Vista Isn't Recognizing My Memory

[ckaz]

Its very strange. I went to msconfig, and then the boot tab, then advanced settings. I noticed my computer was only running on one, of its four available cores (C2Q Q9400), and maximum memory was not on. I put it to use four cores, and put on maximum memory. I have 4GB of G.Skill DDR2 1066 RAM, but yet when I restarted and checked back, it was only using 3072 in the RAM area. I thought if I enabled maximum ram it would use all of the available RAM. My computer now seems to be even running slower, what did I do wrong?

 

[Mongox]

Not sure. One suggestion is to explore the topics in this Memory forum - for things like Only half memory showing, etc... You'll find discussions where we fixed such problems.

But right off - if you're running 32-bit Vista, then the problem is solved. It will only address around 3GBs of RAM by its nature. Adjusting settings for built-in graphics in the BIOS might improve that to 3.25GBs, but that's the limit. The rest of the RAM is used by non-memory Windows and hardware functions.

You need a 64-bit version of Windows to allocate more than ~3GBs.

 

[ckaz]

Yep I've got my 64-bit version. When I view my system settings through the control panel, Vista will recognize that I have 4GB of RAM plugged in, so I wonder why it isn't working. Just to be sure, if I have 4gb of RAM, I type into the maximum RAM slot 4000, correct?

 

[mindless728]

well 4GiB = 4096MiB

 

[Mongox]

I believe you leave the Max RAM space empty, it's not needed.

This thread discusses many solutions to similar problems.
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/263287-30-bios-windows-recognizes-half-memory

Yes, 1 GB = 1024MB... 1 MB = 1024 KB... 1KB=1024 Bytes. Unless your talking about hard drives only, they live in a fantasy world where 1GB = 1,000,000,000 Bytes.

 

[mikrev007]

Unless your talking about hard drives only, they live in a fantasy world where 1GB = 1,000,000,000 Bytes.

In the real world giga means 10^9

 

[Mongox]

Yes, but we're talking about Gigabyte, not Gigameters. It's based upon the KiloByte which is not 10^3 Bytes, but 2^10 Bytes or 1024. No one ever had a problem with this designation. A GigaByte is 2^30 Bytes.

When the MegaByte began to see common use, it was 2^20 Bytes, or 1KB * 1KB, 1,048,576 Bytes. But the hard drive manufacturers decided to re-define it and call a MegaByte 1 million Bytes. This was basically a marketing ploy.

And monitor manufacturers began faking their sizes around the same time. They would list their screens as being 12" diagonal - but would count the part of the CRT that was covered by the bezel, the plastic case, as part of the 12 inches. So you started to see 12" diagonal screens with 11.6 "viewable" area. Note this is still done with today's sizes.

Both groups should be taken out and shot.

 

[mikrev007]

giga is giga.

 

[rand_79]

stupid is stupid too


to the original poster.
can you goto computer right click properties and post a screenshot of it

 

[jitpublisher]

How much memory is counted at POST? Are you getting all 4 gig there?
If you are only getting 3 gig at POST, you need to enable memory remapping in the BIOS, or you may have a bad stick of memory.
32 bit Vista should report that you have 4gig, even though it can't use all of it.
XP reports how much is being used or addressed, Vista was changed to simply report how much memory you have plugged in.

 

[ckaz]

K, I'm going to take a few creen shots and post them for y'all to see, but in the meantime..
In system info through vista, it says 4GB of RAM, I haven't checked what's showing up at post, I will do so now.
It might take me a while to figure out the screenshots so just hold on..

 

[ckaz]

Alright I have taken the screen shot, but how do I insert it into my reply?

 

[Mongox]

The images must be hosted on either your own ISP website, or a hosting site like photobucket or imageshack.
To post them, surround the url by [ img ] pic [ /img ] without the spaces

OK, if system info shows 4GB, isn't the problem solved?

Don't really need the screen shots, just whether POST is showing 4GBs or not.

 

[mindless728]

really it is 4GiB (Gibibytes), just easier to not put the "i" in there, and with memory most people know what you mean by 4GB

 

[tcsenter]

When the MegaByte began to see common use, it was 2^20 Bytes, or 1KB * 1KB, 1,048,576 Bytes. But the hard drive manufacturers decided to re-define it and call a MegaByte 1 million Bytes. This was basically a marketing ploy.

Actually storage manufacturers were using the *correct* definition about 20 years before OS vendors began to use the *incorrect* one. OS vendors just used the long form until the 1980s. e.g. 1024 bytes or 1048576 bytes, they never used kilo or mega for about 20 years. Hard disk manufacturers have been defining these terms consistently since the 1950s. It was the OS vendors who just decided to stupidly reinvent the meaning of prefixes that everyone else on earth understood to mean the same thing.

Oh, and according to international convention, ANSI, IEEE, and IEC:

Kilobyte = 1000 bytes
Megabyte = 1 million bytes
Gigabyte = 1 billion bytes

Kibibyte = 1024 bytes
Mebibyte = 1048575 bytes
Gibibyte = 1073741824 bytes

 

[mindless728]

^+1 yup

and really i know ubuntu (i don't know if its a kernel fix) says GB and means base 10

windows is still wrong by saying GB and meaning base 2

idk about OSX