4.5 GB RAM reserved by hardware

shrinkshooter · May 1, 2013

I'm running a 32-bit version of Windows 7 on a Biostar MicroATX A880GZ with two sticks of 4GB RAM each. Board's max RAM cap is 8. However, 4.5 GB of that is "reserved" by the hardware. Is this because of Windows being 32 bit? Is that 4.5 GB permanently inaccessible by anything even if I need it? The sticks are 2 Vengeance by Corsair.

ss202sl · May 1, 2013

32 bit windows will only see 4GB(actually a little less). It can't access any more, so the rest is unavailable. If you want to access all 8GB, then you would have to install the 64-bit OS - there is no upgrade,

getochkn · May 1, 2013

32bit can't address more than 4GB period. You'll need a 64bit OS to take advantage of it. There is a hack for 32bit systems to access more RAM but I never tried it and modifying system files can lead to problems.

ZippyPeanut · May 1, 2013

Yeah, you got it. 32 bit OS is limited to 4GB RAM.

noidea_77 · May 1, 2013

The 32bit version is limited to a 4GB address range and because some of the MB are reserved for the graphics memory and so on, the real limit is around 3.5GB.

Shaun o · May 1, 2013

You will need to upgrade windows 7 to a 64 bit version so you can use all 8GB of memory.
Sorry Shrinkshooter but you will have to buy a version of windows 7 64 Bit, there is no other way around it I am afraid to say.

henkbas · May 1, 2013

or have a read here and see if it's something for you: http://www.unawave.de/windows-7-tipps/32-bit-ram-barrier.html?lang=EN

shrinkshooter · May 1, 2013

Alrighty then. This is a fresh install already, but I have a few large files on here. Is there a way to uninstall the OS and install a 64 bit version without corrupting data on the disk? I mean aside from the irritation of moving the files to another storage device.

noidea_77 · May 1, 2013

shrinkshooter :

Only on a second (data) partition. You can try to shrink th existing partition in disk management, create a new one and copy your data to it.

inzone · May 1, 2013

ss202sl has given the correct answer to the original question and has been chosen as the solution. If you want to ask another question then please start a new thread or this one would have continued and more questions asked with there never being a solution chosen.
A thread in the Windows 7 section will yield some good responses as to what you need to do to get Windows 64 bit.

Your current files and programs that are in 32 bit cannot be used in Windows 64bit.

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4.5 GB RAM reserved by hardware

shrinkshooter

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ss202sl

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getochkn

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ZippyPeanut

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noidea_77

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Shaun o

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henkbas

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shrinkshooter

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noidea_77

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inzone

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