Solved Win 7 only 3.25 gb ram

[emilyan2010]

Hello. I installed windows 7 a week ago,updates all drivers etc. When i go to my computer at options it sais 4 gb(3.25 gb usable), but i would like to use them all. I searched the internet and it sais i should go to system configuration, to boot/advanced options, and set maximum memory to 4096 mb. I dont know if this is safe(or if it works) so I ask you if it is safe to do this(without damaging my computer), and if it doesnt work, what should i do to return to the last value(maximum memory is uncheched at advanced options, and the value is 0 inside). Thank you in advance,
Emilyan

 

[Mitch656]

I have the same issue with the same amount of Ram

its not really an issue.

The reason why it can only use 3.25gb of your ram is because you are using a 32bit OS

to use all 4gb of ram you must move to a 64bit OS

 

[emilyan2010]

I have the same issue with the same amount of Ram

its not really an issue.

The reason why it can only use 3.25gb of your ram is because you are using a 32bit OS

to use all 4gb of ram you must move to a 64bit OS

Well, but before buying it, i saw on windows forum windows 7 32 bits uses 4gb ram, not 3.25, and 64 uses a lot more. Then why is it using only 3.25? Was it a false advertisement?

 

[logicearth]

Well, but before buying it, i saw on windows forum windows 7 32 bits uses 4gb ram, not 3.25, and 64 uses a lot more. Then why is it using only 3.25? Was it a false advertisement?

The hardware takes up the other 0.75 GB of memory. You can view this in Resource Manager. Start > type "resource" > Open Resource Manager > Memory Tab > Physical Memory. It has always been this way, always.

 

[Dwarf]

Hi emilyan2010 and welcome to Windows 7 Forums

A 32-bit OS can only access (address) a total of 4GB of memory space. Included in that space is your RAM and also the rest of your hardware I/O devices, which take priority.

On a typical system, excluding graphics, this accounts for about 256MB. Graphics can account for between 256MB to 768MB. These amounts are hardware dependant. Adding these together gives a typical value of 768MB (0.75GB). This amount has to be fitted into the total available address space - in effect, the area of RAM that is mapped to the same address locations will not be available for use. So we have the following:

Total Address Space (4GB) - Reserved Address Space (~0.75GB) = Available RAM Address Space (~3.25GB)

Note that the total amount of reserved address space is dependant on your hardware configuration. You can recover some of this, although not a great deal, and make it available for RAM use by disabling unused hardware in your BIOS. This is usually limited to your parallel and serial ports.

 

[emilyan2010]

Now I got it. I thought the system only uses 3.25 Gb, and 750 mb are useless,because it couldnt see more. Now I understand that those 750 mb are used by hardware and video memory. Thank you for your advices
Yours,
Emilyan

 

[Dwarf]

You're welcome, Emilyan.

 

[ski]

Now I got it. I thought the system only uses 3.25 Gb, and 750 mb are useless,because it couldnt see more. Now I understand that those 750 mb are used by hardware and video memory. Thank you for your advices
Yours,
Emilyan

FWIW, you can always install an inexpensive video card(assuming you're not a gamer) if you ever need to free up that 750MB of memory, e.g., your applications are using up all of the installed RAM causing your HD's swap file to frequently activate and slowing down your system's performance.
For example, my system has 2GB of RAM and an inexpensive ATI 4350 vid card(512MB) installed, and only a measly 1MB of RAM is reserved for the hardware with the OS having access to the remaining 1999MB.

 

[Pentium3 FTW]

FWIW, you can always install an inexpensive video card(assuming you're not a gamer)

And assuming this computer isn't a laptop... gets a little hard to cram the video card into the case

 

[ski]

And assuming this computer isn't a laptop... gets a little hard to cram the video card into the case

It is possible with some laptops.

 

[Pentium3 FTW]

And assuming this computer isn't a laptop... gets a little hard to cram the video card into the case

It is possible with some laptops.

I think mine has that feature, but I'm not sure. I know my friend's has some sort of mini PCI slot where you can pop out the old video card and insert a new one when needed.

 

[CoolioG]

Read this!

Lifehacker.com wrote a article that explains the diffrences between 32-bit and 62-bit operating systems.

LINK!!!

 

[pallesenw]

Lifehacker.com wrote a article that explains the diffrences between 32-bit and 62-bit operating systems.

And that is yet another article that fails hard trying to explain PAE

 

[patio]

And assuming this computer isn't a laptop... gets a little hard to cram the video card into the case

It is possible with some laptops.

Show me a laptop you can install a vid card into...

 

[valtonray]

And assuming this computer isn't a laptop... gets a little hard to cram the video card into the case

It is possible with some laptops.

but if you have to ask if you can do this with your laptop then the answer is most likely no. personally i can't wait for ms to drop 32 bit support, which isn't supposed to happen in windows 8 either but i think that by the time it ships even netbooks will be running 64 bit so hopefully when we get 9. however i don't think we are ready to make the jump to 128 bit systems just yet, give us another 5-10 years on that one microsoft.

 

[Tepid]

drop 32 bit support, which isn't supposed to happen in windows 8 either

All I can say is this would be a huge mistake.
They need to force the issue as they did with XP when they dropped 16bit for 32bit only OS.

 

[Pentium3 FTW]

And assuming this computer isn't a laptop... gets a little hard to cram the video card into the case

It is possible with some laptops.

but if you have to ask if you can do this with your laptop then the answer is most likely no. personally i can't wait for ms to drop 32 bit support, which isn't supposed to happen in windows 8 either but i think that by the time it ships even netbooks will be running 64 bit so hopefully when we get 9.

I love my 32 bit OS. I see all my friends with their x64 operating systems, and I see no obvious benefits and a whole lot of pains in the ass. A lot of older hardware drivers do not work, the system takes up extra space on the HD, some 32 bit programs will not work, and all the old 16-bit games will not work at all. And yes, I still use 16-bit software. Let the consumers decide when to switch to 64-bit; forcing it is a bad business idea for Microsoft and is very Apple-esque.

 

[Win7User512]

Let the consumers decide when to switch to 64-bit; forcing it is a bad business idea for Microsoft and is very Apple-esque.

It is only a matter of time.

 

[s0c9]

I have the same issue with the same amount of Ram

its not really an issue.

The reason why it can only use 3.25gb of your ram is because you are using a 32bit OS

to use all 4gb of ram you must move to a 64bit OS

and remember - in case it isn't clear from Mitch's statement, and I'm not being Captain Obvious - that your hardware [mobo + cpu] must support 64-bit to install 64-bit version of Win7. You can't install it on a 32-bit platform.

 

[ski]

Show me a laptop you can install a vid card into...

This link names a few, and also shows how to do it on a Dell laptop:
Upgrading Your Laptop's Graphics Card - PC World