Why do I only have 3gb ram and not 4gb?

[Husk]

The laptop had 2gb RAM, But 2gb was installed for free after purchase.

I got a sidebar Gadget saying details about computer and stuff. But It says 3.0gb Ram Total?

[essexboy]

32 bit windows will only show 3GB of memory - to take full advantage of the memory you would need to be running 64 bit.  I found this which explains it better than I can

This is not a defective product, nor a problem with Microsoft, nor a problem with the BIOS/Chipset. Take a few minutes and learn how a computer works.
The designation "32 Bit" means that is how many bits flow through the system at one time (this is oversimplified, but gets the point across). Because of this, there is a limitation on how much can be processed at once by the computer. Basically, the computer runs out of numbers that it can use (2 to the power of 32 = 4294967296). Once you get past this number the computer can't do anything with it(unless it runs 2 cycles of the processor to do waht could normally be done in one cycle at a "smaller number", basically cutting your CPU performance in half). This is by design, since back when 32 bit operating systems became the norm, most people had 2-16 MB of ram (thats right, megabytes). Now to ensure compatibility with the older programs that we all use and love, Microsoft has kept the 32 bit operating systems going.

However, Microsoft has solved all of these problems by creating different 64 bit versions of Windows, which in turn, use 64 bit processors and related hardware. But because our old software and hardware tend to have problems in the 64 Bit environment, most people (including myself) have stuck to the 32 bit. Whoever sold you the extra ram, and didnt notify you that it was not possible for your system to use it without a major slowdown, is the one you should be blaming.

[Lisandro]

It's a system limitation.
Maybe the tweak of http://www.thewindowsclub.com/ultimate-windows-tweaker-v2-a-tweak-ui-for-windows-7-vista#more-1957
help you.

[Husk]

I always thought 32bit could have 4gb max but oh well =P

That Program didnt help tech, thanks anyway. It caused loadup to be really slow, added all my shortcut arrows back and didn't say more ram was available. its back to normal though

[DavidR]

What also has to be remembered is that your Video RAM would also be included in the overall total for Memory.

[roro]

Just a question DavidR.  How do I find out how much video RAM I have.  I also have 4 GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 at 667MHz of RAM on my 32 bit Dell Vista machine.
RoRo

[YoKenny]

@Tech
I tried your Ultimate Windows Tweaker on my Windows 7 system and I can't set any tweak in System Performance as I do not have permission to set those tweaks

I reported the problem:
http://forum.thewindowsclub.com/windows-7-management-support/28319-enable-4gb-ram-support-problem.html

[Lisandro]

Isn't it an UAC problem?

[DavidR]

Just a question DavidR.  How do I find out how much video RAM I have.  I also have 4 GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 at 667MHz of RAM on my 32 bit Dell Vista machine.
RoRo

It should be a part of your system spec from when they sold you the system, it would tell you what video graphics card  you have how much RAM it has (or if the motherboard has an integrated video chip, in which case it shares system RAM).

There are tools that make it easy to see what is on your system, one that I use is very useful as it has a great deal of different functions that it can monitor and display, SIW - System Information for Windows - http://www.gtopala.com/.

[Hard_ROCKER]

If you have Nvidia or ATI then this program is for you.

GPU-Z  -   http://www.techpowerup.com/gpuz/

[DavidR]

Yes but it only does the one task where the System Information for Windows it the Swiss Arny Knife of information tools

[YoKenny]

Isn't it an UAC problem?

I don't think so. 

It is a registry item permission problem.

I tried to navigate to the item in the registry using regedit.exe Run as administrator and take ownership and grant Full access but I was denied permission.

[Lisandro]

Isn't it an UAC problem?

I don't think so. 

It is a registry item permission problem.

I tried to navigate to the item in the registry using regedit.exe Run as administrator and take ownership and grant Full access but I was denied permission.

So, it's not Windows 7 compatible, maybe.

[Hard_ROCKER]

Yes but it only does the one task where the System Information for Windows it the Swiss Arny Knife of information tools

Yeah i like SIW too. But GPU-Z rocks ! 2 features i love ... First one is you have a small button for making a screenshot of the program window, looks like this:



The second one is that it allows you to save your card's bios which is probably useless for the rest of you but for me it's a nice function as NiBiTor can't access the bios of my card on 64 bit windows.  

[DavidR]

I use it too (latest version is 0.3.4), but for a non-specialist that really only wants to find how much RAM their graphics card/chip uses (in this case) is perhaps too much information and the SIW is a good all round tool and saves your average user having multiple tools.