Re: System Properties question: RAM

"K. Stonefield" <KStonefield@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:C29EF230-80C7-4532-A0A6-461DB0F19D3B@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Patrick,

I followed your instructions and the amount of physical memory available
is
almost 393,000 KB. That's 393 MB or RAM.

As noted, it's actually 384. The counting is done in base 2, not base 10,
and 1K is actually 1024.

You would get 384 meg with a 256 and a 128 meg set, or 3x128 meg RAM sticks.

HTH
-pk

Hmmm... Maybe I'll open up the
CPU and check the chips again.

Thanks,
K.
--
In the field of stones...


"Patrick Keenan" wrote:

"K. Stonefield" <KStonefield@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:B91A43E3-65E6-439A-907D-1F84DB83A20C@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Thanks again!

Okay, here's a newbie question: How do I see the BIOS and the RAM
outside
my OS?

The precise method vares from PC to PC.

First, though, open any Explorer window (not IE) and go to Help, About
Windows. You'll get a little dialog that includes the line "Physical
Memory
Available to Windows:" and have a figure in KB. If yours shows 384,
it's
extremely unlikely that there is 1024 meg installed. It might be not
seated properly, or broken, or not there, but it isn't 1 gig.

To get into the BIOS, you have to turn the power OFF, you cannot just
restart. Watch the screen carefully as it comes up; you will see
something
like "Press DEL (or F2) to enter setup". Press that named key. You
might
not get it the first pass.

HTH
-pk



-K.

--
In the field of stones...


"Patrick Keenan" wrote:

"K. Stonefield" <KStonefield@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in
message
news:5CAFC85D-6E35-47B0-8A3F-F2A0CC9AB3DF@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Thanks Patrick!

According to my computer's specs, 1024MB was installed but System
Properties
says 384MB of RAM, so I was concerned.

Where exactly are you looking? On this XP Pro system, which has 2
gig
RAM
installed, the General tab shows - 2 gig, the installed amount.
There
are
other places that *do* show the amount available - but free RAM is
wasted
RAM, Windows should be allocating it.

Power down your system (not restart), turn it back on and go into the
BIOS.
How much memory does it list? You may find that part of the RAM is
not
being recognised, or that there is less installed than you think.

The place to check this is outside the OS, and that means in the BIOS.
If
it isn't recognised there, Windows has no chance of seeing it.

So my graphics cards use that much memory? Wow.

Such chipsets are often in the 64 to 128 meg range, and 384 plus 128
is
512,
half the amount of memory you think is installed.


If I were to upgrade my RAM to its maximum of 4GB, would that help
speed
things up?

The amount of RAM installed doesn't actually speed your system up, it
can
only keep it from slowing down as you load things into memory. And 4
gig
is wasted on a 32-bit OS, as memory above about 3.2 gig can't be used.
Windows uses the address space above that point, to 4 gig, for mapping
hardware addresses, so RAM that might be in that area is simply
ignored.
So, there's pretty much no point in installing more than 3.

On many systems and for many users, 512 meg is plenty on an XP system,
and 1
gig should be fine.

HTH
-pk


--
Thanks,
K.
In the field of stones...


"Patrick Keenan" wrote:

"K. Stonefield" <KStonefield@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in
message
news:ACBF6D43-5961-4BB0-AD05-5C6DF617E23B@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
When I click Start > right-click My Computer > choose Properties,
I
see
my
computer's properties.

My question is regarding the information at the bottom of the
General
tab.

For the amount of RAM, is the amount shown the amount of RAM I
have
left
or
the amount installed?

I ask because I thought it was the amount installed but a
computer
technician told me it's how much I have left.

It's the amount installed *and* available for use. And that is a
reference
to systems that have graphics chips that use "shared" memory -
these
are
often chips on the motherboard, as opposed to graphics cards that
you
install. All graphics chips and cards need some memory, and
these
ones
don't have any of their own, so they "share" the system RAM.

These "shared" graphics cards use part of the RAM that you've
installed.
So, if you've got a system like this, and there are many, and
you've
installed, say, 1 gig of RAM, you'll see that Windows reports
somewhat
less
than 1 gig is installed. The difference is the amount that the
graphics
chip "shared", meaning "took", for its own use.

HTH
-pk



--
Thanks,
K.
In the field of stones...











.

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