Any simple way to maximize memory available on 32-bit Win-7 (under the 4 gb limit that is) ?

[Nomen]

I've upped the ram in my Dell 6420 from 4 to 16 gb (I might set up a 64-bit Win 7 on it some day) but for now I'm running Win-7 ultimate 32-bit and system properties is reporting 2.92 gb usable memory.  I know it can't use all 4 gb but I've read where it should (?) be able to use a little more - maybe up to 3.5 gb ?  What can I do to maximize that, bring it close to that 3.5 gb number ?

 

[j7n]

That depends on the devices you have plugged into your computer. Like a video adapter might map around 300 MB to it. Other PCI cards get some. The consumers can be found in the device manager (View -> Resourced by type, Memory). So you can only get more memory by not having a good video card, which is not fun. There is no 32-bit Windows Server anymore, so that is not a possible path. It is either Windows NT 6.1 x64, or, Server 2003/2008 with PAE  (not R2 but "Vista").

[ED_Sln]

Or install fix128. It will install the kernel from Server 2008 R2, and the OS will see and use all available memory, i.e. 16 GB. However, not all drivers are compatible with the current PAE mode, so you need to check.

[j7n]

11 minutes ago, ED_Sln said:

kernel from Server 2008 R2

Where does the kernel come from if Server R2 is only 64-bit?

[ED_Sln]

The SysWOW64 folder contains 32-bit files. Including the ntoskrnl.exe file.

Edited October 2 by ED_Sln

[Nomen]

17 hours ago, j7n said:

That depends on the devices you have plugged into your computer. Like a video adapter might map around 300 MB to it. Other PCI cards get some. The consumers can be found in the device manager (View -> Resourced by type, Memory). So you can only get more memory by not having a good video card, which is not fun. There is no 32-bit Windows Server anymore, so that is not a possible path. It is either Windows NT 6.1 x64, or, Server 2003/2008 with PAE  (not R2 but "Vista").

Well, here's what I've got:

 

I'm aware of those mods that get win-32 access to more than 4 gb, and how their success depends on the other drivers in the system - like the nvidia driver in this case?  Nothing else in this system aside from Intel chipset driver.

The only reason I'd like this system to have access to the most ram possible is because I keep a lot of tabs open in firefox and past a certain point the system becomes unstable.  Is that something that more ram can fix?

 

[ED_Sln]

4 hours ago, Nomen said:

The only reason I'd like this system to have access to the most ram possible is because I keep a lot of tabs open in firefox and past a certain point the system becomes unstable.  Is that something that more ram can fix?

If it starts using more memory than it has and the OS has to constantly dump the excess into a swap file, then yes, this can cause it to run unstable. Increasing the available memory should fix this, because each tab will be able to use 2 GB of RAM.

[j7n]

Those devices might work since there is no discrete sound card or other multimedia device, but might not given that there is no official Server available and they haven't had to proof their drivers for it.

You can see how the block C000 0000 to E1FF FFFF (256+256+32 MB) is reserved for video in addition to others. There seem to be two video cards active.