I just bought some ram for my computer and wasn't aware that a 32-bit OS couldn't run more than 4gb. I have 16gb installed but it can't use more than 3 or 4gb. Is there a way to circumvent this on Windows 7 Ultimate 32-bit? If not, will the Windows 10 free upgrade solve this problem? What other options do I have?
If your computer itself a 64 bit architecture? If it is, you need to upgrade your OS to a 64 bit OS. If it isn't a 64 bit architecture, then there is nothing you can do.
I checked on, I think, system requirements and it said that yes it is capable of running a 64-bit OS.
The free Windows 10 upgrade as long you get the 64 bit version will help. How old is your computer or do you have the model number? A friend of mine recently tried to upgrade his computer to Windows 8.1 and it wouldn't install correctly. We ended up tracking it down to him having an old enough bios that it didn't have UEFI in it. Apparently Windows 8+ requires an UEFI bios or whatever they call it now (I am more of a mac/linux guy).
My 8 year old Core2Duo can run Windows Servre 2012R2 64 bit without a problem, so I think that any computer younger than that should be good. You'll need to upgrade your OS to a 64 bit version though. I don't know if win10 will have a 32 bit version or not, but it it does, make sure yu get the 64 bit version.
Also please note, I do believe you have to do a clean install to migrate to 64-bit. In theory a 32-bit OS could access that much memory (via PAE), but Microsoft disabled that functionality a long time ago. I strongly encourage you to take the time to move to 64-bit. The additional RAM will make it worth any time installation takes.
I got the computer overseas and the people I bought it from didn't speak English. I decided just to wait until the free upgrade comes.
Did you get a disk? Or just OS installed? If you have a product key sticker may be worthwhile if it covers both x86 and x64. Or if you know any students grab a dream spark key.
