Im wanting to dual boot some other os's on my new computer. I've done dual boot setups in the past but... They were all 32 bit dual boots. Im wanting to dual boot 7 and xp. But, i don't have a 64 bit version of xp so im having to use a 32 bit. And 7 is 64 bit. What im worried about is the 32 bit memory limit. I have 4 gb of ram on my 7 coputer, and since xp 32 bit is limited to 2 gb (Might be 3. Can't remember exactly) im thinking that it will cause issues with 7. Anyway, i'll be partitioning space from a 1 tb drive for each os. (I'll proably have 200 gb for xp, and leave the rest for 7.) Later on I might put a couple other os's on it as well (proably a couple diffrent versions of linux)
So I shouldn't have any issues dual booting 64 bit 7 & and 32 bit xp? As for the ram limits is that the over all amount with specific limits for each ram type? Or can I use whatever amount of ram and vid ram that i want to as long as it doesn't exceed 4 gb? Not sure how this changes anything but the version of xp im planning to install is sp2 (I've heard that diffrent sp's have diffrent ram limits)
its the overall amount. Basically, the 32bit address space can only provide sufficient addresses for up to 4GB, and for historical reasons the video ram gets addressed before the system ram. So once the video ram has received its addresses, the system ram gets whats left, and any memory that doesnt get an address may as well not be there because it cannot be used. It is a limitation of the 32bit address space used by 32 bit OSes and the service pack level has no bearing on it. there will be no issues dual booting 32bit and 64bit. You will just have less than 4GB ram available for use in the 32bit OS, however the 64bit OS will have all the ram available for use, as the image I posted above shows.
