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We have just performed a P2V migration of a 2008 Server server, as we ran short on RAM.

Having done that, we just realized we cannot go further than 4 GB with this release and would like to upgrade to the enterprise version. Is there still any possibility to buy such an upgrade, or is Server 2008 (not R2) not supported any more?

After upgrading, is there any configuration step we must perform in order to make use of more than 4GB of RAM?.

HopelessN00b
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kankamuso
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1 Answers1

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Server 2008 Standard, x86 (32-bit) is limited to 4 GB of physical memory, so there's no "configuration step" you can perform to get around that. Upgrading to the Enterprise Edition (of 32-bit Server 2008) will give you the ability to use up to 64 GB of physical RAM, with PAE enabled, of course, and there is a supported upgrade path between the standard and Enterprise editions of Server 2008, provided you don't change CPU architectures (32-bit to 32-bit or 64-bit to 64-bit). Pop in a Server 2008 install disk, choose the enterprise edition, input a valid serial and upgrade your existing Windows installation.

And, yes, it is still a supported platform that's commercially available...though it may take some searching to find.

Enabling PAE after installing the Enterprise edition, if it doesn't happen automatically, can be done with the below command from an elevated command prompt:

Bcdedit /set PAE forceenable

Following a reboot, PAE will be enabled, and you'll be able to make use of more than 4 GB or RAM. I don't honestly remember whether or not the upgrade process does this automatically, because it's been so long since I've actually installed a 32 bit OS.

Having said that, I find it difficult to justify having a 32 bit server OS around, let alone upgrading it. If at all possible, I'd just replace it with Server 2008 R2 or Server 2012 R2, and advise you look into doing the same... it's a fair bit of effort either way, and if I'm going to put in a bunch of effort, I figure I may as well just put it in once and get to a newer platform I won't have to worry about for many years to come.

HopelessN00b
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  • Thanks HopelessN00b. I do know there is not a configuration step for making it work as it is (at least not legally). I meant upon upgrade as I have found some docs that ask you to issue a command to enable PAE. Do you know where I can find a serial for a 2008 server?. I cannot upgrade to 64 bits as it is running legacy software and that is the reason why we moved to a Virtual environment. I will keep searching for a place to purchase the key... – kankamuso Mar 08 '15 at 19:58
  • @user107564 I'm not going to provide you a grey or black-market key. I did add in the command to turn PAE on, however. – HopelessN00b Mar 08 '15 at 20:02
  • Thanks for the edit. No, I do not want anything gray or black, I want to know if there is LEGAL place to purchase this or if MS has discontinued it otherwise. In the later case I will have to think seriously on upgrading to 2012 although money is an issue right now indeed :(. – kankamuso Mar 08 '15 at 20:04
  • @user107564 A quick Googling [found some results on pricewatch](http://www.pricewatch.com/gallery/software_oper_system/windows_server_2008_enterprise), so it's out there... it just might take some work to find a vendor that works for you. – HopelessN00b Mar 08 '15 at 20:08