How much RAM to allocate Windows 7 (32bit) with VirtualBox?

[Chase R]

How much RAM can Windows 7 (32bit) take in VirtualBox? I've heard that giving it too much can cause crashes and problems. I'll be installing 8GB next week, so there is plenty to go around

 

[Skyrim]

I think 2GB is enough. 32bit windows can only address 3.2GB physical memory.

 

[thasan]

3 maybe? im using this for parallels. ive 256meg for the graphics card.

How much RAM can Windows 7 (32bit) take in VirtualBox? I've heard that giving it too much can cause crashes and problems. I'll be installing 8GB next week, so there is plenty to go around

 

[Ccrew]

Windows 7 in a virtual machine is actually happiest with 1 proc and 1gb of memory. It's a technical dissertation, but it's about how it makes the memory calls through the hypervisor. adding procs and memory to the VM in most instances will actually slow it down more often than not.

 

[thasan]

Windows 7 in a virtual machine is actually happiest with 1 proc and 1gb of memory. It's a technical dissertation, but it's about how it makes the memory calls through the hypervisor. adding procs and memory to the VM in most instances will actually slow it down more often than not.

interesting, didnt know that. but what happens if apps in win need more memory? im using the above settings in parallels and win runs without any problem at all.

 

[IvanOhio]

How much RAM can Windows 7 (32bit) take in VirtualBox? I've heard that giving it too much can cause crashes and problems. I'll be installing 8GB next week, so there is plenty to go around

If you are running a 64 bit OS in a virtual box then then there no problem.

32 bit Windows 7 will run on less than a 1 GB of physical RAM.