You would nee to use 64 bit XP to see all of mem you installed, otherwise 3 gig and something is all you can see. http://www.microsoft.com/w
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Windows XP SP2 shows 3GB total RAM instead of 4GB
i used the /PAE and i also tried using the /USERVA
but i still get only 3 gb available. i know that some memory is needed for the PCI devices, Bios etc.is there any utility or process by which i can check where the missing 1 GB is being used( like 100MB for Bios, 300MB for video etc)
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Answers
The missing 1GB isn't being used at all. The issue here is that a 32 bit OS can only have 4GB of address space. This is not ram, it is that virtual space in memory that the OS can access. The ram is a component just like all the other components that need address space(not ram) the system components get there address space first then the ram gets whats left of the address space.
This has been asked alot here lately, some examples
http://www.experts-exchang
http://www.experts-exchang
Also, the PAE switch won't rectify this as it is only meant to extend the amount of address space available to applications. The default amount is 2GB address space for application use and the PAE switch allows applications to use 3GB of addressable space, but only if it is written into the application code.
The /USERVA only gives you a better control on how much of the extra 1GB that the PAE switch allocates or returns to the kernal mode address space.
Sorry to tell you this, but Windows XP 32-bit can only address up to 3gb of ram. It is a hardware issue with all x86 systems. To see the full 4gb, you will need to update to Windows XP 64-bit, or do some nasty hacking of the PAE extensions.
Bottom line:
Go with 64-bit and see 4gb, or stay with 32-bit and see 3gb.
The missing memory , do you mean ram or address space? They are totally different things.
If ram,--> it isn't missing just not used because it can't get address space that is already allocated to system resources(two devices can't share an address space)
If its Address space--> It is used by the
- System BIOS (including motherboard, add-on cards, etc..)
- Motherboards resources
- Memory mapped I/O
- configuration for AGP/PCI-Ex/PCI
- Other memory allocations for PCI devices
The differences you see are within these parameters , perhaps a different video card with more video ram, more PCI cards in one PC that the other.
Sparkmaker,
both the machines have videocards that have 256MB RAM ( one is a quadro FX3450 and the other is the FX3500)
i am more looking into memory address allocation that is not being seen by the OS.( ie in the 0 - FFFFFFFF memory space) some machines have different memory space allocated based on PCI devices etc. what i exactly want is that is there anyway how i can see which PCI device is reserving the memory space, so that it wont be seen by the OS.
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by: allwyngPosted on 2008-01-28 at 07:19:45ID: 20759656
A 32 bit OS can only address up to 4GB system memory, so usually about 3.5GB will be usable to the system. Upgrade to a 64 bit OS inorder to access full 4 gig.