CF 19 Mk IV and 8 GB of RAM

Question for all. I have the 19 MK IV, says it can handle up to 8 GB of RAM, can't install 64 Bit Win Pro....or can I on the MK IV with Intel Core I5 vPro inside? How do you use the 8GB of RAM on 32 BIT system if you cannot install 64 BIT? Am I missing something in my manual that I have overlooked? Thanks for all of the help that everyone provides!!!

 

The hardware is capable of supporting 64-bit. You can install Windows 64bit on the CF-19 mk4. The only drawback is driver support, but 99% of the drivers will have 64bit versions from the hardware manufacturer (ie. Intel for chipset drivers rather then Panasonic etc etc).

If you just run Windows 32bit, then Windows can only see a maximum of 4gb (and on the CF-19 will usually see 3.5gb due to the shared video memory architecture). This is due to memory addressing limitations present in 32bit systems such as Windows. So if you have 8gb physically present, your computer will still only use up to 4gb of it, the rest will be sat doing nothing unless you run a 64bit operating system.

 

So, this will be a drawn out process with reformatting HDD, downloading chipset drivers, and I take it, drivers for everything I use on this system? I am with MS Technet and have access to to the 64 BIT of Win 7. Worth my while? I do have another HDD with XP Pro on it and could install the 64 BIT on that. So many questions. Anyway, what would the seasoned guys do? My work one is the 18 MK II and I can't do anything with that one, but I can to my personal one.

 

Personally, I don't really see the advantage of upgrading to 64bit yet, especially on a Toughbook. I'd stick with Windows 32bit for the time being, but I'm sure others have different opinions

 

To be honest I don't see what 8GB could possible do for you. I thought I wanted 8 in my CF-31, but never got around upgraded the 2 GB that are standard. And to be honest I have never run into memory problems.

 

I suppose it depends a lot on the applications you use - I have 4GB in my Mk2 (limited to about 3.2GB by XP), and it is often insufficient for the programs I'm working with. I would love to have the ability to install 8GB.

That being said, gijoe4us, if you have more physical RAM than the 32bit-OS can handle, then you can use a ramdisk software like Superspeed Ramdisk (costs money, but some similar, free programs like Gavotte's Ramdisk exist, you'd have to search around). It can install a virtual drive using the normally unavailable memory, in your case a ~4.7GB ramdisk, which you can use to some degree. It is not as flexible as 'real' RAM, but you can put your virtual memory there, browser caches, the temporary file directory and so on, and they will work much faster than if they were on a disk.

 

Just an update. Went ahead and installed 64 BIT Win 7 Ultimate on the 19. Some noticeable difference in how fast it boots up now. Everything that I have installed correctly except for my Cardbus 32 for digital picture cf card reading. I think the 8 Gig will go far for the amount of digital photo and video editing that I do. Thus the reason I wanted to take advantage of all of the RAM. Time consuming process downloading and loading all of the 64 Bit stuff Panasonic. But, in the end, me likey!!!!!! I like this MK IV...... Thanks for all your input and advice!!!!!

 

can I upgrade my cf-19 mkIV to the 64 bit version of win7 from the recovery disc included or do I have to purchase a new copy of win 7?

 

You will need a 64bit recovery disc, if it exists, to install Win 7 64bit.

 

Disks exist, at least for the mk5. I bought them from Panasonic in Cardiff, uk.
I upgraded to 8gb as well. With the 4Gb I had several times that acrobad stopped working when I was handling large and/or lots of PDF files. Especially when using OCR it really sucked the memory out of my 19.

 

Disk exists - I bought one from Heartland for $35 for my Mk4 a few months ago.

 

Is it so difficult to install Win7 and all drivers?

 

IIRC everything needs to be done in the exact right order and feeding it some disks is just a whole lot easier

 

Compared to using the restore disk...YES... I bet you never tried to do it. It's sometimes a hit or miss

 

I'm doing it with every new laptop
30-40 minutes and I have fully working system with all drivers. After that I create my own disk image and archive it for future identical systems.
Panasonic has veeeery good "FTP" and there is no need to install all drivers step by step - it's possible to install all drivers without reboot )
Finally, my OS is better tuned than Panasonic's
One problem - images are too large to send them through Internet.

 

yeah, well, I might be able to do it as well, but it would take me the better part of a day, if everything would go right the first time, i could find and knew exactly what I need etc. In the past I have had much less luck with Toshiba or Dell systems and it was sometimes days and days before it got working properly again.
So i make and image of the fresh system, I do image-backups every now and then, and I even have the original disks if it needs to! Just in case...

 

Nice BaRRmaley- Would you please share what program you use/like to create your disk image after finished? Also, do you create this disk image to a usb hard drive/dvd/usb drive?
Regards,
Cleve

 

Norton Ghost currently. Under Hirens BootCD.
But I'm going to try Acronis etc because of Win7/8 create system partition, and my Ghost doesn't work with it correctly. I have to start an installation of Win7/8, stop it after partitioning and after that I can apply my saved image
99% of laptops I sell must have WinXP. And Ghost is ideal for that.

 

How often do you do that? formating and installing XP? Sounds like you have made a living from it?!
Who use Toughbooks in Ukraine? Plain Jane and Joe?

 

I use Acronis for my images it really works well. I just store the
image on my server and work from that to recover, works great.

 

Not too often - 3-5 times per month now. Other lines of my business are much more interesting, so I'm finishing with Toughbooks gradually
Formatting and installing XP - never It's 20-40 minutes to restore from image.

Toughbooks in Ukraine are used mostly for 4x4 offroad competitions as navigation devices. Some of them sink together with cars they are mounted to.
Not an office workhorse, but adventure laptops
CF-29/30 are used sometimes in car services, but I don't like these laptops and don't import them. For me only CF-19 is interesting.

 

Why only XP, 7 too heavy? Cool pictures. Whished we had so much space, in this densly populated area.

I use the 19 for navigation in the car as well. the "huge" display (compared to a tomtom) works really well. I do like some things of the tomtom software better (there is a option now to choose low, medium or maximum winding roads and I like to choose then when I have a little bit time) but the Navigator 11 software is even in the free version quite nice.

Besides the office I also use it to work while my 1 year old is hammering the key's, yanking the display or nibling on a corner, while I sit in the garden in the rain to escape the noise made by everybody in the house, or when I sit by the river, working in the best office imaginable!