4GB of memory is all that 32-bit Windows can use Typically about 1 GB of memory is used by Windows leaving about 3 GB to run programs With a 32-bit system there is no point in adding more RAM about 4GB as Windows doesn't know it is there But it all changes with 64-bit Windows (64-bit) can address 100s of GB of RAM and practically increasing your RAM to 8GB is worthwhile FTM being a database really uses RAM, and with large files running in (64-bit) Windows with around 8GB of RAM makes the whole program much more lively So with only 4GB of RAM in 64-bit you are not using your 64-bit capability to its full extent. You are 'hobbling' it if you will. Lots of references in Google and this one is quite good. http://www.techsupportalert.com/content/32-bit-and-64-bit-explained.htm So you may consider also increasing the amount of RAM in your system Interesting FTM Mac 3 is still only (32-bit), but is still significantly faster than FTM 2014 (64-bit) which in turn is faster than FTM 2014 (32-bit) and of course FTM 2012 which is also (32-bit) I understand that the absence of Microsoft .Net and certain CAB files needed in Windows but not in Mac makes the huge difference? Mac uses would simply smile and say well Mac is better :-) I run an iMac with Windows 7 Pro running inside it under Parallels both (64-bit) and both with 8 GB of RAM so I am able to make some interesting comparisons on a 7,500 person file I have FTM 2012, FTM 2014 and FTM Mac 3 installed If Ancestry.com ever release FTM MacX as (64-bit) it will be faster again John D -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of PJK . Sent: Thursday, 23 January 2014 1:21 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [FTM-TECH] FTM 2014 Thanks for the reply, Capt'n :o) My laptop has 4GB memory & is 64bit, so hopefully, it'll be fairly plain sailing. I have 2 back up copies of my tree on a memory stick & an external hard drive but just to belt-braces-zip & button it, I'll probably make another copy or two on another memory stick & external hard drive :o) Wish me luck !! :o) Pat.xxx :o) A Maid of Kent http://peajaykayspatch.blogspot.com/