Re: Windows XP Pro SP2 - 4GB RAM but Windows only shows 3 GB


"Michel" <Michel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:4FB9EBFB-D58C-4C9D-845A-6212EA2A6E42@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Hi,

I have 2 Dell laptops with same hardawre configuration, 4 GB RAM and
Windows
XP Pro SP2.
They have been bought in an interval of one month so BIOS is not exactly
at
the same version.
On the oldest one, Windows correctly displays 4GB, for instance in task
manager when the most recent one only displays 3GB.
I precise hat winmsd displays that my RAM is 4 GB in both laptops.

Sorry if it is a FAQ but I didn't find the answer when I searched in this
forum.
Thank you for reading this message and thanks to those that can help to
solve this problem.


This is probably the most frequently asked question, and I'm surprised you
didn't find the answer, because I think it has been asked about 3 times very
recently.

Windows 32 bit operating systems are limited to a total memory addressing
space of 4 Gb.

In the case of your laptop this most likely comprises:

1. System memory
2. Video memory
3. Input/Output devices

It is this last item that causes the problems because it requires memory
address space to access these devices, which then becomes unavailable to
Windows to address real memory. The practical upshot is that the operating
system can end uop addressing (typically) 3.1 to 3.5 Gb of memory. Your
laptop may well take the video memory out of that as well (depending on the
video system - some do have dedicated memory).

The system information screen usually shows the fitted memory, but utilities
like task manager usually show the actual available memory. The fact that
your two laptops have been bought a month apart may well mean that the
hardware differs in more respects than the BIOS (these things change
unbelievably quickly). Also, the way the plug and play routines actually
allocate the addressing can often change between configurations (and is
rarely contiguous) These may account for differences in the reported memory
or the way in which it is reported.

Unless you are doing something particularly resource hungry (like editing HD
video - though you can't do this with shared video memory), you are unlikely
to notice the difference in available RAM, 3Gb being overkill for most
applications.

I wouldn't loose any sleep over it.


.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Not responding ......software
    ... VERY old Laptops are not particularly upgradable. ... Adding more memory will make an enormous difference to you. ... When I go to Windows Task manager, I see 260MB are being used. ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware)
  • Re: use of FAR pointers with gcc
    ... You seem to be expecting the video memory to exist at a specific place ... I don't know about Windows, ... operating systems like Linux provide virtual memory, ...
    (comp.lang.c)
  • Re: use of FAR pointers with gcc
    ... i'm using gcc under windows on ia32 to point to video memory so that ... >>i suppose that this would work under linux too if the program was executed ... as well as linux uses virtual memory. ... memory' location as the video memory. ...
    (comp.lang.c)
  • Windows 2000 Pro instal. Problem
    ... I am trying to install copies of WIN2000 pro. ... laptops and so far, I had no luck at all. ... Whn I try to install Windows I get ... memory or one or more of the files are corrupted. ...
    (microsoft.public.win2000.setup_upgrade)
  • RE: Virtual memory
    ... You can configure virtual memory in windows xp and thereby improve the ... How to set performance options in Windows XP ... if you have background programs such as printing or disk ... It is also known as the paging file. ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.perform_maintain)