541: What is the maximum amount of RAM the Windows operating system can handle?

This information is taken from memory manufacturer, Crucial.
Please click here for the original page on their site.
Other RAM manufacturers and suppliers are available.
We are listing the information here as it may help you when work out how much ram you can use with your Kontakt Player when using Sibelius.

Question: What is the maximum amount of RAM the Windows operating system can handle?

Answer: That depends on two factors: the amount of memory your computer hardware can handle, and the amount of memory your Microsoft® Windows® operating system (OS) can handle.

N.B. For mac info click here

First, your computer hardware (motherboard) is designed to hold a maximum amount of RAM. When you look up your computer in the Crucial Memory Advisor™ tool or scan your system with the Crucial System Scanner, (click here for UK or US system scanner) you will see the system maximum listed on the page that shows the compatible upgrades for your system.

Second, the OS maximum is the maximum amount of memory that your particular version of Windows, Linux, or Mac® OS can handle.

When purchasing your memory upgrade, make sure that you do not exceed the lower of the two maximums (OS and computer maximums.) Too much RAM can lower your system's performance or cause other problems. (In most cases, the system maximum is lower than the OS maximum.)

Here are the OS maximums for some popular versions of Microsoft Windows:
Please note that this list is a comprehensive list of all Windows operating systems. Your version of Sibelius may not be compatible with all these versions of Windows - see our computer requirements page for Windows compatibility information

• Windows 95: 1GB
• Windows 98: 1GB
• Windows 98SE: 1GB
• Windows ME: 1.5GB
• Windows NT®: 4GB
• Windows 2000 Professional: 4GB
• Windows 2000 Server®: 4GB
• Windows 2000 Advanced Server: 8GB with PAE enabled
• Windows 2000 Datacenter Server: 32GB with PAE enabled
• Windows XP Home: 4GB
• Windows XP Professional: 4GB
• Windows XP 32-bit: 4GB
• Windows XP 64-bit: 128GB
• Windows Vista™ Home Basic: 4GB
• Windows Vista Home Basic 64-bit: 8GB
• Windows Vista Home Premium: 4GB
• Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit: 16GB
• Windows Vista Ultimate: 4GB
• Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit: 128GB+
• Windows Vista 32-bit: 4GB
• Windows Vista 64-bit: 128GB+
• Windows Vista Business: 4GB
• Windows Vista Business 64-bit: 128GB+
• Windows Vista Enterprise: 4GB
• Windows Vista Enterprise 64-bit: 128GB+
• Windows Server 2003: 4GB
• Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition: 32GB
• Windows Server 2003 Datacenter Edition: 64GB
• Windows Vista Server: TBD (This version of Vista is still being developed.)

Here are the maximums for some other popular platforms:

• Mac® OS X Panther™, Tiger™, and Leopard™: The most recent three versions of the Apple OS do not have an operating system maximum; the maximum amount of memory is determined by the hardware memory limitation of each Mac model.
• Mac OS 9.x: 1.5GB (No single application can utilize more than 1GB.)
• Red Hat Linux 2.4 kernel: 64GB

There is another related article on Crucial's website entitled Why doesn't my Windows® PC recognize the whole 4GB of memory I installed?