Windows 10 can actually run on a tiny amount of RAM – just 192MB
Windows 10 will run on a vanishingly small amount of system RAM, if you engage in some trickery, and don’t mind that the operating system isn’t actually usable running in this state.
So, this really comes under the bracket of a fun experiment, as opposed to anything which is realistically useful – but it’s definitely interesting to see how low the RAM requirement can go while still actually getting the desktop to appear and function (sort of), as proved by one Twitter user.
128 is a bit too low pic.twitter.com/1WKlcHfKGLApril 2, 2020
Tom’s Hardware spotted @0xN0ri (or Nori) playing around with lowering the amount of system memory which the 32-bit version of Windows 10 requires to run (the official requirement is 1GB, and remember, it’s 2GB for the 64-bit OS that the vast majority of users are on).
This was achieved using Windows 10 November 2019 Update as a base running in VirtualBox, reportedly on a Dell Inspiron 3670 with Arch Linux.
Other Twitter users have since joined in, and are claiming to have got Microsoft’s operating system running on as little as 136MB, albeit without providing many details or substantiating those experiments to the same degree as Nori.
Nori did manage to get the OS at least booting with 140MB, although the interface and desktop didn’t run with that little amount of RAM.
Super sluggish
As mentioned, this is really just an entertaining exercise in what is technically possible, rather than anything useful.
In the state Nori is booting Windows 10 with 192MB of memory, while it does function, it’s obviously extremely sluggish, and won’t run much at all (basically Task Manager and File Explorer, and that’s pretty much your lot). It’s also relying on a 2.8GB page file (in other words, leveraging a chunk of the laptop’s system drive to reduce the burden on the system memory).
For more similar experiments in running different operating systems in weird and wonderful ways, you can check out Nori’s Github.
Windows 10 will run on a vanishingly small amount of system RAM, if you engage in some trickery, and don’t mind that the operating system isn’t actually usable running in this state. So, this really comes under the bracket of a fun experiment, as opposed to anything which is realistically…
Recent Posts
- Walmart shopper data will soon feed targeted ads on Disney Plus and Hulu
- Inside Microsoft’s Xbox turmoil
- Do nearly all Indian men wear turbans? Generative AIs seem to think so, and it’s only the tip of the AI bias iceberg
- Watch out — hackers can exploit this plugin to gain full control of your WordPress site
- Select iPhones can imitate Google’s handy Circle to Search tool with new shortcut
Archives
- May 2024
- April 2024
- March 2024
- February 2024
- January 2024
- December 2023
- November 2023
- October 2023
- September 2023
- August 2023
- July 2023
- June 2023
- May 2023
- April 2023
- March 2023
- February 2023
- January 2023
- December 2022
- November 2022
- October 2022
- September 2022
- August 2022
- July 2022
- June 2022
- May 2022
- April 2022
- March 2022
- February 2022
- January 2022
- December 2021
- November 2021
- October 2021
- September 2021
- August 2021
- July 2021
- June 2021
- May 2021
- April 2021
- March 2021
- February 2021
- January 2021
- December 2020
- November 2020
- October 2020
- September 2020
- August 2020
- July 2020
- June 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- February 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
- November 2019
- December 2011