How much memory does XP with SP2 consume?

[tiredoflogins]

How much RAM does Windows XP with Sp2 require?

[N1K]

It'll work with 128 MB of RAM but very slow, you should at least have 256 MB of RAM for normal work..

Of course, that also depends which apps you need to use simultaneously......

[jdoe]

I don't think SP2 require something different than other version.

A good RAM size for XP is 256MB. Below 256MB if you have many applications running it will slow down your system. A computer with 128MB and Windows XP get a real performance boost when upgrading to 256MB.

[prathapml]

To run WinXP in an "okay"ish state, you need atleast 64 MB of RAM. And SP2 release does not change that.

Of course, you do know that the more (RAM) you have above the minimum requirement, the better it is. WinXP (whether with or without SP2) will run decently on 256 MB of memory.

[TechZ]

64MB! 256! keep a minimum of 512 at least, its not expensive! The more the better, open a few apps and all that memory gets eaten up instantly.

[prathapml]

True about that - 512 MB of RAM would be ideal for XP (no matter whether SP2 or no SP2).

But the problem is with the vast majority of older machines, and home-PCs of senior citizens - who can't/won't keep up with the best hardware available. They just buy components that are relatively good for the time, put down some money on it, and then settle down, expecting it to serve them well ever afterwards.

[Erw]

In my opinion:

64MB = very instable

128MB = instable and slow, but possible

256MB = minimum, but stable enough

512MB or higher = very recommended

I had first 256MB, but it's too slow if you run many applications, 512MB is very nice, but now I have 640MB, but I'm saying 512MB, or at least 256MB. 128MB is just too slow and instable.

[SovereignScorn]

I had a sucessfull setup, with antivirus running on 128 smoothly... Then again it also had a 2600 Barton. I'd say 256 is the recomended.

[argon007]

I recommand the least of 512 MB memory to install Windows XP SP2, because the Windows XP SP2 will take more memory to run.

[cxxxkies]

Yup I agree with argon.. use 512 for more stable system.. since ram price is cheap.. I have a P3 700 box with 512 mem and SP2 installed.. no problem..

[Marsden]

XP SP2 does not require anymore memory that a clean install of XP! A better question is how many non-Microsoft services are running at startup sucking up memory?

I had a sucessfull setup, with antivirus running on 128 smoothly... Then again it also had a 2600 Barton. I'd say 256 is the recomended.

Please open 10 IE sessions, Photoshop CS with an Excel session and 2 Word sessions and then tell me 256 works...

I'd say you don't have a clue what you are talking about...

[DakotaSunRunner]

Hi,

My parents comeputer runs windows XP with SP2 and it has 256 megs of ram in it. It is slow and cumbersome to say the least. It is a brand new computer and I am sorry now I did not put in at the very least 512.

In my own personal computer I have 1024 megs of ram and beleive it, I am glad I did.

Dakota SunRunner

[Weed]

oh yeah i remember how i had only 128MB ram with winxp and replaced it with 2x 512MB DDR Corsair...woot it was a really noticeable big performance boost

[Jito463]

I tell our customers that 256 is the BARE MINIMUM I recommend (we don't even sell less than 256MB sticks of RAM fortunately). Sadly, while I'm no Intel fan, we just built a 3.0GHz Socket-775 P4 with a mere FX5200 (though suitable for their purpose - old couple) and a single 256MB stick of RAM.

*sigh*

There's only so much you can do for them, then they just have to figure it out for themselves.

[Fenix]

I have done a clean install of windowsXP on a P3 550 with 128MB ram. Without any other software installed the machine was using between 105MB and 115MB. that only leaves you about 15MB before your into the swap file.

Personal option is 256MB just to do word processing and surf the web anything more and you need 512MB, I personally run with 640MB on my laptop (XP Home) and 1GB on desktop (XP Pro)