Installed 8GB only 3.08 shows in Vista system PO

[Mo Youngs]

I installed 8GB of memory and Vista only shows 3.08GB in the system print
out. And the system acts like it only has 2GB. My system boot program shows
that it sees all 8GB and there is no indication there is a problem with any
of it. The motherboard will support even larger modules. Right now I have
four modules of 2GB each. What am I doing wrong?

 

[Carey Frisch [MVP]]

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


--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows Desktop Experience -
Windows Vista Enthusiast

---------------------------------------------------------------

I installed 8GB of memory and Vista only shows 3.08GB in the system print
out. And the system acts like it only has 2GB. My system boot program shows
that it sees all 8GB and there is no indication there is a problem with any
of it. The motherboard will support even larger modules. Right now I have
four modules of 2GB each. What am I doing wrong?

 

[Mark]

If you have 32bit Vista you wasted your money.

Mark

 

[Mark Fitzpatrick]

Do you have a 64-bit version of Windows installed? If so, then you won't see
any more than 4 GB because that's the most you can get out of 32-bits of
data. You have to have a 64-bit OS to have more (that goes for other
non-Windows OSes as well). The system also won't report a full 4 GB because
the first thing it does is shave off the memory used by your peripherals and
other devices. Your graphics card, sound card, and other devices need to use
some of that system memory and they grab the first bit so seeing less than 4
GB on a 32-bit Windows is normal.

Hope this helps,
Mark Fitzpatrick
Microsoft MVP - Expression

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

I installed 8GB of memory and Vista only shows 3.08GB in the system print
out. And the system acts like it only has 2GB. My system boot program shows
that it sees all 8GB and there is no indication there is a problem with any
of it. The motherboard will support even larger modules. Right now I have
four modules of 2GB each. What am I doing wrong?

I assume that yours is a 32-version of Vista, not 64-bit. About 3.1GB
is all you can expect to get.

All 32-bit versions of Windows (not just Vista) have a 4GB address
space. That's the theoretical upper limit beyond which you can not go.
But you can't use the entire 4GB of address space. Even though you
have a 4GB address space, you 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 the hardware is using the address *space*, not the actual
RAM itself. The rest of the RAM goes unused because there is no
address space to map it too.

So, sorry to tell you that you wasted your money buying 8GB.

 

[ray]

Do you have a 64-bit version of Windows installed? If so, then you won't
see any more than 4 GB because that's the most you can get out of
32-bits of data. You have to have a 64-bit OS to have more (that goes
for other non-Windows OSes as well). The system also won't report a full
4 GB because the first thing it does is shave off the memory used by
your peripherals and other devices. Your graphics card, sound card, and
other devices need to use some of that system memory and they grab the
first bit so seeing less than 4 GB on a 32-bit Windows is normal.

Not quite correct. 32 bit versions of Linux can use up to 64gb RAM. I'm
informed that some of the 32 bit MS server versions can, as well.

 

[Guest]

Not quite correct. 32 bit versions of Linux can use up to 64gb RAM. I'm
informed that some of the 32 bit MS server versions can, as well.

Linux Is A Piece Of Crap And Nobody In Their Right Mind Needs To Use Linux
On The Desktop. Just FYI. If You Are A Retard (Like Alias And Ray) Then
You Can Use Linux Because You Can't Do Anything Else With Your Computer
Anyway. Just FYI

 

[Frank]

Not quite correct. 32 bit versions of Linux can use up to 64gb RAM.

For what? Surfing the web? Spell checking? Writing letters to aunt millie?
Frank

 

[John]

For what? Surfing the web? Spell checking? Writing letters to aunt millie?
Frank

Running Windows in VM. ;>)

JD

 

[Frank]

Running Windows in VM. ;>)

JD

Oh, you mean pretending huh?
Frank

 

[Mick Murphy]

You'll have to get 64bit Vista to handle 8G RAM.

If the 32bit Vista you bought is a Retail version, and your Computer can
handle 64bit Vista, below is the MS link to order 64bit vista disk for cost
of shipping.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/1033/ordermedia/default.mspx

Hope it helps!

 

[Adam Albright]

Oh, you mean pretending huh?
Frank

You mean like you pretending you're rich, smart and good looking?

Here's a sobering fact... EVEYBODY knows you're a complete idiot.

 

[ray]

For what? Surfing the web? Spell checking? Writing letters to aunt
millie? Frank

That or for running a bunch of stuff simultaneously that would occupy more
than 3.1gb. Also quite useful for some large scale scientific inquiries.

 

[dennis]

That's because they are really 36 bit OSes, using the PAE hack. All of
the 32 bit versions of Windows Servers can use this kludge.

The number of bits is implementation specific, and it is neither a
"hack" nor "a kludge".