Hi I'm afraid that 32 bit op's WILL NOT read more than 4 gigs of ram and that in itself is VERY iffy!!! Most only will read 3 gig with some coaching! You will need to go to the 64 bit OS. It will read and use all your 8 gigs and not even breath hard. I have 32 gigs in my machine and have no problems. I'm considering moving up to 64 gig, I do a lot of video editing. Yes the PRO version does have an XP compatibility mode\virtual. I have tried it but I had some stability problems with it. But that may not be your case just a heads up. So splurge and get the 64 bit version. Brad On 4/11/2013 8:39 PM, Phillip Williams wrote: > Howdy All, > > This is one of those posts that I guess could go to either list since > it covers software (op system) and hardware (ram). I'll try here for > starters. > > If I understand correctly... > > 1) Win 7 pro 32 bit has a compatibility mode that will run my xp > programs (in particular, Cyberlink PowerDVD). > > 2) Win 7 pro 32 bit will recognize all 8 gigs of my installed ram. > > If both of these are true, when I run the PowerDVD program in > compatibility mode, will it have access to all 8 gig of ram or at > least as much of it that's not being used by other processes? > > Still having problems with Bluray playback and since I've been wanting > to try win 7 I thought I would try this before I start saving up for a > better video card (now using NVIDIA GeForce GT 520 1gig). > > Phillip > > Do you want to signoff PCBUILD or just change to > Digest mode - visit our web site: > http://freepctech.com/pcbuild.shtml > The NOSPIN Group has added a new feature on our website, web based bulletinboard for questions and answers: Visit our sister website at http://nospin.com