PAE patch updated for Windows 8

This patch allows you to use more than 3/4GB of RAM on an x86 Windows system. Works on Vista, 7, 8, has been tested on Windows Vista SP2, Windows 7 SP0, Windows 7 SP1 and Windows 8 SP0. Instructions and source code included.

Download: PatchPae2.zip (11349 downloads)

Before using this patch, make sure you have fully removed any other “RAM patches” you may have used. This patch does NOT enable test signing mode and does NOT add any watermarks.

Note: I do not offer any support for this. If this did not work for you, either:

  • You cannot follow instructions correctly, or
  • You cannot use more than 4GB of physical memory on 32-bit Windows due to hardware/software conflicts. See the comments on this page for more information.
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38 Responses to PAE patch updated for Windows 8

  1. Pingback: PAE patch updated for Windows 7 SP1 | wj32

  2. Teeluck says:

    Thank you, now i can install windows 8.

  3. mc-kay says:

    As always awesome work, bit I don’t get the point why someone would use this hack to use more than 4gig ran instant of just installing the x64 version of windows?

    • mp says:

      There is often older software that simply won’t run on 64 bit versions. Not only software but hardware as well for specific business related applications. Not every PC is for browsing and gaming.

    • jack sparrow says:

      this is because 32 bit windows uses less memory. if you don’t believe, try installing x64 OS 1st and then afterwards an x86 of the same OS, but with all RAM unlocked, and just after formatting, just check the % of memory usage in task manager.
      and that is the reason you will find x64 versions of softwares(like office 2013, or 2010, CATIA, ANSYS) are larger in size tha their x86 versions

  4. Vlad says:

    i tryed this hack but after following the tutorial the system won’t boot anymore

  5. ColinWillies says:

    Hi folks, I have been using this patch successfully on Win7 and lately on Win8. I have however discovered that whereas on Win7 there was no issue, on Win8 the system fails to recover from Hibernate state when in PAE Patched kernel (hibernation recovery works fine when booted into the unpatched kernel). If anyone has any ideas to resolve this please share. Tks, Colin

  6. ColinWillies says:

    Could it be that \Windows\system32\winresume.exe also needs to be patched in Win8? If so can anyone provide the instructions?

    I have checked using Visual BCD editor and ensured that the GUID of the hibernate resumer for the PAE patched kernel corresponds to the GUID of the “AssociatedResumeObject” entry in the PAE Patched Loader. The issue persists – resume from hibernate works if booted into the un-patched kernel, but does not work when booted into the patched kernel. The same machine (a DELL E6420) does not have the issue with a Win7 Patched kernel.

  7. ColinWillies says:

    OK – I have reproduced the issue on another model – a DELL D630. I will do another fresh installation on this machine in coming days to confirm and report back here. For info I am using Win8 Pro installed via Windows Deployment Services.

  8. Oh yay! I have been looking for a RAM patch for Windows 8 32Bit. I have Windows 7 x86 patched on my other HDD and it has NEVER given me any issues. I unfortunately had to upgrade to 8 to fix my Windows 7 after I screwed it up messing around with things. But having 8 in for a while I started to use it more often. And one thing that I noticed was that the system was once again stealing my RAM from me. So I called myself smart and ran the RAM patcher for windows 7 (in windows 7 mode) it completed but would not boot up again. So I stepped back in time and uninstalled it. Are you guys having any luck with this Windows 8 patch?

    Also Im using a Dell Precision T5400 – 8 cores 4GB RAM (overclocked 2.00GHz~2.44GHz)
    Do you think Dells have it rough for customizing like this? Or should it be smooth sailing?
    Thanks,
    Art

  9. ColinWillies says:

    This patch works fine in Win 8. I have tested it on DELL D630 and DELL E6420 so far. The only issue I have is failure to resume from hibernate (on both platforms). The developer of the patch has not confirmed this to be an issue with the patch as he has not been able to reproduce on his hardware. I am still working on trying to understand why the resume from hibernate does not work on my machines, but in the meanwhile I am simply not using hibernate – the rest works fine! :-)

    • wj32 says:

      Just to be clear – my “hardware” is VMware :)

      • Sounds very promising. Kind of makes me wish that I had a test machine to try this out on. The only build I have at the moment is this one that Im on now. Im sure you guys know how it is having PC hot-rod’n as your hobby. Parts for days, software for days, but not too many test subjects. LOL I will download a sample and figure out a safe method of recovery just in case. And post here the results.
        Thanks a million.

    • OrcinusAdamantos says:

      Colin I have a Dell E5420 also, with the i Core 5 cpu, though Im running Windows 7 x86. Have you any experience with this patch and Windows 7? I ran the other RAM patcher that I would always use to do so. And wouldn’t you know, for some reason, on my E6420 it wouldnt do it properly. It would run, say its complete. Then upon a restart, would boot up like normal, but at the screen where it should show your login info, its stays black. With no HDD activity. Im going to check right now on one thing. I DID change my login method to NOT show the last user to log in. So I want to verify that, that is not the reason. I’m interested in trying this patch, but I have to learn how to uninstall my current failed patch first.

      • ColinWillies says:

        Try disabling the Optimus techno on the GPU in the BIOS.

        • OrcinusAdamantos says:

          Hey buddy I dont have the E6420 with a GPU. Its got the Intel HD 3000 bull-crap integrated crap. but this little crapper eats 750MB of RAM doing nothing. Leaving me with a virtually useless platform to try to run a 64bit OS. Thus me trying to get my x86 patched. I recently installed a different HDD and installed Windows 7 x86, I have patched Windows 7 so many times before, but nooooooooooo! This Dell is a nightmare. -.-
          I dont care about this iCore crap generation of processors, OC’n is damn near impossible. I would much rather have my Xeon’s in a workstation or my QX9560′s in my skulltrail. Way more headroom. But if you can spare any time I would appreciate the help buddy. Thanks

  10. Abah Deden Rukhyadi says:

    In windows 8 pro patchpae2.exe won’t work error : input file not specifield! Anyone can help ?

  11. Deden Rukhyadi says:

    solved ! wrong type write. patchpae work now on W7 and W8, thanks a lot.

  12. rdi says:

    Please let us know how you found the instruction sequence where the memory limit checked and why you didn’t override the stored value, but instead alter the returned result.

    Out of curiosity – have you explored the same patch for WinXP SP3?

    Thanks and keep up the great work.
    - R

  13. jun94 says:

    Thank you! Saved my day. Working great for my 32bit Win8 with 8G memory.

  14. yogendra sonawane says:

    Thanks for this patch..now I can use full 4GB ram on x86..this patch is great tool for all those who want to stick to x86 to run legacy apps n have a lightweight x86 system (x64 windows = larger drivers, larger files, 32-bit emulation layer, no 16 bit support) still with full 4GB or more ram

  15. yoga says:

    help me,

  16. GEG AEFG says:

    Not so good ,
    crashing graphics card memory. All 3D game won’t work. System Become unstable .Can you fix these issues?
    Win8 32bit , GeForce GTX 580

    • OrcinusAdamantos says:

      they dont offer assistance, so my best guess would be to use one of your file history states. or a system restore point. best of luck bro

  17. borneo men says:

    no work,booting wim 8 me error
    help..

  18. Giovanni says:

    not working on w7, goes directly into recovery mode with low res screen…

  19. Himson Li says:

    Sadly, the patch does not work for me. I was greeted with automatic repair.

    Luckily I could return to normal WIN 8 by choosing “Advanced Options” > “Use Another OS”.

    I think I just have to get the real 64 bit Windows. Free lunch is nowhere to be found.

  20. Max says:

    I’ve write a fully-automated batch scripts to do every copy-paste step for you!

    1.) Copy and paste text between lines in notepad and save as two different documents ‘Patch_WVi-7.bat’ and ‘Patch_W8.bat’.
    2.) Put batch files and ‘PatchPae2.exe’ in same folder.
    3.) Run appropriate batch script for your OS as Administrator.
    4.) System will be restarted automatically.

    ~Batch script for Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 7 SP1~
    ——————————————————————————-
    @echo off
    TITLE …::: WinVi-7 32-bit Unlocker Script :::… by: Wiwi-maX
    color 30
    echo Script use PatchPae v2.
    cd %Windir%\system32

    .\PatchPae2.exe -type kernel -o ntkrnlpx.exe ntkrnlpa.exe
    .\PatchPae2.exe -type loader -o winloadp.exe winload.exe
    echo.
    bcdedit /copy {current} /d “Windows 7 (Unlocked)”
    echo.
    echo.
    bcdedit /set {current} kernel ntkrnlpx.exe
    bcdedit /set {current} path \Windows\system32\winloadp.exe
    bcdedit /set {current} nointegritychecks 1
    bcdedit /set {bootmgr} default {current}
    bcdedit /set {bootmgr} timeout 2

    shutdown.exe -r -f -t 5 -c “RAM 2GB’s Limit Removed.”
    ==================================================

    ~Batch script for Windows 8~
    ——————————————————————————-
    @echo off
    TITLE …::: Win8 32-bit Unlocker Script :::… by: Wiwi-maX
    color 30
    echo Script use PatchPae v2.
    cd %Windir%\system32

    .\PatchPae2.exe -type kernel -o ntoskrnx.exe ntoskrnl.exe
    .\PatchPae2.exe -type loader -o winloadp.exe winload.exe
    echo.
    bcdedit /copy {current} /d “Windows 8 (Unlocked)”
    echo.
    echo.
    bcdedit /set {current} kernel ntoskrnx.exe
    bcdedit /set {current} path \Windows\system32\winloadp.exe
    bcdedit /set {current} nointegritychecks 1
    bcdedit /default {current}
    bcdedit /set {bootmgr} timeout 2

    shutdown.exe -r -f -t 5 -c “RAM 2GB’s Limit Removed.”
    ==================================================

    Everything else you need to do is to set (check) your new boot entry as default via msconfig.

  21. Will says:

    Hi,

    Sadly, this causes BSOD for me.

    Minidump: http://www.filedropper.com/041613-23197-01

    Can NOT get full dump as I don’t have full admin rights on this PC.

    Running Windows 7 Pro. SP1 with all Windows Security updates installed (as of April 2013).

    cya,

    Will

  22. jason says:

    Thanks for your hard work! Needs to be updated though. April windows 8 updates have rendered it non-functional. Step 3 = response of “failed” both when trying to reapply the kernel as well as after deleting the patch and starting from scratch.

    • Dude you should hit me up. I couldnt get it working on my X86 W8 system. -.- But as for your situation, it should be fairly enough easy. Why dont you uninstall the updates , and run bleachbit and remove installer files and clean the reg , basically the deep clean feature, and reboot. Then you should be refreshed and able to re-install. I never let MS tech tuesday auto install. I would always come home to a blue screen. LOL
      let me know if that works out for you. And once I get my system flowing steady again maybe you could give me a pointer or two to get it patched and moving. :D

      ciao,
      OrcinusAdmantos

  23. Farhad says:

    it successfully in win 8 enterprise
    you most copy and paste valou’s in CMD (follow the readme.txt)

  24. flynaj says:

    6.2.9200.16551 path Failed.

  25. cihuyman says:

    when i try to enter this line C:\WherePatchPaeIs\PatchPae2.exe -type kernel -o ntoskrnx.exe ntoskrnl.exe its say “failed”, anybody help….

    • OrcinusAdamantos says:

      tell me you didnt enter it like that right? You actually entered the location of the files right? Like if it was saved to your desktop, you entered
      C:\Users\”whatever your profile name is on your PC”\Desktop\ “the name you saved the file under” (example)

      C:\Users\MikesPC\Desktop\savedfile.exe

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