MAX Ram?

Hi,
I am running windows Vista in 32-bit windows. I install 4GB RAM into the machine but it show the RAM available is around 3GB. It is new RAM and there is nothing wrong with this. How could it be?
Thank you very much.

Perfectly normal.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929605

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"quy nguyen" <qnguyen@eretailsoft.com> wrote in message
news:Osff8RjUIHA.5516@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
Hi,
I am running windows Vista in 32-bit windows. I install 4GB RAM into the
machine but it show the RAM available is around 3GB. It is new RAM and there
is nothing wrong with this. How could it be?
Thank you very much.

"quy nguyen" <qnguyen@eretailsoft.com> wrote in message
news:Osff8RjUIHA.5516@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
Hi,
I am running windows Vista in 32-bit windows. I install 4GB RAM into the
machine but it show the RAM available is around 3GB. It is new RAM and there
is nothing wrong with this. How could it be?
Thank you very much.

The total a 32-bit system can address is 4GB but out of that 4GB, some
memory space needs
to be reserved for video, for PCI slots, for other peripherals. 3GB is not
an unusual amount to have free.
Go here for a detailed explanation:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929605/en-us

Tom Lake

Hi quy,

The maximum memory space for a 32-bit version of Windows Vista is 4GB.
However, hardware devices and I/O ports have to be mapped into that memory
space, so the maximum memory available for use is usually 3 to 3.5GB
dependant on the hardware in the machine. The only way to access the full 4GB
would be to install a 64-bit version of Windows Vista.
Dwarf

"quy nguyen" wrote:

> Hi,
> I am running windows Vista in 32-bit windows. I install 4GB RAM into the machine but it show the RAM available is around 3GB. It is new RAM and there is nothing wrong with this. How could it be?
> Thank you very much

"quy nguyen" <qnguyen@eretailsoft.com> wrote:

>Hi,
>I am running windows Vista in 32-bit windows. I install 4GB RAM
> into the machine but it show the RAM available is around 3GB.
>It is new RAM and there is nothing wrong with this. How could it be?

Explanation here: http://members.cox.net/slatteryt/RAM.html

--
Tim Slattery
MS MVP(Shell/User)
Slattery_T@bls.gov
http://members.cox.net/slatteryt

Be greatful, thats usually the amount you are able to see under Vista 32 bit
because of the limitations of the architecture itself. If you want to see
all 4 GBs, you either have to have a mother board that supports or migrate
to Windows Vista x64 instead.

The system memory that is reported in the System Information dialog box in
Windows Vista is less than you expect if 4 GB of RAM is installed:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929605/en-us

Understanding Address Spaces and the 4GB Limit - [H]ard|Forum:
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1035670
--
Andre
Blog: http://adacosta.spaces.live.com
My Vista Quickstart Guide:
http://adacosta.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!E8E5CC039D51E3DB!9709.entry
"quy nguyen" <qnguyen@eretailsoft.com> wrote in message
news:Osff8RjUIHA.5516@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
Hi,
I am running windows Vista in 32-bit windows. I install 4GB RAM into the
machine but it show the RAM available is around 3GB. It is new RAM and there
is nothing wrong with this. How could it be?
Thank you very much.

Thanks
How is it if I only install 3GB. How much RAM available if I install 3 GB?
Is there different between 4GB and 3GB. Thanks
"Andre Da Costa[ActiveWin]" <andred25@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:OYu37qjUIHA.5208@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
> Be greatful, thats usually the amount you are able to see under Vista 32
> bit
> because of the limitations of the architecture itself. If you want to see
> all 4 GBs, you either have to have a mother board that supports or migrate
> to Windows Vista x64 instead.
>
> The system memory that is reported in the System Information dialog box in
> Windows Vista is less than you expect if 4 GB of RAM is installed:
>
> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929605/en-us
>
> Understanding Address Spaces and the 4GB Limit - [H]ard|Forum:
> http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1035670
> --
> Andre
> Blog: http://adacosta.spaces.live.com
> My Vista Quickstart Guide:
> http://adacosta.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!E8E5CC039D51E3DB!9709.entry
> "quy nguyen" <qnguyen@eretailsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:Osff8RjUIHA.5516@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
> Hi,
> I am running windows Vista in 32-bit windows. I install 4GB RAM into the
> machine but it show the RAM available is around 3GB. It is new RAM and
> there is nothing wrong with this. How could it be?
> Thank you very much.
>

Hi quy,

Providing the memory space required by your hardware doesn't exceed 1GB, you
should find that you have 3GB available. However, if you are running in
dual-channel mode, then I recommend going down to 2GB. This is because 3GB in
dual-channel mode means 2 1GB sticks and 2 512MB sticks. On some
motherboards, for example, for dual-channel mode to work correctly ALL memory
sticks need to be identical.
Dwarf

"quy nguyen" wrote:

> Thanks
> How is it if I only install 3GB. How much RAM available if I install 3 GB?
> Is there different between 4GB and 3GB. Thanks

Its a lot of factors, limitation of the motherboard and the operating system
architecture.
--
Andre
Blog: http://adacosta.spaces.live.com
My Vista Quickstart Guide:
http://adacosta.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!E8E5CC039D51E3DB!9709.entry
"quy nguyen" <qnguyen@eretailsoft.com> wrote in message
news:eUh11GkUIHA.5404@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
> Thanks
> How is it if I only install 3GB. How much RAM available if I install 3 GB?
> Is there different between 4GB and 3GB. Thanks
> "Andre Da Costa[ActiveWin]" <andred25@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:OYu37qjUIHA.5208@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
>> Be greatful, thats usually the amount you are able to see under Vista 32
>> bit
>> because of the limitations of the architecture itself. If you want to see
>> all 4 GBs, you either have to have a mother board that supports or
>> migrate
>> to Windows Vista x64 instead.
>>
>> The system memory that is reported in the System Information dialog box
>> in
>> Windows Vista is less than you expect if 4 GB of RAM is installed:
>>
>> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929605/en-us
>>
>> Understanding Address Spaces and the 4GB Limit - [H]ard|Forum:
>> http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1035670
>> --
>> Andre
>> Blog: http://adacosta.spaces.live.com
>> My Vista Quickstart Guide:
>> http://adacosta.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!E8E5CC039D51E3DB!9709.entry
>> "quy nguyen" <qnguyen@eretailsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:Osff8RjUIHA.5516@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
>> Hi,
>> I am running windows Vista in 32-bit windows. I install 4GB RAM into the
>> machine but it show the RAM available is around 3GB. It is new RAM and
>> there is nothing wrong with this. How could it be?
>> Thank you very much.
>>
>
>

On Tue, 8 Jan 2008 14:05:20 -0800, "quy nguyen"
<qnguyen@eretailsoft.com> wrote:

> Thanks
> How is it if I only install 3GB. How much RAM available if I install 3 GB?


Usually all 3GB. The issue is that all 32-bit versions of Windows (XP
as well as Vista), even though they have a 4GB address space, can only
use *around* 3.1GB of RAM. That's because some of that space is used
by hardware and not available to the operating system and
applications. The amount you can use varies, depending on what
hardware you have installed, but is usually around 3.1GB.

Note that it's *address space* that the hardware uses, not RAM. With
4GB of RAM, if the hardware uses .9GB of address space, then there's
3.1GB of address space left for the RAM to map to, and the remaining
..9GB has no place to go. But with 3GB of RAM, there's room in the
address space for all 3GB of RAM plus the .9GB needed for the
hardware.



> Is there different between 4GB and 3GB.


Depends on your hardware, but usually there's little if any
difference. Some people get as much as 3.5GB usable out of 4GB of RAM,
though.


> Thanks
> "Andre Da Costa[ActiveWin]" <andred25@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:OYu37qjUIHA.5208@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
> > Be greatful, thats usually the amount you are able to see under Vista 32
> > bit
> > because of the limitations of the architecture itself. If you want to see
> > all 4 GBs, you either have to have a mother board that supports or migrate
> > to Windows Vista x64 instead.
> >
> > The system memory that is reported in the System Information dialog box in
> > Windows Vista is less than you expect if 4 GB of RAM is installed:
> >
> > http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929605/en-us
> >
> > Understanding Address Spaces and the 4GB Limit - [H]ard|Forum:
> > http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1035670
> > --
> > Andre
> > Blog: http://adacosta.spaces.live.com
> > My Vista Quickstart Guide:
> > http://adacosta.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!E8E5CC039D51E3DB!9709.entry
> > "quy nguyen" <qnguyen@eretailsoft.com> wrote in message
> > news:Osff8RjUIHA.5516@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
> > Hi,
> > I am running windows Vista in 32-bit windows. I install 4GB RAM into the
> > machine but it show the RAM available is around 3GB. It is new RAM and
> > there is nothing wrong with this. How could it be?
> > Thank you very much.
> >
>

--
Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP Windows - Shell/User
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