Advice Needed

[captain zed]

Hi Folks,

As probably everybody knows at this stage a little while ago i bought a laptop which broke down so i was given a replacement and that broke down too. Then i got another replacement which was supposed to have 320GB HD and 4 GB of RAM....i have since been using a couple of programs including the MS advisory tool to check my pc and find i only have 3 GB of RAM. I can also only find 299GB on the hard drive. My question is-- Is there any way possible that the missing space and memory can be hidden and just cant see it or is there any magical equations that can equate to 4 GB instead 3 and the same with the missing GB's of hard space. I bought it in PCWorld and am now wondering are they pulling scams on people who may be a little on the ignorant side when it comes to computers. I feellike bringing it back and getting them to find the missing stuff for me....
Any ideas ??
Zzzzz

 

[muckshifter]

Hmmm, PCWorld, scammers ?

Yep, along with 95% of the computing industry ... I call it, The Numbers Game.

The manufacturers have always quoted one figure, while the software actual sees another ... then lost hard drive space could also be accounted for by proprietary PCs use of hidden/secret/restore-not-real-windows-cd partitions.

 

[Madxgraphics]

Hi Folks,

As probably everybody knows at this stage a little while ago i bought a laptop which broke down so i was given a replacement and that broke down too. Then i got another replacement which was supposed to have 320GB HD and 4 GB of RAM....i have since been using a couple of programs including the MS advisory tool to check my pc and find i only have 3 GB of RAM. I can also only find 299GB on the hard drive. My question is-- Is there any way possible that the missing space and memory can be hidden and just cant see it or is there any magical equations that can equate to 4 GB instead 3 and the same with the missing GB's of hard space. I bought it in PCWorld and am now wondering are they pulling scams on people who may be a little on the ignorant side when it comes to computers. I feellike bringing it back and getting them to find the missing stuff for me....
Any ideas ??
Zzzzz

No they are not pulling scams..When the machine is built before the OS is loaded, that is when it has 320gig on the hard drive..With Vistaand all its gubbins you lose about 20 odd gig..As for the ram..It might say 4 gig, but again..And this is a bit of a difficult one to explain without getting to technical..YOu have 4 gig, but a certain amount is used in normal running of the machine..ie before you have programs running..That sort of memory is what makes the machine run..if that wasn't allocated, then the machine wouldn't run...

 

[Abarbarian]

Give Everest Home or Belarc a try . They will tell you all sorts about your pc and system for free.

 

[captain zed]

Thanks for the good advice lads....bit surely if i have 4GB it should say ont system 4GB not 3GB...see below

System Name: F71IX1
Processor Name: Pentium(R) Dual-Core CPU T4200 @ 2.00GHz
Videocard Name: Mobile Intel(R) 4 Series Express Chipset Family
Installed Memory: 3,031.73 MB


That is not the only diagnostic report that states i only have 3 GB of ram.
What dya's think, could there be another hidden GiG somewhere and if so how do i find it.....any suggestions ??

Zzzzz

 

[Madxgraphics]

SIW

 

[Urmas]

... or is there any magical equations that can equate to 4 GB instead 3...

There is one magical question, though: Are you running a 32 or 64 bit OS?

 

[captain zed]

There is one magical question, though: Are you running a 32 or 64 bit OS?

I'm running a 32 bit system as far as i know.....does it make a difference??
Zzzzz

 

[Madxgraphics]

I'm running a 32 bit system as far as i know.....does it make a difference??
Zzzzz

Did you install this....It will tell you everything you need to know about your system...And yes running 32 or 64 bit does make a difference........

 

[captain zed]

4096 MBytes......i have tried three other programs and they can only find 3GB though....so thanx MadX ya did it again.....by the way what does Data width - 64bits mean ??

 

[floppybootstomp]

Not this old chestnut again

Some 32 bit systems of Windows can only use - and only see - 3Gb of RAM, such is the case with you.

Hard drives are given sizes to the nearest round number but in reality they are always less - it's a binary thing

Accept it, no one's out to diddle you, not even PC World in this case.

 

[Abarbarian]

My Xp Pro shows 3.5 GB.

 

[captain zed]

Hi AB,
I tried that belarc advisor at your suggestion and have to say its brillo. I now know that i have 4GB of ram but windows only recognises 3( i think ).
There is a stack of stuff i dont understand about puters. Or how half of that stuff made its way on to the system int first place....anyway thanks for the suggestion.
Zzzzz

 

[Madxgraphics]

Zed look at this it should help you or anyone for that matter to understand how and why your computer sees less memory than is actyually installed....

 

[captain zed]

so the motherboards are thicko's eh??LOL

Zzzzz