Techniques To Install Windows 7, Server 2008 Or Vista On A System Having RAM Less Than 512MB
You might be aware that most of the recently released Microsoft Windows operating systems require your system to have some precise specifications before you try to install them. Sufficient RAM (512 MB or more) is once such key specification necessary for installing recent Windows OS such as Windows 7, Server 2008 and Vista on your PC.
In order to ensure quicker system operation, the official requirement of RAM is 1 GB. However, if the RAM in your PC is less than 512MB, the setup wizard will not allow going through the setup process and if the RAM is less than 1GB you won’t be able to continue the setup process.
While the installation process is on, setup file verifies the system requirements. If your PC does not meet the necessary requirements, the setup wizard will stop, thereby stopping the installation process. It will show the below mentioned error message.
“Windows detected that this computer has <YOUR RAM SIZE> MB of RAM, but 512 MB is required for installation. Installation cannot proceed”
This happens as these recent Windows OS consume a lot of system resources. If your system doesn’t possess enough memory to perform certain system tasks, it may lead to system slow down, halt or freeze. Although having sufficient RAM is a technical requirement, it is possible that you install Windows 7, Vista and Server 2008 on a PC with RAM less than 512MB.
You may use any of the below mentioned techniques.
Technique 1: Add Physical RAM to make it at least 384 MB
Although it is said that Windows 7, Vista and Server 2008 require at least 512MB of RAM for proceeding with the installation process, technically they consume only 384MB of RAM for running the setup procedure.
For instance, if the RAM of your system is 256MB, you approximately need another 130 MB memory to meet the minimum requirement. In such a case, you can add a physical RAM into the RAM slot. If you happen to use a virtual machine, simply increase the limit of allocated RAM to make it 384MB.
Technique 2: Increase Memory during Installation by adding Memory Stick
You need to make the necessary changes in your system specifications in order to meet the basic requirements while trying to install Windows 7, Vista and Server 2008. If you use a virtual machine, use this brilliant trick so as to run the installation procedure without showing the low memory error message.
You need to simply increase the virtual or physical memory of your PC to 512MB by making use of a memory stick. The moment RAM becomes 512MB, run the setup and complete the installation procedure. Once you have installed Windows 7, Server 2008 or Vista on your system, you may take out the memory stick to get the RAM back to original level.
Technique 3: Use a winsetup.dll Patch
winsetup.dll is the file that verifies your system memory. It is present in ISO images or DVD disc. This file basically gets activated at the beginning of the installation procedure and checks for the necessary system requirements. You may patch this file so as to bypass or avoid this memory check during installation process of Windows 7, Server 2008 or Vista.
You need to follow the below mentioned steps in order to path the file “winsetup.dll”.
- Firstly, you need to copy the contents of the DVD or extract the DVD ISO image contents to your hard disk drive.
- Then, download AptEdit Pro, a HEX editor and install it along with the HEX Editor plugin.
- Locate the file “winsetup.dll” within the installation files that you had copied and open it using HEX editor.
- Within the file, look for the below mentioned HEX string:
77073D7801
- Once you find it, replace it with the below mentioned HEX string:
E90400000
- Save the changes made to the file.
- Now, run the file “setup.exe” and you will notice that the installation process proceeds without showing any error message.
- Incase you wish to use bootable DVD to start the installation process, you may simply replace the file “winsetup.dll” within the ISO with the patched “winsetup.dll” file and copy the ISO to the DVD.