4gb and 2gb I'm dual channel config?

[DC____]

I am running win8.1 and have a 4gb stick and four 2gb sticks of RAM. So is running two 2gb sticks with the single 4gb stick work in dual channel? I have an Asus p7p55d-e pro motherboard that has 4 dimm's and days it supports 16gb in total. Also have a copy of win7 HP which I'm told only supports 8gb in total!? Am I better running four 2gb sticks or two 4gb sticks if 8gb is my maximin?
Lastly which OS would you recommend out of win8.1 or win7HP?
Win8 was a downgrade for me from win7 as I had so many troubles with bugs,updates and so many refreshes/resets?

 

[Tradesman1]

If the sticks will play nice, yes, can run dual channel - it's actually using Flex mode, will want the 4 GB stick in slot 1 from CPU and the 2GB sticks in slots 3-4. that puts 4GB in each channel and Flex mode simply see's 4 in each and dual channel is used. More on Flex mode in my article, item 7 here:
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/ddr3-dram-faq,review-33220.html

Win 7 Home Premium supports up to 16GB, Home Basic only supports 8GB

If the sticks you have won't play the 2x4GB is better than 4x2GB, less stress on the MC (memory controller)

On OSs I stick with Win7 for now - if wanting to upgrade, I'd go straight to Win 10 (and would wait another month or so 😉 the free upgrade is in effect for awhile yet 😉