8GB RAM

[Tommy]

I have Vista Home Premium 32. I have 8GB of RAM in my MB. My BIOS is showing
8GB of Ram but when I go into Windows it is showing in Device Manager only
3667GB of RAM. Why is there a difference and why is Windows Vista not
recognizing the other 4GB of RAM.

 

[Brett I. Holcomb]

Because the 32 bit can only recognize 4 gig. Some of that 4 gig is
used by the system so you end up with 3667 gig available.

 

[Dustin Harper]

The 32 bit OS has a 4 GB memory address limitation. And that includes the
BIOS, I/O, video RAM, etc.. So, your system will only "see" ~3.2 GB or so in
Windows. You would have to upgrade to a 64 bit OS to see the full 8 GB.

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

If you want to use 8GB with Windows you need to use the 64bit version of the
OS.

If you purchased Vista Home Premium at retail then you should have
instructions in the box telling you how to obtain a 64bit dvd. Essentially
it involves ordering from
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/1033/ordermedia/default.mspx
at the cost of shipping and handling.

If your copy of VHP came preinstalled on a new computer you would have to
purchase a retail copy of VHP before you could migrate from 32bit to 64bit.

Changing from the 32bit version to the 64bit version requires a custom
install of x64 because upgrading the bits between the 32bit and 64bit
versions is not supported (in any edition of Windows). You would need to
save and restore your files and settings with the Windows Easy Transfer
wizard and reinstall your apps.