Question

memory

Asked by: wball1217

I installed 4 Gig or RAM but only 3Gig shows up.  Any ideas.
Windows XP SP2

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Asked On
2009-11-05 at 13:13:26ID24876117
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memory

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General Computer Systems

,

Miscellaneous Hardware

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Answers

 

by: leewPosted on 2009-11-05 at 13:23:16ID: 25754194

This is a 32bit technological limitation and is, in part, due to how memory for devices is mapped by the computer.  For a detailed technical explanation, see:
http://blogs.technet.com/markrussinovich/archive/2008/07/21/3092070.aspx

 

by: pjvogPosted on 2009-11-05 at 13:30:46ID: 25754259

You can try adding "/PAE" to your boot.ini file to increase the amount of RAM windows XP sees, but SP2 should by default already being using the feature.

Right click My computer > Properties.  See if it says "Physical Address Extension" at the bottom of the page on "System Information".

The big draw for 64 bit windows is the increase in the amount of memory windows can use.  For example, I dual boot XPSP3 32 bit, and Windows 7 64, my machine has 8GB of ram.  XPSP3 can see 3.24GB of that, while windows 7 can see all 8 GB.

If you want to run more than 4GB, switch over to a 64bit OS.


 

by: amit_panjwaniPosted on 2009-11-10 at 01:19:17ID: 25783651

before you check OS - Check BIOS - see how much RAM is displayed there - only then you might want to proceed to OS.

 

by: PCBONEZPosted on 2009-11-13 at 00:44:49ID: 25812293

In plain English:
RAM has to have an address for the system to use it. [aka: "Find it".]
A 32-bit OS only has enough numbers for 4 GB worth of addresses.
Windows has to reserve some addresses for system functions. [Like drivers for instance.]
Those reserved addresses are not available to the user.
That 3GB you are looking at is not how much is in the machine, it is how much is available to the user.
4GB - Reserved = 3GB
-
The exact amount that is reserved varies from machine to machine and from OS to OS.
[For example Vista reserves a whole lot more than XP on the same machine.]
-
A 64-bit OS has enough addresses for 16,000,000 GB worth of RAM however there isn't any available hardware that supports that yet and your buddy Microsoft puts in artificial limits for marketing reasons.
.

 

by: amit_panjwaniPosted on 2009-11-13 at 02:06:33ID: 25812660

Understandably - PAE might be issue here - But there are still some questions unanswered ...

Where does he SEE this 3 GB RAM - In OS or BIOS

How exactly is RAM placed - say 2Gigs x 2 Slots or 1 Gig x 4 Slots.

any combination or permutation of above and we may have a different answer.

If he sees 3 Gigs RAM in BIOS - despite the fact he installed 4 Gigs - Problem could be some place else.

 

by: PCBONEZPosted on 2009-11-13 at 04:06:15ID: 25813209

If you have a question then open your own question.

PAE is intended for servers.
It makes normal PC's SLOW.

 

by: amit_panjwaniPosted on 2009-12-01 at 00:40:46ID: 25940869

@PCBONEZ -

You might want to read the my response more carefully (If your reply was aimed at me - unanswered questions)

20120131-EE-VQP-002

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