Vista Service pack 1 and 4GBS of ram?

Question

I have always thought that a 32 bit operating system was unable to recognize 4gbs of ram, but recently my friend installed a copy of vista with service pack one which wasn't entirely legal, so to say, it recognized all of his ram which was 4gbs. I'm sure it was a 32 bit operating system because I checked it in the my computer properties. Then he decided he liked Vista so went and bought a copy that did not have service pack one on it and it only recognized 3.25gbs. Anyone know why?

Answer 1

i dont know..whether 32 bit OS support 4 GB ram or not............but it can support upto 3 gb ram.................i trhink it doesnt matter...........this is the property of ur system's h/w that support ram of 4gb or not..................................

Answer 2

The not so legal version may have been able to recognize the 4GBs of RAM, but 32bit systems can only use up to 3.5GBs of RAM, it's just that the pirated version showed it all, but it still could not have used it because 32bit systems CANNOT and never will recognize more than 3.5 GBs of RAM as usable, they can't use it.