[Captain Nemo]

Originally Posted by Reece

I know I keep saying this but for new readers please be aware that changing the boot.ini file with the command switches /3GB /USERVA=xxxx may cause problems, I found that while doing this and patching the sh3.exe file SHIII itself worked great! BUT the changes made to the boot.ini file caused major problems to other applications, games etc, mostly stuttering and lockups, I tested this thoroughly, so be aware just in case you find some other application not working properly it could be this. Some people seem to have no problems while other have a lot, don't know why, my system is XP Pro with SP3, 4Gb ram AMD CPU with ATI GPU.

From what I have read Reece is correct. I'm no computer expert but from what I have read the switch has nothing to do with how much RAM you have installed, for example you could use the switch on a machine with only 1GB of physical RAM installed. It's all to do with virtual memory which XP 32 bit can have a maximum of 4GB. On a standard setup XP allocates up to 2GB of VM to applications and up to 2 GB to the OS. The 3GB switch gives 3GB to applications and only 1GB to the OS. So theoretically, if some hardware on your machine wants to push the OS side of things beyond that 1GB, problems will arise. Also, some applications don't like the idea of more than 2GB of VM so issues with those may arise. On the other hand if your OS and drivers can live happily within that 1GB then you should be problem free. I suppose the workaround is to have the option at boot up to select the 3GB switch if your going to play SH3 (assuming your video drivers can live within 1GB with the OS) or to go with a standard boot up if you are using hardware or software that is affected by the switch.

Nemo