CS2/Vista/4GB

[grandad35]

I just upgraded from 2GB to 4GB in my Dell Inspiron 1720 running Vista Home Premium SP1 to get more memory for CS2 (Previously set at 70% of 1711MB available RAM in the PS Preferences). Surprise - CS2 still shows a maximum of 1711MB, even though the various system displays show 3.57 or 4GB of system memory. I have set CS2 to use 100% of the 1711MB to gain some extra memory, but would like to set it to 80% of 3GB to get full use of the extra RAM.

Searching various sources found several links to a "3GB Switch in the boot.ini file for XP Pro", but I couldn't find anything similar for Vista, or even a "boot.ini" file on my computer, for that matter.

Questions:
1. Does Vista Home Premium SP1 support more than 3GB for user programs by default?
2. If not, does anyone know of a way to activate the same function in Vista?
3. I have read that others have been able to access 3GB with XP Pro, so can I assume that CS2 is not the limitation?

[tim]

You control Photoshop memory usage from within photoshop - did you change it? I would leave 1GB free for other software.

[grandad35]

As these screen captures show, CS2 limits itself to 1711MB (the same value as when I only had 2GB of memory), even thought the Task Manager shows 3573MB of physical memory. How can I get CS2 to up its "Available RAM" value to 3.5GB?

[grandad35]

After still more hours of reading, I seem to have stumbled onto a fix that works on my Vista system (answering my own initial question).

Disable “DEP” on Photoshop/Bridge/Image Ready (DEP blocks a program from accessing data in the upper 2GB of memory):
Start>
Control Panel>
System>
Advanced System Settings>
Performance>
Settings>
Data Execution Prevention>
Turn on DEP … EXCEPT…>
Add (browse & add Photoshop.exe, ImageReady.exe, Bridge.exe)>
OK

I’m not sure that this first procedure is actually necessary (it didn’t fix the problem by itself), but some links indicated that it is necessary. I didn’t try just the second change by itself.


Next, the system needs to have the default 2GB limit for user programs increased. Again, I’m not sure if the 3GB value (3072MB) is the maximum limit, or if it could be set even higher.
Start>
All Programs>
Accessories>
Right Click on Command Prompt and select “Run As Administrator”
On the DOS-like screen, enter:
BCDedit /Set IncreaseUserVa 3072

After the second change, I now had 2650MB available to CS2.

[tim]

Interesting, didn't know DEP did that.

[Moppie]

Cool, I'll give this a go when I get home.

[grandad35]

Interesting, didn't know DEP did that.

I have no personal knowledge of what DEP does, but I read that claim in one of the links that I found, along with the recommended fix to increase the memory available to CS2. Unfortunately, I didn't record where I saw that information.