/3GB Boot.ini Switch

[System Administrator]

On one of our several Windows XP Pro SP3 machines with 4GB RAM
installed I added the /3GB switch to boot.ini and changed the paging
file boundaries to 8192MB. This was required for the user to do
renderings in Revit 2010. Prior to the change the renderings would
crash. Now he can do them, although a little slow.

On another identical machine adding the /3GB switch causes the machine
to reboot during the "user load" operations several seconds after
entering user credentials. Upon booting into normal mode (no /3GB
switch) the machine boots normally and the machine does not reboot
after user login. During "user load" a message stating the system has
recovered from a serious error is presented: Error Code 1000008e.
Any suggestions on why the second machine should perform differently
than the first, identical, machine? They are identical in hardware
and OS (service packs and updates are equal). They do have different
user applications installed, however. Thanks in advance.

 

[Ian D]

On one of our several Windows XP Pro SP3 machines with 4GB RAM
installed I added the /3GB switch to boot.ini and changed the paging
file boundaries to 8192MB. This was required for the user to do
renderings in Revit 2010. Prior to the change the renderings would
crash. Now he can do them, although a little slow.

On another identical machine adding the /3GB switch causes the machine
to reboot during the "user load" operations several seconds after
entering user credentials. Upon booting into normal mode (no /3GB
switch) the machine boots normally and the machine does not reboot
after user login. During "user load" a message stating the system has
recovered from a serious error is presented: Error Code 1000008e.
Any suggestions on why the second machine should perform differently
than the first, identical, machine? They are identical in hardware
and OS (service packs and updates are equal). They do have different
user applications installed, however. Thanks in advance.

With the /3GB switch, did you also use the /userva= switch?
If you don't, XP is restricted to 1GB minus the hardware
address requirements, and the OS kernel may be starved for
memory and become unstable. If Task Manager reports
your total physical memory as about 3.2GB, try /userva=2800
as a starting point. This example would provide about 400MB
for XP, which I have found to be sufficient.

 

[System Administrator]

Thanks for the very quick response. Your suggestion resolved the
issue. Total memory was being indicated as 3.25GB. I added the
/userva switch with a value of 2900 and that resolved the problem.

Again, thanks for your assistance.

 

[Ian D]

Thanks for the very quick response. Your suggestion resolved the
issue. Total memory was being indicated as 3.25GB. I added the
/userva switch with a value of 2900 and that resolved the problem.

Again, thanks for your assistance.

Glad it worked. The problem with the /3GB switch is that the
/userva= qualifier is often overlooked. Now, if your reported
total physical memory was 3.5GB, the /userva wouldn't be
needed, but that would usually require video memory of 256MB,
or less. The ideal solution would be to use a 64 bit OS. Then
the OS and apps are both happy.

In 32 bit Vista the /3GB switch is not used. It's automatically
implied if a /userva value is set in the boot manager file.