virtualbox.org

I recently shoved a load more RAM into my computer. I decided to allocate more than 2GB to Windows XP guest in VirtualBox, so I slid Base Memory across to 32876 MB.

If I then start Windows XP, and go

Start > My Computer > right-click > Properties

the General tab says
How do I increase this to the full 32 GB?

Where did you get the idea that Windows XP (32bit) could use more than 4GB?

Right. In other words, Windows XP would behave like this on real hardware. See also [https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/librar ... s.85).aspx here] (scroll down to Windows XP). I've googled a bit and saw that even adding the /PAE switch to boot.ini does nothing in Windows XP.

Thanks chaps.

@Martin I had obviously completely forgotten about that. I've been using 64-bit (and loads of RAM) for long enough to get used to it, thus setting me up for a blonde moment.

@Frank Mehnert Yes I was hoping that the virtual machine might possibly get around the restriction for real machines, but the 32-bit software doesn't know any different.

So it's back to Base Memory of "4096 MB".

el_gallo_azul wrote:So it's back to Base Memory of "4096 MB".

In fact that's probably overkill for an XP VM too. What are you doing in the VM that requires lots of RAM?