Windows 6.x on 512MB RAM?

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crispybbq

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#75391 18-Jan-2011 00:34

i.e Vista or 7.... can it be done?
There are some accounts of windows 7 using only 250-ish MB on startup, which is plausible. I've tried Vista, but it was Ultimate, not, say, Basic, and it was sluggish and annoying. :\
does the edition have any impact on resource hogging? I've got XP going right now, which is all good, but I want to try 7 to see if it's going to be of any benefit.

For the record, my CPU is in the requirements: I did have 7 on 1GB on this computer, but then one of the RAM modules died. The graphics chip does not support WDDM, so I don't care about that.
My only question is, has anyone run it nicely on 512MB of RAM?

Chris P
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billgates

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#428284 18-Jan-2011 00:36

it will run but not nicely.

Do whatever you want to do man.

crispybbq

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#428286 18-Jan-2011 00:40

billgates: it will run but not nicely.

Yeah... though so. It's a shame. I do miss 7 on this notebook. Ah well. I'll just bite the bullet and buy another RAM module some day. ^_^

Chris P
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6297a1679f9

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#429426 21-Jan-2011 07:20

It will run but will be laggy
read this if you do want to install it anyways
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/20967-install-windows-7-computer-less-than-512mb-ram.html

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Snowflake

#429453 21-Jan-2011 09:54

crispybbq: i.e Vista or 7.... can it be done?
For the record, my CPU is in the requirements: I did have 7 on 1GB on this computer, but then one of the RAM modules died. The graphics chip does not support WDDM, so I don't care about that.

what sort of laptop do you have? i think i still have a few 512MB ram modules lying around. they're mostly useless now and not worth selling!

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freitasm

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#429461 21-Jan-2011 10:28

I have a few modules (I think). But 512MB for laptops should be really cheap these days.

And Windows 7 will probably need a bit less than Windows Vista - or another way of saying it Windows 7 will run better than Windows Vista.

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crispybbq

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#429569 21-Jan-2011 16:47

Regs:
crispybbq: i.e Vista or 7.... can it be done?
For the record, my CPU is in the requirements: I did have 7 on 1GB on this computer, but then one of the RAM modules died. The graphics chip does not support WDDM, so I don't care about that.

what sort of laptop do you have? i think i still have a few 512MB ram modules lying around. they're mostly useless now and not worth selling!

If they're the kind you'd have just lying around not worth selling, they might work. It takes DDR, SODIMM, up to 400MHz... It's an Alienware M3200, so it's about 2005-age type thing. This kinda module works just fine.
If you have anything of the sort, of any size, and can send 'em (preferably), I'd love to take them off your hands :D EDIT: Even if it's DDR3 or whatever... A friend of mine has a Macbook that needs emergancy RAM replacement ^_^

Back on topic, I tried Vista and 7 before when my XP install went down the tube, from some unknown software. It was pretty much awful, running only Chromium in a Tumblr page, so back to XP I am for the now.

EDIT: Afterthought: @freitasm: yeah, I did notice that when I tried. 7 was a lot less laggy with the disk waiting from paging, and whatnot. I could just get a new computer, but that's a bit out of my budget :P

Chris P
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#429571 21-Jan-2011 16:50

I have a 512MB PC2-4300 available here. Also a 1GB PC2-5300.

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crispybbq

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#429572 21-Jan-2011 16:53

freitasm: I have a 512MB PC2-4300 available here. Also a 1GB PC2-5300.

Ooh, that might actually work! The one I have in here is a 4300 etc. Plus this takes up to 1GB per module. :D

Chris P
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#429573 21-Jan-2011 16:54

If you are going to use the existing 512MB then you should use both of the same size.

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crispybbq

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#429574 21-Jan-2011 16:56

That's true. I have memory issues with my (fairly basic) server having a 512 and two 256es, for example. Whichever works, works, though. ^_^

Chris P
...also on Twitter, Facebook, deviantART, WordPress and Tumblr...
Owner of a humble desktop, a battered Alienware M3200, and a Huawei U8150 running CyanogenMod 6.1