Building a Graphics Workstation: Installing and Tweaking Windows XP
June 20, 2008
There are plenty of guides on the internet describing how to install and tweak Windows XP. This section will discuss some issues pertinent to installing Windows XP 32 Pro bit on a graphic workstation:
- 3 GB switch
- Windows XP services
- Location of Pagefile.sys
- Location of My Documents folder
Windows XP 32 bit can support maximally 4 GB of RAM but he virtual address space of applications is still limited to 2 GB, unless the /3GB switch is used. So if you have more than 2 GB or RAM (e.g. 4 GB) installed and you want Photoshop to use more than 2 GB of RAM you will need to set /3GB switch. Because some people report problems with certain applications when 3GB switch is being used, I suggest that you set up an options of booting the Windows XP with and without 3GB switch. This way if you encounter problems you can reboot to 'safe' configuration. For more details on this issue see Microsoft article.
Setting up /3GB switch on Windows XP
Go to 'Control Panel' --> 'System' --> and hit the 'Advanced' tab, the following window should open:
Then in 'Startup and Recovery' click on 'Settings', the following window should open. In the 'Default operating system' field there will be your current operating system:
Then click on 'Edit' to edit startup options manually. System boot.ini file will open in Notepad or in your default text editor:
Now all you need to do is to find the line where your current operating system is, copy entire line, add " /3GB" switch to this new line (there is a space character before "/" and no space character after "/"). You also should edit the text in between " " signs to change the description, so you can identify the options during the booting process.
You might want to make a backup copy of your Boot.ini file before you proceed with making changes (File --> Save as) and it is generally a good practice to backup your operating system partition before making significant changes to your operating system.
As an example if your current OS is set up like this:
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect
Then you add line like this:
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional 3GB Switch" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect /3GB
Then save your changes (CTRL-S or File --> Save) and close Notepad. Then change the 'Default operating system' to the one just added. Adjust the 'Time to display list of operating systems' as it suits you. This is the length of time that the OS options will be displayed for you to make selection before default OS is loaded. Then hit 'OK' and reboot.
Your booting sequence will change, you should now see the options to load your previous Windows XP installation or Win XP with /3GB switch, which should be the default option.
Now you should be able to allocate more RAM to Photoshop.