Windows 7 problems with ram

I'm going to make a wild guess here and say that you probably didn't build this yourself.

Is it a laptop or desktop? Who made it? What is the model number?

Look all over the case for a sticker or a logo and tell us what it says. The reason why knowing will help us is that once we know what motherboard the RAM is running in it will be easier to find potential problems with your settings so we can help you fix it. The fact that Windows is only seeing 3GB of your 6GB of RAM likely means that something is not in the right place.

One final question: Did you add RAM since you bought it and if so, how much was in there before? :)

The website for your machine is a little confusing. In the "Tech Specs" section it lists this:

Video Card

• 1024 (MB) ATI HD5450 RadeonTM
• Integrated Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator

http://www.dell.com/us/p/inspiron-58...t=1&redirect=2

But the picture only shows a connector for the onboard video. (Attached)



The reason I'm asking is that the onboard video will be sharing some system RAM (though certainly not 3GB worth) and could be disabled if you're not using it. How many places on the back are there to plug a monitor into? If there is more than one, which one are you using? Is the monitor plugged in at the area shown in the picture I've attached highlighted in blue?

Are both of the graphics chips built into the motherboard, or is there a separate card for the Ati 5450? Have you looked in the BIOS to see how much system RAM is being shared for the video device(s)?

What does Device Manager say under the Display Adapters category? try and provide as much detail as possible. :)