Question Any way to move apps into Extended Memory (above 4GB) to free up low 4GB for 32bit apps?

[Mugsy]

SHORT VERSION:
Any way to move apps into Extended Memory (above 4GB) to free up lower 4GB for 32bit games?

LONG VERSION:

I have a number of old 32bit games that are memory hogs that use up so much of my bottom 4GB of memory that they frequently crash if I don't go through the tedious process of disabling a bunch of tray apps and use a "Clean Ram" utility to flush wasted memory before every run.

"Game launcher" software is a PIA and has a tendency to screw up my configuration, so I avoid using them.

I'm wondering if there's a way to force 64bit apps that don't HAVE to be in the lower 4GB, up into upper memory (I have 16GB but thinking to adding more) to higher ram, thus freeing up that precious 4GB of base ram for old memory hogs?

I know, "Probably not", but can't hurt to ask. 🤓

 

[ex_bubblehead]

"Extended memory" died with DOS. It's all one memory space.

 

[lantis3]

No. There is no way.

As mentioned above, extended memory died after DOS, or Windows 3.1 if you want to argue since it boot from DOS, if I remember correctly.

 

[Mugsy]

No. There is no way.

As mentioned above, extended memory died after DOS, or Windows 3.1 if you want to argue since it boot from DOS, if I remember correctly.

Thanks. Though I used the term "Extended Memory" only b/c I didn't know what else to call ram outside the 32bit 4GB window.

Long ago, I had the idea of booting with a 4gb ramdisk preinstalled consuming the entire lower 4GB, thereby forcing everything to load in memory above it. Then deleting the ramdisk after booting, freeing up the memory.

Problem is, there was no way to force a ramdisk to reside only in lower memory space. Even 32bit ramdisk software can't do it b/c the ramdisk itself would consume part of the lower 4GB. Catch-22.

 

[lantis3]

I don't play game and don't know if your games require specific video card to play.

If not, you can try to play your games in a 4GB 32bit OS virtual machine.

There are 2 options: VMware Workstation and VirtualBox, both are free.

However, I have no idea why do you think the game crash has anything to do with game app's location? Windows do all the memory management job and you or any software have absolutely no control over how Windows manage it.

If a game uses too much memory, it means the game is buggy and leaks memory over time. It has nothing to do with the app's location inside of the memory.

 

[Mugsy]

I don't play game and don't know if your games require specific video card to play.

If not, you can try to play your games in a 4GB 32bit OS virtual machine.

There are 2 options: VMware Workstation and VirtualBox, both are free.

However, I have no idea why do you think the game crash has anything to do with game app's location? Windows do all the memory management job and you or any software have absolutely no control over how Windows manage it.

If a game uses too much memory, it means the game is buggy and leaks memory over time. It has nothing to do with the app's location inside of the memory.

Thanks. I tried using VM Ware's "Player", but it can only emulate a generic video card, making some games incompatible. It's also a nuisance to launch/boot a VM just to play a game. 🙁

I have a Memory Manager app installed that shows the amount of memory currently being used plus a way to flush wasted memory between sessions.

If the amount of memory used is > 35%, some games are certain to crash. A few are guaranteed to crash if the amount of memory in use supasses 50% (4GB ram plus 4GB of vitual swap space.) I typically flush the ram before launching games if the amount of ram in use is > 25% (4GB).

Most ancient 32bit games have terrible memory management b/c they all rely on DX9 (which has abysmal memory management.)