Bootcamp/XP Ram Limitations
Out of context: Reply #7
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- Mojo0
This is how it works:
32-bit windows has a max limit of 2GB allocated to your running applications. Windows also has 2GB for the kernel, and operating system stuff. You don't really get to use all of that, but by editing the boot.ini file and adding a /3GB switch, you can trick windows into letting you use 3GB for applications, and 1GB for kernel/OS.
I can't remember the exact details, but the upshot is that you can only use 3.5GB for applications. You can use something called Physical Address Extension (PAE) that is basically a dirty hack allowing old oracle server to use more RAM than allowed (performance issues).
Have a good ol' google for 'Windows RAM limits' or something. There are loads of articles about it.
If you want to use your RAM properly, get a 64-bit OS. I posted here about my experience with Windows XP x64 (great).