in windows xp i only get 248mb when i have 256mb but if i was to upgrade to windows vista that requires 512mb and i get 512mb of ram would it read below 512mb so it wouldnt be compatible

please help
i want to get vista
cheers
bondi 007

I doubt it would run anyway. Vista on 512mb is unbearable. 1 gig under vista yields about the same performance as 256mb does on XP.

im only using it for testing all the good features are turned off but is it possible or would it take away memory

cheers
bondi 007

yeah it would be below

e.g i have a thinkpad. Its graphics card steals 8mb of ram

e.g if i have 128mb ram i get 120, if i have 512 i get 508 etc....

so yes you will end up with less than 512mb.

damn, man.. you are all over Daniweb! It doesn't matter which forum I go to, you are there helping people I'm not as patient or skilled to be able to do that yet..

but, you might still be able to install.. just try and see what happens.

i got a bit greedy and just bot 1 gig of ram because you said it runs like 256 in xp so i trusted you

cheers 4 advice

yea, youll need it. Vista is a memory hog. When idle it uses like 400mb (about 700 aero with effects, sidebat erc)

My calculations here says that while viewing with IE and typing right now and running the computer as I normally do (full usage), vista uses about 600-610 mb.

i actually run vista with 1 gig, and i'm expecting my pc to die someday soon... i think it was a bad idea installing vista on a computer this old... (about 2 years)... i've already reached its maximum capacity...

though somewhere out there i read that vista has a new feature in which you can use flash devices as auxiliary ram... how accurate is that?

NO DONT DO IT!

That is NOT a new techonlogy even although MS are making it out to be.

Its the same idea as paging to the hard disk which is almost as old as computers themselves.

Basically when you run out fo RAM it pages to the HDD. HDD = Slow as its mechanical. RAM = fast as its electric. Thats why when you do something intensive you can hear the hard disk clicking away and the light goes

Hard disks are still much faster than USB devices though. Therefore, using USB devices as RAM is a BAD idea.

Also, hard disks are designed for paging but memory keys etc... are not. A usb memory key will wear out after about 100,000 reads/writes. If you play a game and it pages a lot, for example you could wear out your memory key in a day.

Silly ms....