Why is Windows 8 using only 1 GB of RAM when I have 4 GB of RAM?

MarioD

Honorable
Nov 9, 2013
2
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10,510
Hi Experts,

I just bought a new Sony Vaio notebook that came with Windows 8 installed. This is my model:
Sony Vaio sve14122clb

I have installed Windows 8.1, 64 bit.

In theory, it has 4 GB of ram. You can see here that the graphic card is only using a bit of the RAM:
2qx4zk8.jpg

Link to Image 1
"4,00 GB (3,88 available)"

But, when I go to the task manager, I see this:
2uiybo2.png

Link to Image 2

As you can see, i'm using 205,4 MB of RAM and the task manager says I'm using already the 31% of memory. So why is that?

If it helps, in this tab of the task manager, i see this:
2z80tc4.png

Link to Image 3

It's like only 1,1 of RAM is confirmed...

Do you please have any idea of what could I do or check to fix this? My notebook is working really slow. If I open a music player, a browser and an office app, it's goes really really slow.

Best Regards
Mario.
 
Solution
RAM won't get used unless programs need it. Its as simple as that.

Secondly, 32-bit .exe's are limited to just 2GB of RAM under normal circumstances, so a single app typically won't take more then that, even on Windows x64.

Superkoopatrooper

Honorable
Mar 15, 2013
175
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10,710
So I'v been reading these types of forums since last February when I built my first PC and I've learned a ton. I now feel like I'm able to accurately help some people out and thats pretty daaaam cool lol. Anyway back to topic. The picture you captured of the task manager does indeed show you have 4GB of ram. On the left hand side it shows 3.9 to be exact. Its my understanding that windows is just showing what you have left to use. Blame this on the programs that launch when you boot the PC and background tasks. A simple trick you can try is to click on the "start up" tab in the task manager and disable all the software that boots up with ur pc thats nonessential. Don't worry because all that software would still work if you clicked on the app, but this just stops it from all opening when you turn on the computer. A side effect is freeing up ram. Also, another thing you should consider is the fact that the GPU is also sharing some of the ram as it has non of its own.

(Edit) 0o0oo0o... I forgot! The bottom of the memory tab of the task manager has a speedometer icon labeled "Open Resource Monitor". If you click on it the Resource monitor should open. At the bottom it shows available ram, cached ram, total ram and installed ram. Hope this helps
 

MarioD

Honorable
Nov 9, 2013
2
0
10,510
Hi Superkoopatrooper, thanks for the time to answer my question.

Let's see:

1) I don't have a lot of program at launch, I uninstalled all the software that I don't use (Vaio care and another apps from Sony that came with the notebook).

2) My GPU is and HD Intel Graphics Card and it doens't use a lot of ram.

3) I go to the Open Resource Monitor and I'm seeing that I have 4 gb of ram, 2091 mb in use, 1674 MB in hold and 163 mb free...

I think that the picture 2 of my original post is whats confusing me...

 

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