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A Chinese hacker has managed to crack the maximum memory limit imposed by Microsoft on 32-bit Windows Vista. The trick is to transfer or transplant the more memory support feature in 32-bit Windows Server 2008 to Windows Vista, which use similar kernel code. Windows Server 2008 Enterprise or Datacenter x86 edition supports up to 64GB of physical memory, a far higher limit comparing with paltry 4GB limit imposed on x86 Windows Vista.




To perform the hack to enable the support for more than 4GB of memory in 32-bit Windows Vista, follow these steps:

1. Download and install 32-bit Windows Server 2008 Enterprise Edition,

http://www.tipandtrick.net/2008/windows-server-2008-official-direct-download-links/

and activate the installed operating system.

If you can’t install Windows Server 2008 Enterprise Edition, or has no way to perform product activation on Windows Server 2008 or lack of product key, you can download and use the copy of required files extracted from activated Windows Server 2008 system here:

Download server2008_pkeytokens.rar with 2 Windows Server 2008 Enterprise Edition files, namely tokens.dat and pkeyconfig.xrm-ms to skip the step to install and activate Windows Server 2008.

http://www.ziddu.com/download.php?uid=aKuinZeuZbGiluKnZKqhkZSqYayal5qq4

2. Copy the following files from Windows Server 2008 to a removable drive:

%systemdrive%\Windows\System32\licensing\pkeyconfi g\pkeyconfig.xrm-ms
%systemdrive%\Windows\ServiceProfiles\NetworkServi ce\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\SoftwareLicensing

3. In Windows Vista, backup the same two files in the same paths for future recovery or restore purpose by copying the files as another copy, to other location or simply renaming the files:

%systemdrive%\Windows\System32\licensing\pkeyconfi g\pkeyconfig.xrm-ms
%systemdrive%\Windows\ServiceProfiles\NetworkServi ce\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\SoftwareLicensing\tok ens.dat

4. In Windows Vista, run Services (in Start Search), and stop the Software Licensing service.

5. Take ownership and grant full control permissions to logged on user account or Administrators user group for the 2 files:

%systemdrive%\Windows\System32\licensing\pkeyconfi g\pkeyconfig.xrm-ms
%systemdrive%\Windows\ServiceProfiles\NetworkServi ce\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\SoftwareLicensing\tok ens.dat

6. Replace and overwrite the Windows Vista version of pkeyconfig.xrm-ms and tokens.dat with the version copied from Windows Server 2008.

7. Restart the computer.

8. Voila, all installed RAM including large amount of 4 GB or more is now usable by 32-bit Windows Vista.



Replacing the pkeyconfig.xrm-ms and tokens.dat should not affect daily usage and functionality of Windows Vista. There may be minor problem such as there is no more Windows Experience Index rating shown, and unable to access “Computer Management” by “Manage” on Computer’s right click menu. On some system, there may be activation issue (such as require to activate Windows Vista again) after replacing the files with the copy from Windows Server 2008. In the case, activate Windows Vista with a product key for Windows Server 2008.

Note that some forums and blogs have instructed readers to run “BCDEdit /set PAE forceenable” command to enable and turn on PAE in Windows Vista. This is incorrect, as PAE is always enabled in Windows Vista together with DEP, and verifiable via Everest. The 4GB limit in 32-bit Windows Vista is simply a software-implemented limitation.