I have an HP DL580 G5 server with quad-6 core processors and 128GB memory.I've loaded 64 bit versions on 2003 on it, but every time I try to load 2003 std x86I get a blue screen almost immediately IRQ_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL.Does anyone know if there is a limit with how much memory you can have on a 2003 server?I know standard won't recognize over 4GB, but is there an issue with having this much memory.I've got a few of these boxes and I can't load it on any of them.Any ideas would be much appreciated.Thanks,Scott

Here is the memory support for all versions of Windows. You will need enterprise edition to utilize anything above 4 GB. Although you will need to enable the /PAE with in your boot.inihttp://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa366778(VS.85).aspx#physical_memory_limits_windows_server_2003

Hi Scott, Based on my research, the IRQ_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL error means a ram problem. But it's strange that you have loaded Windows Server 2003 X64 successfully. If possible, you may try to take out the extra ram from the computer and only keep 4GB to test whether the same issue occur. In addition, it doesn't make sense that you install the standard Windows Server 2003 X86 on a computer which have 128GB's memory. The best choice should be Window Server 2003 X64 Enterprise or above. Best regards, Vincent Hu

Thanks for the response.I understand that it doesn't make sense to load 2003 x86 on this type of server, but wer're a disaster recovery firm and we load and reload OS's on all types of servers.The PAE switch is irrelevant because 2003 std won't see anything above 4GB regardless what you do to the boot.ini file.I know this seems like a memory error, but like I said, I've tried it on 3 different servers (all the same model and hardware specs) and get the same results every time. I will try to remove some memory and see if it will load. Thanks for the suggestion.-Scott

Scott,Its the whole principle of the matter as Vincent and I have stated. No matter what you areattempting to load Server 2003STD withtoo much memory on an x86 system. You have to pull all of that memory out and leave at most 4 GB. I have seen errors in loading Vista with more than 4GB throwing similiar errors. (I know thats not 2003 server, but... we have all seen crazier things happen)

I'm aware that it's too much memory for 2003 x86, but all of our servers have a minimum of 32GB memory and this is the first we've had a problem. We've even loaded win 2000 on them without errors.It just seems like it's pointing to memory but I've not been able to find any documentation online about physically having too much memory for an OS to handle.