Windows only recognizes 2GB of RAM and there is 4GB installed

[JKoros]

Hi.

I've been having some issues with my laptop and RAM ever since I got it,

and am really getting tired of being so limited by vista on only 2 gigs

of RAM. I have been trying to search for a fix of my problem and haven't

yet found a solution so I'm hoping someone might know what to do.



Here's the issue. I have 4GB of RAM physically installed in the

computer. I've checked bios, and it confirms the 4GB. When I view system

information in windows, it too shows 4GB of RAM installed, but when I

view the task manager, my system resource tab shows only 2GB of physical

memory (not 2.7 GB just 2). I have tried to see if maybe one of the RAM

sticks were bad and so I shutdown and rebooted going through all the

possibilities. Each stick in each slot, the computer would always boot

no matter what slot was filled with what stick, the only thing that

changed was that the bios and windows system info would reflect there

being only one stick of 2GB in the system when there was only one

installed.



I am really at a loss for what to do here and need some help.



Thanks for your time.





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[Shenan Stanley]

JKoros wrote:

> Hi.

> I've been having some issues with my laptop and RAM ever since I

> got it, and am really getting tired of being so limited by vista on

> only 2 gigs of RAM. I have been trying to search for a fix of my

> problem and haven't yet found a solution so I'm hoping someone

> might know what to do.

>

> Here's the issue. I have 4GB of RAM physically installed in the

> computer. I've checked bios, and it confirms the 4GB. When I view

> system information in windows, it too shows 4GB of RAM installed,

> but when I view the task manager, my system resource tab shows only

> 2GB of physical memory (not 2.7 GB just 2). I have tried to see if

> maybe one of the RAM sticks were bad and so I shutdown and rebooted

> going through all the possibilities. Each stick in each slot, the

> computer would always boot no matter what slot was filled with what

> stick, the only thing that changed was that the bios and windows

> system info would reflect there being only one stick of 2GB in the

> system when there was only one installed.

>

> I am really at a loss for what to do here and need some help.

>

> Thanks for your time.



Windows Vista is not enough information.



Make/Model of the system?

Windows Vista _____ Edition with Service Pack _, __-bit?



--

Shenan Stanley

MS-MVP

--

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[Tim Slattery]

JKoros wrote:



>

>Hi.

>I've been having some issues with my laptop and RAM ever since I got it,

>and am really getting tired of being so limited by vista on only 2 gigs

>of RAM. I have been trying to search for a fix of my problem and haven't

>yet found a solution so I'm hoping someone might know what to do.

>

>Here's the issue. I have 4GB of RAM physically installed in the

>computer. I've checked bios, and it confirms the 4GB. When I view system

>information in windows, it too shows 4GB of RAM installed, but when I

>view the task manager, my system resource tab shows only 2GB of physical

>memory (not 2.7 GB just 2).



Something is using up the other 2GB of address space. How much RAM is

on your video board - or, since this is a laptop - how much of your

RAM is being given to the video system?



If you have 64-bit hardware, you might try the 64-bit version of

Vista or Win7. That's drastic, since you have to install from scratch,

there's no upgrade path from 32- to 64-bit systems.



--

Tim Slattery

Slattery_T@bls.gov

http://members.cox.net/slatteryt

 

[JKoros]

Here's a screen shot showing system info and task manager, and to answer

your post Tim there are dedicated video cards. Twin GeForce 8700M GT in

sli (off the top of my head I think it's 256MB each, but it might be

512MB.)





+-------------------------------------------------------------------+

|Filename: system info.jpg |

|Download: http://forums.techarena.in/attachment.php?attachmentid=11162|

+-------------------------------------------------------------------+



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[David H. Lipman]

From: "JKoros"





| Here's a screen shot showing system info and task manager, and to answer

| your post Tim there are dedicated video cards. Twin GeForce 8700M GT in

| sli (off the top of my head I think it's 256MB each, but it might be

| 512MB.)





| +-------------------------------------------------------------------+

||Filename: system info.jpg |

||Download: http://forums.techarena.in/attachment.php?attachmentid=11162|

| +-------------------------------------------------------------------+



You didn't answer my question!



However your screen-shot shows of the system properties shows 4GB RAM on a Dell AlienWare

platfiorm. Thus yourstatement about two 2GB is as BS as using the leech of Usenet

techarena.in





--

Dave

http://www.claymania.com/removal-trojan-adware.html

Multi-AV - http://www.pctipp.ch/downloads/dl/35905.asp

 

[Dominic Payer]

You have a 32-bit system, so have a maximum address space of 4GB. The

address space includes graphics memory and system BIOSes.



If you have 2x512MB graphics cards them with system BIOSEs you will only

be able to use 2.5GB of the RAM (or less if the other devices are

demanding) because there is no adress space available to map to it.



You need a 64-bit OS if you want to use all 4GB of RAM.



System Properties for 32-bit Vista reports the amount of RAM fitted, not

what is available for use. The Performance tab in Task Manager shows

what is available for use.





On 03/07/2010 10:05, JKoros wrote:

> Here's a screen shot showing system info and task manager, and to answer

> your post Tim there are dedicated video cards. Twin GeForce 8700M GT in

> sli (off the top of my head I think it's 256MB each, but it might be

> 512MB.)

>

>

> +-------------------------------------------------------------------+

> |Filename: system info.jpg |

> |Download: http://forums.techarena.in/attachment.php?attachmentid=11162|

> +-------------------------------------------------------------------+

>

 

[JKoros]

I'm really confused by what you mean Dave.

For one, I don't see any question you may have posted... and two, the

problem is that the system info, bios, and most everything else sees 4

physical GB of RAM, but as you can see in task manager, it (task

manager) is only seeing and using 2046MB of RAM... Thus, how can I get

windows to use the RAM that it's supposed to?



I'm not trying to leech or anything, I just am really stumped on what I

should do...





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[David H. Lipman]

From: "JKoros"







| I'm really confused by what you mean Dave.

| For one, I don't see any question you may have posted... and two, the

| problem is that the system info, bios, and most everything else sees 4

| physical GB of RAM, but as you can see in task manager, it (task

| manager) is only seeing and using 2046MB of RAM... Thus, how can I get

| windows to use the RAM that it's supposed to?



| I'm not trying to leech or anything, I just am really stumped on what I

| should do...





You are not trying to leaach, you are using techarena.in which is a leech of Usenet news

groups.



They make beieve that they provide a forum but in actuality the connect to one of the

oldest segments of the Internset, Usenet.



I had previously posted...

"You FAILED to provide both the model and BIOS revision of the un-named laptop. That's

the kind of information that is needed!



So, what is the make and model of the un-named laptop and what is the BIOS revision ?"



The problem is you didn't state the proper information need. Your system sees that you

you have 4GB of RAM (as seen by your Sytem Properies screen-shot) installed but due to

overhead the OS has only 2GB availiable to it (as seen by the Performace Monitor).





--

Dave

http://www.claymania.com/removal-trojan-adware.html

Multi-AV - http://www.pctipp.ch/downloads/dl/35905.asp

 

[ray]

On Sat, 03 Jul 2010 12:49:15 +0100, Dominic Payer wrote:



> You have a 32-bit system, so have a maximum address space of 4GB. The

> address space includes graphics memory and system BIOSes.

>

> If you have 2x512MB graphics cards them with system BIOSEs you will only

> be able to use 2.5GB of the RAM (or less if the other devices are

> demanding) because there is no adress space available to map to it.

>

> You need a 64-bit OS if you want to use all 4GB of RAM.



That's not quite correct. Linux and server versions of MS allow the use

of PAE to offer up to 64gb of RAM on a 32 bit OS - though there is still

a limit of 4gb per process.





>

> System Properties for 32-bit Vista reports the amount of RAM fitted, not

> what is available for use. The Performance tab in Task Manager shows

> what is available for use.

>

>

> On 03/07/2010 10:05, JKoros wrote:

>> Here's a screen shot showing system info and task manager, and to

>> answer your post Tim there are dedicated video cards. Twin GeForce

>> 8700M GT in sli (off the top of my head I think it's 256MB each, but it

>> might be 512MB.)

>>

>>

>> +-------------------------------------------------------------------+

>> |Filename: system info.jpg |

>> |Download:

>> http://forums.techarena.in/attachment.php?attachmentid=11162|

>> +-------------------------------------------------------------------+

>>

 

[Kevin John Panzke]

YOU NEED A X64 OS IN ORDER 2 USE THE FULL 4 GB'S OF RAM! X86 OS'SARE LIMITED 2 3.25 GB'S OF RAM! THREAD CLOSED! JUST FYI!

JKoros wrote: > Hi. > I've been having some issues with my laptop and

RAM ever since I got it, > and am really getting tired of being so

limited by vista on only 2 gigs > of RAM. I have been trying to search

for a fix of my problem and haven't > yet found a solution so I'm

hoping someone might know what to do. > > Here's the issue. I have 4GB

of RAM physically installed in the > computer. I've checked bios, and

it confirms the 4GB. When I view system > information in windows, it

too shows 4GB of RAM installed, but when I > view the task manager, my

system resource tab shows only 2GB of physical > memory (not 2.7 GB

just 2). I have tried to see if maybe one of the RAM > sticks were bad

and so I shutdown and rebooted going through all the > possibilities.

Each stick in each slot, the computer would always boot > no matter

what slot was filled with what stick, the only thing that > changed

was that the bios and windows system info would reflect there > being

only one stick of 2GB in the system when there w

 

[Kevin John Panzke]

4 DAVID LIPMAN: MSNEWS. MICROSOFT.COM WILL BE SHUTING DOWN SOONSO HE SHOUD CONTINUE 2 USE TECHARENA, SOON YOU 2 WILL NEED 2 USE A 3RD PARTYNNTP SERVER 2 AVOID UNINTERUPTED SERVICE!

David H. Lipman wrote: > From: "JKoros"

> > > | Hi. > | I've been having some issues with my laptop and RAM

ever since I got it, > | and am really getting tired of being so

limited by vista on only 2 gigs > | of RAM. I have been trying to

search for a fix of my problem and haven't > | yet found a solution so

I'm hoping someone might know what to do. > > | Here's the issue. I

have 4GB of RAM physically installed in the > | computer. I've checked

bios, and it confirms the 4GB. When I view system > | information in

windows, it too shows 4GB of RAM installed, but when I > | view the

task manager, my system resource tab shows only 2GB of physical > |

memory (not 2.7 GB just 2). I have tried to see if maybe one of the

RAM > | sticks were bad and so I shutdown and rebooted going through

all the > | possibilities. Each stick in each slot, the computer would

always boot > | no matter what slot was filled with what stick, the

only thing that > | changed was that the bios and windows

 

[Corday]

4 DAVID LIPMAN: MSNEWS. MICROSOFT.COM WILL BE SHUTING DOWN SOO

Dominick Payer correctly answered this a few days ago.

--

Fortune favors the bold.

 

[Tim Slattery]

JKoros wrote:



>

>Here's a screen shot showing system info and task manager, and to answer

>your post Tim there are dedicated video cards. Twin GeForce 8700M GT in

>sli (off the top of my head I think it's 256MB each, but it might be

>512MB.)



Two 512MB graphics boards would eat up 1GB of memory space, leaving

you with 3GB for everything else. From that subtract space to map your

BIOS and you're getting close to what your system shows.



--

Tim Slattery

Slattery_T@bls.gov

http://members.cox.net/slatteryt

 

[Andy]

In correct windows xp or vista or 7 32 bit versions will only see a max of

4GIG'S of ram.

64 bit versions of xp vista or 7 will see up to 64 GIG of ram.

but most system maker's limit it to 16 or less.





--

AL'S COMPUTERS

"ray" wrote in message

news:8991qmF852U1@mid.individual.net...

> On Sat, 03 Jul 2010 12:49:15 +0100, Dominic Payer wrote:

>

>> You have a 32-bit system, so have a maximum address space of 4GB. The

>> address space includes graphics memory and system BIOSes.

>>

>> If you have 2x512MB graphics cards them with system BIOSEs you will only

>> be able to use 2.5GB of the RAM (or less if the other devices are

>> demanding) because there is no adress space available to map to it.

>>

>> You need a 64-bit OS if you want to use all 4GB of RAM.

>

> That's not quite correct. Linux and server versions of MS allow the use

> of PAE to offer up to 64gb of RAM on a 32 bit OS - though there is still

> a limit of 4gb per process.

>

>

>>

>> System Properties for 32-bit Vista reports the amount of RAM fitted, not

>> what is available for use. The Performance tab in Task Manager shows

>> what is available for use.

>>

>>

>> On 03/07/2010 10:05, JKoros wrote:

>>> Here's a screen shot showing system info and task manager, and to

>>> answer your post Tim there are dedicated video cards. Twin GeForce

>>> 8700M GT in sli (off the top of my head I think it's 256MB each, but it

>>> might be 512MB.)

>>>

>>>

>>> +-------------------------------------------------------------------+

>>> |Filename: system info.jpg |

>>> |Download:

>>> http://forums.techarena.in/attachment.php?attachmentid=11162|

>>> +-------------------------------------------------------------------+

>>>

>

 

[Shenan Stanley]

ray wrote:

> That's not quite correct. Linux and server versions of MS allow the

> use of PAE to offer up to 64gb of RAM on a 32 bit OS - though there

> is still a limit of 4gb per process.



Andy wrote:

> In correct windows xp or vista or 7 32 bit versions will only see a

> max of 4GIG'S of ram.

> 64 bit versions of xp vista or 7 will see up to 64 GIG of ram.

> but most system maker's limit it to 16 or less.



Did you make the first 'word' two words on purpose? -)



Anyway - check this out:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa366778(VS.85).aspx



Things like, "The following table specifies the limits on physical memory

for Windows Server 2003. Limits over 4 GB for 32-bit Windows assume that PAE

is enabled." and "The following table specifies the limits on physical

memory for Windows Server 2008. Limits greater than 4 GB for 32-bit Windows

assume that PAE is enabled." seem to prove the point of whom you responded

to.



You are correct in what you state *after* the strangely split word

"incorrect" to a point. That is, in your words, "windows xp or vista or 7

32 bit versions will only see a max of 4GIG'S of ram" (as long as we ignore

"starter" editions.) However, the next statement, "64 bit versions of xp

vista or 7 will see up to 64 GIG of ram." is short a bit and your "but most

system maker's limit it to 16 or less" (where I assume you are speaking

about hardware manufacturers/resellers) is missing a key phrase IMHO,

"consumer level". -)



The "Incorrect" statement is wrong here because who you are responding to

specified, "server versions of MS " and you went consumer level - but

correct in that they only allowed for 64GB and that number varies wildly and

has a maximum of 128GB in two cases ("Windows Server 2003 R2 Datacenter

Edition 32-bit" and "Windows Server 2003 Datacenter Edition 32-bit".)



Google. It can be your friend.



--

Shenan Stanley

MS-MVP

--

How To Ask Questions The Smart Way

http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html