M4400 requiring Vista to run 4GB RAM, true according to Dell?

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/M4400/en/sm/memory.htm#wp1183815

If you look at the table, it says only Windows Vista is capable of supporting 4GB RAM. Since they didn't state which bit, I am assuming this goes only for 32-bit?

I was really hoping to utilize the 4GB with XPPro64, anyone can give some more detailed info?

Appreciated.

 

That sounds very wrong to me. I say 64-bit and you are fine. Is it because they only offer 64-bit Vista and not XP?

 

That is incorrect. Windows XP 32-bit physically supports upto 4GB RAM and Windows XP 64-bit physically supports upto 128GB RAM. (Not considering H/W limitations)

And Dell does provide drivers for XP 32 and 64. (For the M4400)

 

They actually do offer XP 64-bit.

http://www.dell.com/content/product...station_precision_m4400?c=us&cs=04&l=en&s=bsd

(click TECH-SPECS and look at OPERATING SYSTEM, you'll see Genuine Windows Vista® Ultimate Downgrade, XP Professional x64 Edition)

@Andy: So I should ignore the table since I'm getting the XP 64-bit DVD?

 

Memory Limits for Windows Releases

 

XP 64 bit is not the same as XP. Many people have difficulty finding drivers for XP64...which is something you do not have to worry about with Vista64 (well, most of the time at least).

 

XP64 is difficult to run on a personal machine, as it is essentially Server 2003 with the XP theme. Drivers for 2003 are almost non-existent outside the server world. Unless you have a hardware or software limitation preventing you from running Vista, stick with Vista 64bit and change the theme to classic. You'll save yourself quite a bit of headaches.

 

Yeah everyone keeps saying go with Vista 64. I just hope I can get rid of tons of useless things I don't want in that OS and I hope I notice my 4GB at work.

 

While it is ultimately your choice, I would suggest not hacking apart Vista to increase performance. From personal experience, disabling services, editing registry entries, and other performance "gaining" features usually end up hosing your system in the long run. Looking at your system specs, you'll be able run Vista with all the eyecandy on at full blast without any issues. My Dell 8600 with a 1.7Ghz processor is running fine with Vista.

Anyway, if you're set to tweak Vista, here's some guidance:

Disk indexing is alright...the first week or so, you'll notice it thrashing your HDD, but after that, you'll not hear another peep from it. Supposedly, it'll not index when on battery, but I believe I had to go into the power setting and actually set that (which is stupid).

GUI is nice, but if you like the old school, then you can switch back to W2K interface. I've heard that there's some inconsistencies with that interface, but I've only used it a couple times. Also, switching to W2K interface drops the whole desktop composition manager. Yes, it kills Flip3D (which is pointless), but it also means that it reverts to the old way of drawing windows. Without going into the technical details, desktop composition is a world better than the old method. If you don't care much for the default Vista look, check out Deviant Art for some modified themes. You have to patch a couple of files, but it will be worth it. Mine replaced everything with a darker back instead of puke green. Also, go into the advanced appearance, and set the Border Padding down to 2-3. Whatever it is normally is way too big. You can also drop the size of the Active title bar to make the window decoration a little smaller. Get you a nice background from deviant art and you're set.

The sidebar is annoying. I just use a weather gadget, which I dragged out to the desktop and closed the sidebar. Much better.

If you use the glass interface, there are setting in the system panel (like XP) to turn off the animations and what-not. Tune them to your tastes.

Turn on Cleartype.

Go through the power management stuff and look at the advanced settings. While I can't remember anything in particular, it'll at least show you what's going on with that. One I do is change the power button to hibernate and lid close to nothing.

Don't use Windows Update drivers...for some reason, they crash on every machine I use them on. Your mileage may vary.

One last thing, there is an app by Stardock that lets you change the login/logout/shutdown screen backgrounds. Either pick a nice dark image, or make a black image. In my opinion, black look a heck of a lot more professional (and sexy). You can NOT change the font color or other images on those screens, so if you pick something light, the text will be unreadable.

I'm sure there's more, but my mind is empty right now. My only other advice is to not write Vista off immediately. While there's been a lot of crap about it (just like there was with XP), it isn't near as bad as it sounds. It took me about a month to get used to it, then I tried to switch back to XP. I ended up install Vista again after 3 weeks.

 

Thanks for the tips Chevy95ZR2.

Another thing Im worried about is that Vista 64bit doesnt have too much support for the performance drivers for my graphics card.

http://www.nvidia.com/page/partner_certified_drivers.html

The column all the way to the right shows Vista support, almost none of these besides solidworks has Vista 64-bit support