6 GB RAM installed 1.74 GB Usable

I just recently replaced a 1GB RAM card for a 4GB RAM card. (I had one 1GB and one 2GB) And now I am having this issue of Windows not using my newly installed RAM.
I have been searching old forum posts and making sure everything is updated for about 2 days now, but nothing seems to be conclusive.
The most common "fix" is going into resource monitor and unchecking "Max Memory" and this was unchecked to begin with.
Another that I've tried is "Memory Remapping" in the BIOS.
Currently I'm running Insyde BIOS F.17 on a Compaq Presario CQ62-209WM Notebook PC and there is no such option.
I've ran the "Memory Test" that is available to run in the BIOS, it all checks as PASS and Windows cannot find any issues, it just isn't working.
I have also just ran with the 1GB and 4GB configuration, and it comes up as 5GB installed and 768MB usable, and took about 4 minutes to boot rather than the usual 1 minute.
Any other suggestions?
(other than reinstalling Windows)

Hi,

I think the display ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4250 is consuming the rest of the memory check the memory allocated for the graphics card...

danielraja2 said:

Hi,

I think the display ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4250 is consuming the rest of the memory check the memory allocated for the graphics card...

Click to expand...

I believe it's 893 MB

Hi Llexum and welcome to Windows 7 Forums

What happens if you just have the 4GB stick installed?

Dwarf said:

Hi Llexum and welcome to Windows 7 Forums

What happens if you just have the 4GB stick installed?

Click to expand...

Failure to boot.
Just a black screen with LEDs blinking.

Is that with both memory slots?

Dwarf said:

Is that with both memory slots?

Click to expand...

Yes, failure to boot with just the 4GB RAM card in either slot.
I even switched the 2GB place for this boot, and it booted just fine.

That would seem to indicate that the maximum RAM your system supports is 4GB in a 2GB + 2GB configuration, i.e. the maximum supported per slot is 2GB.

Dwarf said:

That would seem to indicate that the maximum RAM your system supports is 4GB in a 2GB + 2GB configuration, i.e. the maximum supported per slot is 2GB.

Click to expand...

Not according to this Support document.

According to this, the maximum memory support is 8GB. However, that figure is usually what the chipset is capable of supporting, and is not necessarily what it can support in any given configuration. Looking at the chart in Chapter 1, you can see that the maximum amount of memory per slot is just 2GB.

Note: The attached file link is a PDF



http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c02641795.pdf

Both the bios and Windows are seeing the full 6 GB, but for whatever reason the bios is keeping the 4 GB back as hardware reserved. Had a look at the various manuals for your laptop but there wasn't a whole lot of info regarding what bios settings are available. If it is there, have you tried "load failsafe deafults" (or however it may be worded in yours)? Seeing as it won't boot with just the 4 GB stick in, would have to try this with both it and the 2 GB installed.

That it won't boot at all with just the 4 GB stick in would lead me to believe that it is possibly a bad stick, or that it is just incompatible with the computer in general.

Dwarf said:

According to this, the maximum memory support is 8GB. However, that figure is usually what the chipset is capable of supporting, and is not necessarily what it can support in any given configuration. Looking at the chart in Chapter 1, you can see that the maximum amount of memory per slot is just 2GB.

Click to expand...

Well, time to return this to wence it came (the RAM, that is)

I guess I could always spring for a new motherboard in the future.

Still annoys the heck out of me that it saw it, but couldn't use it.