3GB Switch for WinXp x32bit for Civ4 ROM (how to do it tutorial)

Hi all
This is a guide on how to activate the 3GB Switch on windows xp 32bit.

First of all i would like to be informed if there is another post or topic about this, if so, i will delete this thread (i couldnt find it anywhere)
I hope this guide is somehow usefull, if not and if any of you think its useless let me or a moderator know to either delete it , leave it as it is or whatever u like doing with it, i dont mind, this was just to give a hand to those who might not know how to do the 3GB switch.

Also, if any of you have suggestions, corrections or other ideas on this topic PLEASE reply here or pm me , i would like to know.


On topic:

I would suggest to put this as sticky for others to access it easly. Would also be great to put a link to this post in the FAQ thread under the issue about CTDs and MAFs.

I originally playied on a older version of ROM (that was a year or so ago) and had no problems then, few days ago i downloaded the new version of the mod (v2.91) and discovered that if i try playing this mod on a machine that has Windows XP Pro x32 bit i would have to deal with alot of CTDs and memory lack errors (bad allocation or something). Anyways, there is a fix wich i havent tought about it and someone else told me to do it so thanks to vicentz for this. I know that in the FAQ thread there is this problem and "how" to solve it but there is no link to a tutorial or how exactly u do this so i tought it wouldnt hurt to post a simple step by step tutorial on how to do the 3GB switch.

Without the 3GB Switch on Win Xp Pro x32 bit : Game has alot of CTDs and Memory shortage errors wich terminates the program making the game unplayiable with the mod on.
Reason : The mod adds alot of new buildings, units, techs and alot of other things, other mods and so on making it a very complex mod and that requiers more memory to work than the Vanilla BTS and the problem is that all windows xp x32 Bit versions only allows 2 GB memory for the program to run wich apparently isnt enough.

With the 3GB Switch activated : CTDs and MAFs (Memory Allocation Failure) are significantly reduced (but only regarding the memory shortage problems)

Reason : Simple, it "tells" your windows xp x32 bit to allow the usage of 3GB memory (RAM) for program usage wich originally was 2GB max.


How to do it :

Note : This is only for Windows XP 32 bit version, the 64 bit version has this already done by microsoft.

Note 2 : Be aware that the following procedure involves in editing a file wich if edited wrong may cause your computer to have problems booting up, edit at your own risk. If you follow the following steps corectly you wont have any problem.

Step 1 : Right click on "My Computer" and select proprieties from the menu that just showed up.


Step 2 : A new window will appear, please click on the Advanced tab located in the upper left corner of the window.


Step 3 : Now click on the button Settings located in the Startup and Recovery section.


Step 4 : That should open a new window with some things regarding the startup process of your computer, to those who dont know exactly what all that means please dont change anything. Now click on the button Edit to continue.


Step 5 : Once you click on the Edit button a text file should open, now i strongly suggest u backup this file in case something goes wrong (a.k.a u edit wrong) so u can restore it. Now the text file should contain the following (see image) :
Note : the text file that opens may vary from the one i got so if u find something different and dont know how to continue, reply to this thread or contact me at liberty4life@live.com for further help.


Step 6 : Now all you have to do is to copy the last line (multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect) and paste it under the last line. Should look like this (see image) :


Step 7 : Now add " 3GB " after "Microsoft Windows XP Professional" but let it be inside the quotes ("Microsoft Windows XP Professional 3GB") and add also "/3GB" (without quotes) at the end of the line. Once u did all this the whole thing should look like this :

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional 3GB" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect /3GB

See image also :



After that, save the file and reboot your computer, when rebooting u will be prompted to choose between 2 windows versions, the original one without the modification in the ini file wich allows only 2GB memory usage (in case u want to use this) and the new modified version wich allows you to use 3GB of memory instead of 2. Obviously choose the second option and have fun , the game should present no CTDs or MAFs any longer (only for this issue, other CTDs can happen if there is something wrong with the mod itself)

Have fun playing this awesome mod CTD/MAF free

Sry for any spelling errors, im from italy and i tried the best i can to make this very easy to understand and with no major errors.
Thanks for understanding.

 

Thank you very much for doing it. I'll think Zappara and Afforess will appreciate it too.

 

all it needs now to be complete is to get sticky and hope that will help lots of ppl

For anyone having problems regarding this guide or anything related to the issue at hand dont hesitate to pm me or email me, i would be most glad to help you enjoy this mod as i do.
Thanks again to the team that created it

code99

 

For Vista users:

1. Go to Start
2. Click on All Programs
3. Click on Accessories
4. Right-lick on Command Prompt
5. Click on "Run as Administrator"
6. Type this line:
bcdedit/set increaseuserversa 3072
7. Reboot

For Windows 7 users:

The same as Vista users except for step 6.
Type this line instead:
bcdedit.exe/set increaseuserva 3072

REPEAT! THIS IS FOR 32-BIT WINDOWS ONLY! YOUR 64-BIT VERSION ALREADY TOOK CARE OF THIS!

 

@code99

I think it's wonderful you made this tutorial for people who are having this issue, but you gotta get this thread moved to the CFC tutorial & reference sub forum, you can PM an admin to move and sticky it there.

 

Has anyone tried the 3Gig enabler fix posted on the page, I have 64bit, but I ran across this the other day.
http://www.smrsimple.com/2010/02/3gb-enabler-fix-for-windows-vista-7/

 

Actually, not to make things more complicated, but for those running XP and who have higher end video cards (e.g., with 1 GB VRAM on the card), simply using the /3GB swich is not necessarily enough. You also need to slighter lower the app memory space using the /userva switch or else your video card drivers may not load properly. Here is the link to the microsoft support page describing this further:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/316739/

Note that, for myself, I added to my boot.ini:

/3GB /userva=2800

So far working like a champ! I'm up to the industrial era so far on Huge/Marathon in 1920x1200 mode with max graphics details and no problems yet...

 

Not sure what ur suggesting, if u saying to use the enabler for your windows (Wich is a 64bit) then i would say u dont need it, the 64 bit version of any windows dont need that option as it already allows more than 3 Gb of memory to be used. And my guess is that if anyone has CTDs (related to memory shortage) and MAFs on a 64bit windows then he/she should upgrade or expand the ram in her/his sistem.

I still havent had that issue, i myself got a Nvidia GeForce 9600 GT with 1 GB GDDR3 and 4 GB DDR2 Ram and have no issue regarding the drivers or anyother problem. I got to industrial age on a huge map and marathon speed with just 2 CTDs cause by the mod itself.

 

Ok, i will get it moved. Thanks

 

What happens if you tell the computer to use 4 gb instead of 3?

I personally did the 3GB switch on a 32bit vista with 2 GB ram a looooong time ago, and havn't had a MAF since. I'm just curious what happens if I tell it to use 4096 instead of 3072.

 

i have no idea, never tried it

i might try to see if its any different or if it actually works , but first few backups in case something goes wrong

 

Because it is 32 bit widnows, it will not recognize the extra memory you "allocated". My opinion, based on my experience, is that your computer will only recognize up to 3.25GB of RAM. Only with 64-bit Windows will you be able ot use more than 3.25GB of RAM.

I may be wrong on the "under the hood" reasons but I know I'm not wrong on its impossibility .

 

might crash when trying to access more than 2GB RAM

 

@code99, no, I wouldn't need it, I was suggesting that maybe others who are running 32bit OS's might want to give it a try. Some folks over at the Fallout forums swear by it.

 

But what if I only have 1.75GB of RAM anyway? Will this make a difference? (I'm an xp 32 bit user).
I only play tiny maps anyway.

 

Only if you have more then 2GB.

 

I only have 2 GB Ram, but it worked wonders for me. Never had a MAF since
I guess it uses Harddrive RAM (don't know why I can't remember the correct term atm), so I'd still strongly suggest using it if you only have 1,75GB

 

paging

 

Regarding Step 5:
My BOOT.ini file is a bit different than yours. Its because im running a chinese Windows XP pro, which comes with a 'ghost' backup utility automatically installed that apparently changes a few things. I'm still doing the switch as we speak, but ill post my .ini, and we'll see if it works or not in a bit. Or hopefully someone with a very in depth knowledge might know how to do this correctly.

EDIT: Well, the computer started back up, thats a good thing!
I think it should be working- only one way to find out!

Btw, whats the /usepmtimer handle at the end of my ini do?

 

Just superficial thing really:
Request a moderator to remove that last bit of the title of this thread so there is no request for sticky in it. It is a bit jarring especially now it is sticky .