Windows XP Not showing full memory Capacity

[Rhys1995]

Hello i was wondering if any one could help me,

What it is i bought a brand new computer with no operating system from eBay, the computer was brand new from like a company that sold through eBay and was told the computer came with 8GB RAM and a 1TB hard drive, Now when i installed windows XP the memory shown is just less than 4GB and the hard-drive when i click properties to see how big is only 120gb, when i spoke to the company they told me because i use XP it wont show me the full capacity and i was to upgrade if i wanted to use the 8GB ram and all the hard drive space, is this correct?

 

[Eximo]

They are correct in informing you that you will need a 64bit operating system to address more then 4GB of total system memory. Windows XP 32bit, the most commone form. You will need Windows 7/Vista Home Premium 64bit to see all 8GB of ram.

As for the hard drive, this could be caused by hardware or software. Older motherboards will only address 137 GB on IDE FAT32 drives, however, there are not many 1TB drives in IDE form. If the drive is SATA, it was likely the maximum that the Windows XP installation could format with the default drivers. During installation you may need to press f6 to load additional drivers for your hard disk controller.

The simplest solution is to ugrade to Windows Vista, 7, or 8. Without the rest of the system specs it is hard to make a determination on your exact issue.

 

[Hawkeye22]

XP pre SP1 could only detect up to 137 gig drives I do believe. You should instal SP3 or at least SP1.

 

[Rhys1995]

Hello all,

Just want to start off by saying thank you all for your replies as you can imagine buying a computer then have the stresses of worrying have i been ripped off or not as i am not very computer literate! i know enough to believe i am on Microsoft XP SP2 as it is a very old disc from a few years back that my father gave to me, will post some photos of anything that may help tonight as soon as i get in


Kind Regards

Rhys