I have 4 gigs of ram, but really only 3!

[bdf92]

Hi everyone, I have 4 gigs of ram, and my computer properties are only telling me 3.25. I decided to investigate further. I reseated all my ram, then checked the BIOS. It was reading 4 gigs! So then I went back to windows XP, and still 3.25 gigs! Any thoughts?

PS CPU-Z says 4gigs of ram

 

[pinaplex]

omg is this a joke?

 

[geraldbanton]

Win XP 32 bit will only see just over 3gigs it will not see four even if you put 4gigs in only 64 bit win Xp or Vista will see All 4gigs

 

[TRouble]

Windows XP does not recognize more than 3.25 gigs of RAM.

This is because XP is a 32bit operating system, so the maximum theoretical amount of recognized RAM is 2^32= 4GB. Subtract some overhead (someone else here is sure to be able to explain what that overhead is exactly) and you're at 3.25GB.

If you want to make use of all your available RAM, or install more, then you will need to use a 64bit OS.

Hope this helps.

 

[DeadRam]

You really should use the Search function but I will answer your Question as best I can. 32 BIT operation systems like XP and even Vista 32 only report 3.xx GB of RAM. The amount past 3 GB is different and depends on the MB manufacturer. This is due to the BIOS and what it reserves. Most PC's show between 3.25 and 3.5 GB when 4GB or more are installed. I will say that my Vista 32 Business install saw 3.5GB (out of 4 GB) but I now see 4GB after I installed Vista SP1.

 

[bobbknight]

Ain't there a sticky for this question?

 

[eklipz330]

apparently stickies arent enough

the stickies should be the first thing anyone is allowed to see when entering toms because 5 times a week someone has the same question

 

[piratepast40]

is google broken?