4gb of RAM installed, but w7 says 256 usable


  1. shavedaccord
    Posts : 4
    Windows7 Build 7100
       New #1

    4gb of RAM installed, but w7 says 256 usable


    Earlier tonight I rebooted and noticed that it took an extremely long time to boot. Almost 10 minutes to get the desktop completely loaded. So I checked task manager > performance tab and it says I have only 256mb of RAM. So then I checked My Computer > Properties and noticed it said "Installed Memory (RAM): 4.00 GB (256 MB Usable)" I've had w7 installed for a good 2 weeks now and never had a problem, until I rebooted tonight. I checked my BIOS and all my sticks show up. I DO NOT have a shared memory video card. Memory test checked out fine. I haven't installed any new hardware, nor touched the sticks at all. Any idea as to why w7 started doing this?
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  3. Uber Philf
    Posts : 2,651
    W7 RTM Ultimate x64
       New #2

    Have you fiddled with the boot settings at all? And welcome to the forums.
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  4. shavedaccord
    Posts : 4
    Windows7 Build 7100
    Thread Starter
       New #3

    Uber Philf said:
    Have you fiddled with the boot settings at all? And welcome to the forums.
    Nope not at all. Everything was running perfectly fine until I rebooted. Now this things running like winME on 64mb.
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  6. Uber Philf
    Posts : 2,651
    W7 RTM Ultimate x64
       New #4

    installed any new programs? something may needs drivers?
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  7. shavedaccord
    Posts : 4
    Windows7 Build 7100
    Thread Starter
       New #5

    Uber Philf said:
    installed any new programs? something may needs drivers?
    Nope. I managed to find and fix the problem tho. Somehow the MAX ram settings in the advanced tab of boot config got set to 256mb. I unchecked the box, rebooted and everything is fine now.
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  8. ussj4brolli
    Posts : 322
    Windows 7 PRO x64
       New #6

    shavedaccord said:
    Nope. I managed to find and fix the problem tho. Somehow the MAX ram settings in the advanced tab of boot config got set to 256mb. I unchecked the box, rebooted and everything is fine now.
    Anything installed/updated/messed with sence the last reboot?...I dont believe that can accidently be check, unless a program has altered the setting in some way
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  10. shavedaccord
    Posts : 4
    Windows7 Build 7100
    Thread Starter
       New #7

    ussj4brolli said:
    Anything installed/updated/messed with sence the last reboot?...I dont believe that can accidently be check, unless a program has altered the setting in some way
    Nothing was installed, messed with etc..
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  11. Rompedor
    Posts : 24
    Windows 7 Home premium 32-bit
       New #8

    I recently had this same exact problem and this solution worked. My Computer started up REALLY slow after it got turned off by a storm and the maximum memory in MSCONFIG>BOOT>ADVANCED OPTIONS was at 256. I brought it back up to 8000 and my comp is back to normal. You can tell how much memory is usable by right-clicking computer and selecting properties. This post solved my problem, hope it solves someone elses too
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