.

 

[mysickfix]

ok well can you tell me the least bloated 64bit windows os? im upgrading my ssd in 2 weeks but untill then i would like to get all i can out of it

 

[MayPLaY56]

You got 2 legits choice : Windows Vista 64-bit (any version of it except Basic) if you are ready to buy one, or Windows 7 RC 64-bit version. There is Windows XP 64-bit, but you cannot longer buy it. But be aware that if you install Windows XP 64-bit, you'll get a lot of trouble with your peripheral's drivers, A LOT. So I suggest you Vista or Windows 7.

 

[Master Chief]

Least bloated? Stay away from Vista. Go with 7 until you get your new SSD, and after. Windows XP 64-bit is driver-hell and Vista is...Vista; 'nuff said. My recommendation is Windows 7 64-bit.

 

[mysickfix]

alright, ive installed win 7 64 bit and am getting full ram usage

also free'd up a lot of disk space by optimizing some settings for ssd

i did these steps and was able to get about 10gb of space

Disable indexing
Description: Indexing creates and maintains a database of file attributes. This can lead to multiple small writes when creating/deleting/modifying files. Searching for files will still work.
Instructions: Start Menu -> Right-Click Computer -> Manage -> Services and Applications -> Services - > Right-Click Windows Search -> Startup type: Disabled -> OK

Disable defragmentation
Description: Defragmenting a hard disk's used space is only useful on mechanical disks with multi-millisecond latencies. Free-space defragmentation may be useful to SSDs, but this feature is not available in the default Windows Defragmenter.
Instructions: Start Menu -> Right-Click Computer -> Manage -> Services and Applications -> Services - > Right-Click Disk Defragmenter -> Startup type: Disabled -> OK

Disable Write Caching
Description: There is no cache on the SSD, so there are no benefits to write caching. There are conflicting reports on whether this gains speed or not.
Instructions: Start Menu -> Right-Click Computer -> Manage -> Device Manager -> Disk drives -> Right-Click STEC PATA -> Properties -> Policies Tab -> Uncheck Enable write caching -> OK

Firefox - Use memory cache instead of disk cache
Description: If you use Firefox, there's a way to write cached files to RAM instead of the hard disk. This is not only faster, but will significantly reduce writes to the SSD while using the browser.
Instructions: Open Firefox -> Type about:config into the address bar -> Enter -> double-click browser.cache.disk.enable to set the value to False -> Right-Click anywhere -> New -> Integer -> Preference Name "disk.cache.memory.capacity" -> value memory size in KB. Enter 32768 for 32MB, 65536 for 64MB, 131072 for 128MB, etc. -> restart Firefox

Disable the Page File
Description: Eliminate writing memory to the SSD, free over 2GB of disk space. Warning - If you run out of memory the program you're using will crash.
Instructions: Start Menu -> Right-Click Computer -> Properties -> Advanced System Settings -> Settings (Performance) -> Advanced Tab -> Change -> Uncheck Automatically manage -> No paging file -> Set -> OK -> Restart your computer
Alternatively, if you want to play it safer, you can set a custom size of 200MB min and max.

Disable Hibernate
Description: You may free up 1GB of space on the SSD if you have 1GB of memory, 2GB of space if you have 2GB memory. You will lose the hibernation feature which allows the equivalent of quick boots and shutdowns.
Instructions: Start Menu -> Type cmd -> Right-Click the cmd Icon -> Run as Administrator -> Type powercfg -h off -> Type exit



hope this helps someone else


this reduced my install to 12gb total

 

[MayPLaY56]

You should let your Page File enable, otherwise, you may get some real problems. But for everything else, it's perfect.

In reality, the recommanded Page File weight is the double of how much RAM you got, but due to the fact you got SSD, I would put at least 3gb Page File, or if you got an unused USB Flash Drive with at least 2gb, right click on it, propriety, and set up a ReadyBoost with it, it won't take any space on your SSD, but you'll need to let your USB flash drive all the time connected to your PC.