Windows 7/8/8.1/10 32-bit RAM Extension issue

Hello! First, I would like to thank everyone who is working on modded drivers to make everything better for users. :slight_smile:
That said, I really need help with Windows 7 32-bit on my laptop. You see, the laptop display is connected to Intel integrated graphics. The one I have is Intel HD Graphics 4000. The dedicated graphics card is NVIDIA GT620M. Writing a modified kernel with cmd commands (using commands like bcdedit (found online)) was easy after noting that PatchPAE and other types of automatic RAM patches didn’t work. Anyway, after writing the commands, I got a new option at the boot screen (I named mine “Windows 7 Patched”), and naturally selected it. The problem is that it booted to a black screen. So, I rebooted it in safe mode, and it actually worked, though not a single display adapter was on. So, troubleshooting, I disabled Intel HD Graphics 4000 and rebooted in normal mode. It worked, but still had no display, nor was NVIDIA working because of it. (Note that I have Intel 7 series C216 Chipset family PCI express). Now, I looked up many modes for Intel HD Graphics 4000, but I could find none that are a match to mine. For example, PHDGD didn’t work. Software like IvyBridge and Intellimodder, and links like “World of Incredible Intel Graphics Modded Driver” didn’t work. (Pretty sure they were the same software under different names). In any case, there was no modded Intel HD Graphics 4000 for 32-bit. Only 64-bit :frowning: . So, I was wondering if there was any way to mod the driver for Intel HD Graphics 4000, or modify data in registry using regedit to remove the black screen? Here is what I have tried to make sure that the issue was indeed from the Intel HD Graphics 4000: Writing “msconfig” command, and manually allocating the amount of memory when booting. I wrote 4096 MB, and rebooted, and it worked fine. When I wrote 6144 MB for example, it gave me black screen. (Of course I tested these on the modified kernel). The closest thing I could find as a solution was to install Windows XP Intel driver by modifying its .ini file so that installation and driver “update” becomes possible on Windows 7 32-bit. Surprisingly it worked, but NVIDIA still wouldn’t work and some software like Google Chrome and WhatsApp for desktop, among other software, didn’t work anymore and caused system instabilities.

In short, I wish to ask if you have a modded driver that modifies Intel HD Graphics or maybe the chipset so that it enables at least 8 GB RAM usage, or lead me (using a link) to one that you mayhaps have created or one that you know already existing. (Note, my laptop is only 6GB RAM, but only 2.87 GB of it is usable, which is making it ridiculously slow). Even when the Intel HD Graphics was disabled, 5.86 GB RAM unlocked proved a great difference in the performance. Unfortunately, some of the software and games require at least the integrated graphics enabled, otherwise they won’t launch.

Also, please please, do not propose me to install Windows 7 64-bit, or use VMWare, or any other method of the like. I already have a system specifically configured for Windows 64-bit, and I do not need another one. I actually need Windows 7 32-bit to make very old software on it work (please trust me on this, as I need all these old software).

Thank you all, and sorry for the long read :slight_smile:

@Pyrus :
Welcome at Win-RAID Forum!

Since I have never modded any graphics driver, I cannot help you myself. Furthermore I don’t know where you can find such modded drivers, which comply with your wishes.

Regards
Dieter (alias Fernando)

That’s why the PAE is disabled on Windows for consumer. Some drivers cannot handle it properly.
Try Windows Server 2008.

But, it doesn’t make sense. I mean, suppose I downloaded the driver on the exact same laptop, but the only difference is that it is Windows 7 64-bit. The driver itself is written in a way that allows its usage based on the 32-bit or 64-bit architecture. If the card itself is able to handle additional RAM, doesn’t that mean that there is a possible correlation between 32-bit and 64-bit drivers, hence the ability to modify them (in this case the driver for 32-bit OS) to enable additional RAM? Many say that Intel is like a closed system and impossible to get through. Other integrated graphic cards, however, do not have this issue. In any case, I was wondering if there was any way to modify the 64-bit installer in a way that an update is valid for 32-bit as well, thus enabling the additional RAM to be unlocked? Thank you again :slight_smile:

What exactly are you trying to achieve?

What I’m trying to achieve is to make the driver installation and the Integrated graphics independent of the on-board RAM for 32-bit OS. I’m trying to remove the limitation that is resulting in me getting a black screen when PAE is enabled. I know that the card can handle additional RAM (because, come on, it works on 64-bit OS as well), so it’s definitely the way that the driver is written to limit the card to 4 GB RAM, and I have tested this. (Note, I am NOT talking about VRAM, I am talking about DDR3 RAM, the ones that are not dedicated to the graphics card). Anyway, before I boot in PAE mode, I select how much memory I want to allocate in my boot from msconfig. When I write 4096 MB, even in PAE mode, I get regular screen, as if everything is fine. If I allocate even one digit higher as memory, I get a black screen. And not just your regular black screen, I get everything turned off, no startup sound even. Just a black screen, which causes me to force shut down and restart. When Intel HD Graphics is disabled, however, this is no longer an issue. Note that even when I manually force installed Intel driver for Windows XP, IT DID WORK, but wasn’t compatible with the dedicated NVIDIA graphics driver, because the driver was too old (I mean, come on, it was Windows XP). Note that Windows XP was ALSO 32-bit architecture, meaning Windows 7, 8, 8.1, etc… have absolutely NO REASON not to work with full RAM if PAE is unlocked. It is simply a ruse to limit people to 4GB RAM on 32-bit OS. And this is what I’m trying to “fix” (or find a fix for). Making a recent driver that is compatible with the newest drivers, modded in a way that accepts the PAE mode enabled.

Long story short, what I’m trying to achieve is: Windows 7 32-bit that can read more than 4GB RAM WITHOUT getting a black screen on startup, or disabling the integrated grahpics (In this case Intel HD Graphics 4000), and as I have stated in my previous post: No, Windows 7 64-bit is absolutely out of the question, so is VMWare.

One can never know the implementation of a closed-source software/drivers, unless he or she has the skills of reverse-engineering.
It may due to the overflow of a 32-bit size_t variable (e.g. 4294967295 + 1 will become 0). On 64-bit system the sizeof size_t is 64 bits too so the problem doesn’t exist anymore. There may be some other hard-coded limitations, but who knows.

Uhm… It’s not as simple as 2^32 = 4294967296. Here is an except for “why”: You see in x86 protected mode, with paging enabled (that is, what you get when you use any modern OS), you don’t address memory locations directly, even though the paging translation mechanism is transparent for client applications.

Of a logical 32 bit memory address, when using 4K pages:

Bits 22-31 refer to a page directory
Bits 12-21 refer to a page table
Bits 11-0 refer to an offset in the 4096 byte page

As you can see, you have 2^10 (1024) page directories, in each page directory, you have 2^10 page tables and each page is 2^12 (4096) bytes long, hence 2^32 = 4294967296 bytes. The width of the memory bus is conveniently the same as the word length of the CPU but it’s not necessary to be like this at all. In fact, more modern x86 CPUs support PAE which enables addressing more than 4GB (or GiB) even in 32-bit mode. In other words, it’s definitely not the 32-bit OS that is the culprit, as it is (at least on its own) supporting it. The fact that it does see additional RAM when Intel Graphics are off is proof enough. This means that there is a certain “failsafe” system written for the driver on purpose to cause the issues aforementioned (in the previous posts). And, alas, I don’t have the skills to reverse-engineer. I have also noted that when I’m using the Standard VGA Display Adapter (when I uninstall the Intel HD 4000 Graphics Driver), it is working fine (but still no connection to the dedicated graphics card. So, it’s definitely the driver.

It’s just a guess anyway. I’ve learnt about paging, but not PAE, maybe I should go over the Operating System Concepts again? :stuck_out_tongue:
Here is a blog page found on Wikipedia.



It can’t be that old if it runs on windows 7!
What kind of software is this?

Use PAE patch (fix128) for >4GB in 32-bit OS.
https://rutracker.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4694409