Windows 7: Windows 7 32 bit not recognizing ram upgrade...

hi,
i decided to upgrade my laptop from 3gb ddr3 of ram to 8 gb ddr3 , now i faced an odd problem where i got to realize that despite windows recognizing all 8 gbs of ram in system information (msinfo32) under "Installed Physical Memory" i realized that both system information and task manager shows "Total Physical Memory" to be 2.93 gb , i searched the forum throughly up till i came across this thread :
Memory - Set Maximum Amount Used by Windows 7
now i got to realize that 32 bit windows can only handle 4gb of ram .
now trying to sort my options i have a few questions i need to be adressed :
1 - is it smooth to upgrade from 32bit to 64bit of windows , i have heaps of programs installed over years that i cant risk to lose nor have the time to reinstall if i took the fresh installation option :/ if possible then how ? any specific tool or windows version ?
2 - any known porting , utilities or hacks that were made to make 32bit os recognize all 8gb ram ?
3 - if non of the above were valid , if i am to work with only 4 gb , why does my system read only 2.93 gb of which ? i can notice it sums up all spare 5 gb as "Hardware Reserved" . i investigated to see if the extra 1 gb is reserved by graphics card but only to find that my graphics card is only up to 750 mb of shared memory and those already are shared from "Total Physical Memory" and not hardware reserve , so any clue why i have access to only 3 of the 4 gbs of rams i'm allowed ?

I seem to remember that if you want your Windows to support 8 g of ram you need Windows 7 64 bit. If you have like more then 12g or something you need Windows 7 64 bit Pro or Ulimate. 32 bit only supports 3 g (4 in total with the GPU aswell) There is no way in hell you can utilise more the 4g on 32 bit.

Upgrade is absolutely not possible. Switching from 32-bit to 64-bit and vice versa always needs a full, clean and fresh install. All installed software must be reinstalled.

There is a way to hack Windows Kernel. Everything I have heard of this method says it's not safe. Its drawbacks greatly outweigh its benefits. Read more: Prasys' Blog Enabling More Than 4GB RAM on Windows 7 32-bit | Prasys' Blog

You have not filled your system specs so we can not know what kind of PC you have. Normally the difference in between installed and available RAM is because hardware reserves parts of it, most common cause being a GPU that uses shared memory which means the GPU has very little own memory and additionally needs some of the system RAM.

By the way, a 32-bit Windows can never give full 4GB available. The real figure is somewhere between 3.3 and 3.5 GB at max, in your case that 2.9 GB seems totally normal if your GPU uses shared memory..

Kari

I would make another partition and install 64 bit to test. It will take you a half hour.

thanks kari for the detailed response and bernt and addrams for the thoughts.
in the past few hours i managed to tackle the issue more and i decided to share my findings with you and whomever who might be facing this , so yes it turns out i can apply a crack to what is called PAE memory limit on 32 bit systems , the process is safe in the sense of application since most of whomever crackers that released patches had worked it that they create 2 operating copies of the kernel one patched and the other unpatched so if things go wrong all you need to do is switch , however a couple of catches :

1 - first three patches i downloaded were reported as trojans / viruses by my antivirus which could be valid to tools that would hex edit and inject codes into files but yet i couldn't just trust tools reported as trojans that would deal directly with my kernel.

2 - its unclaimed but a fact , most patches were made pre service pack 1 and wont work on service pack 1 where only one cracker has released an updated version where alot of manual input is needed (PAE patch updated for Windows 7 SP1 | wj32)

3 - if your graphics card uses Hybrid / Hyper / Shared Memory , your patched system copy will boot into black outs or bsods , the work around i found was to install the xp version of the driver but then the catch would be hindered performance (no aero glass effect / random support for direct x 11 filters and features / photo editing and 3d modeling programs may crash) and that's out of my testing because shared memory is my case

now honestly i am down to installing a fresh copy of windows 7 64bit

so my question now is , are there any tools known to port installed programs from a 32 bit os across to a freshly installed 64 bit os on a new partition ? i have came across a microsoft solution once that was a software & usb cable that worked on moving installed applications along with their system files and registry settings from one system to another (was released as a solution for migration between systems and was in the 100$ range), r there any similar software solutions for those that are just migrating across partitions ? :/

Nothing personal, just an opinion, so please excuse my words: That is a really really stupid not a good idea.

Even if this "porting apps" would work it would be a sure way to hell, and even if we forget that we are talking about conversion from 32 to 64 bit, importing partial registry and appdata to a new, fresh install would only mean catastrophe.

You have a simple decision to make: continue with your 32-bit Windows as before, or replace it with a 64-bit version and reinstall all your apps.

I had to bookmark this thread for future reference, to be ready when you come back asking "My system is not working, giving BSOD or just freezing all the time and all I did was I moved my installed software with appdata and registry from a 32-bit Windows setup to a 64-bit Windows" .

Kari

i dont kari know how you came to the conclusion bit conversion is required on crossing applications among systems , 64 bit systems run 32 bit applications just fine judging that they are installed in the x86 version of program files and their corresponding dlls and appdata are placed in corresponding 32 bit folder of the os , and i think that microsoft having that as a solution means its a public demand (not all really see re-installing a valid option for a system that had been operating for over 4 years and compiled software of 10,000$ worth not unless that system was corrupted beyond repair)
as to your concern , do not worry much , i would not do that not unless i back up the system first or probably get a new hard drive or so .

so thanks everybody for the thoughts , i will continue monitor this thread for few days for if any has more suggestions / tips to share .

Sorry, I only meant with bit conversion that a 32-bit OS is "converted" to a 64-bit OS by reinstall. Selected wrong words.

I know of course that a 64-bit Windows runs 32-bit software, having myself used only 64-bit Windows since XP Pro x64.

Really, just wrong words used. What I said still remains: the worst possible idea.

Kari

You are ducking the issue. You better believe what Kari says. With a 32bit system you get about 3.25GB useable RAM - and that's the end of the line, PAE or not. That is PC101.

Kari and whs your post are great. Plain simple, down to the point and correct.
I would rep you both if it would let me.