Instead of spending $40 on ram you could spend that $40 on a lottery ticket and possibly win millions of dollars. Your logic really perplexes me.

-gosh

$40 for 1 Gb?

40$ would get you 2gb:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16820134192

20$ would get you 1gb:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16820146580

Yes, more guts

I ask myself why he want to run Vista on a 256 MB machine and to make it worst. There's somewhere a topic from somebody to ask to install Vista on a 128 MB machine

I know that experiment with Windows XP
12 MHz clock speed
20 MB RAM
63 MB Install size
This is the record. Are you try to break it
Keep this in mind: On that machine, Windows XP tooks 47 minutes to boot up in a 'usable' state. It tooks 23 minutes to open Word and 11 minutes to open IE6 and the internetspeed whas below a 14K4 modem (nah, have 100 Mbit from Borft UT Twente)

I shame myself that I recommend to use 4096 MB with Vista and not any less. 2048 MB is possible, but not when playing Battlefield 2 and/or Crysis of such games.

Another question comes here out:
Is there a nearby future for the 32-bit version? No!
The roads for Windows Vista 64-bit are wide open. 4096 MB is the standard in later 2008 (I keep track on that). There are three classes of users and interact with yourself if it is worth to give it a try:

Entry level users:
Internet, mail, some media and typing a letter or making a spreadsheet.
Windows Vista Home Basic with a low budget system and at least 1024 MB RAM!
Windows XP should be better on old systems (mostly used by this kind of users)

Mid-entry level users:
As above, but they want to handle lots of digital media and editing a movie is not unknown. I should be possible at a reasonal speed. Old games (DirextX 8 games) mostly works perfect on these machines
Windows Vista Home Premium on a firm machine (costs around 800-1200 dollar=650-900 euro here in Holland)
Windows XP on the smae setup should be a better choice to gain speed and productivity!
At least 1024 MB RAM or much better: 2048 MB

Powerusers:
Like me and much other people here belongs to this group. Gaming at high resolutions and don't want to make consessions with settings. Thes systems are expensive and only for the hobbyist. Much RAM, a fast graphic card and a fast processor combined creates a fast system to keep real 3D entertainment at home. Also this system can be used for typing a letter.
At least 2048 MB RAM and much better: 4096 MB or above.

There he is. "can I run Vista with 256 Mb?" or better "Does my computer fit on a bycycle for transport ? "
Don't waste much time, just my intention

This post has been edited by Extravert: Jan 21 2008, 12:56 PM

ok here's a question for ya...
I have a laptop that i bought with xp...
it has 256 DDR ram chip, but for some reason the bios and windows only recognizes 191mb of it.
it's got a pentium 4 @ 2.80 ghz...
Now ive been reading and i saw 1 post that said he blue screened on 128mb and i wanted to get some advice before i even tried installing.
Any advice is thanked and pls don't tell me it's useless because of ram... ive seen it and know it....

Your onboard graphics chipset most likely has no RAM of its own, so robs a region of the system RAM for itself - in your case 64MB.
Sometimes this amount can be changed in the BIOS, e.g. from 16MB-256MB.

Only advice I can suggest is to check for device & chipset drivers before installation so you're ready to roll, or at least are aware of which things don't have Vista-specific drivers for.

Good guide for the ones with lower memory, but I dont suggest Vista on 256 MB of RAM, neither I would suggest it on any desktop / laptop as there is XP that is better for the ones with low memory and Windows 7 that is like a better Vista.

This post has been edited by knight23: Aug 28 2009, 06:55 PM

Maybe he can`t answer, cause Vista is installed since yesterday - but still booting...

And i checked, and all my hardware is supported just more ram...




True on that point, but i have a modified version of vista that runs great on my desktop that has 384mb ram... so im not worried...



And as far as your post, thank you all knowing one, but my xp installation wouldn't boot for me and i had to fix it...