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Thread: Windows 7 not utilizing installed 6GB of RAM

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
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    Windows 7 not utilizing installed 6GB of RAM

    I am currently using windows & is working fine. I am not getting any error but this is what i have noticed that my computer is not using the full installed memory even though it has a load on it. Like i Have installed 6GB of RAM & it is just using about 4GB of RAM.

    I use this computer for deisigning purpose & is full day on. Can you help with this...??

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Nov 2005
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    1,187

    Re: Windows 7 not utilizing installed 6GB of RAM

    Well, if its your BIOS than it should have nothing to do with your operating system. I would say the latter is right, since Windows x64 accepts the full capacity of ram. You might see if after resetting your BIOS settings back to default, it may show all 4GB. Is your RAM sticks all of the same type, timings, and voltage requirements?

  3. #3
    Join Date
    May 2008
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    816

    Re: Windows 7 not utilizing installed 6GB of RAM

    First thing to check - Go into the Bios - There should be a setting in there for Memory remapping. For a 32 bit OS, on most systems it should be disabled. Check that. Update the BIOS... that may help. Ahh its 32bit os hello that is the limit your os can handle on that mb if you want to make use of full 4 gigs you need to go 64bit.

    I get that all the time i sell vista system to customer 32 bit they go hey it can only see 3.2 gigs then i tell them thats the limit that 32 bit os can handle. With sp1 and current bios you can use the 4mb switch but a 32bit os on a current system is just a bottleneck best to spend the money and get 64bit vista for future proofing.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
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    924

    Re: Windows 7 not utilizing installed 6GB of RAM

    While Windows 7 might detect you have 4GBs of RAM installed, you still wouldn't be using all 4GBs of RAM, since it's a 32-bit OS. You need a 64-bit OS, but it's odd that Windows XP 64-bit didn't work... it makes me think that you didn't install Windows XP 64-bit but just another 32-bit XP version. If you want to use all your RAM, get Vista 64-bit (or Windows 7 64-bit)

    By the way, the reason you need a 64-bit OS is because you can only address 4GBs of RAM in a 32-bit environment (do the math: 2 to the 32nd power = 4GBs). However, this 4GB cap includes things like video RAM and pagefile so you can only effectively use about 3GBs of RAM in total on a 32-bit OS.

  5. #5
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    Apr 2009
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    5

    Re: Windows 7 not utilizing installed 6GB of RAM

    Hi, I got similar problem. I have two installation of Windows 7 64bit on two partitions, one is fresh install, the other is upgrade from Vista64bit (to keep all programs). In the first case, I have 4gb (full capacity), however the second case shows 4gb but only 2gb usable. My mainboard doesn't have 'memory remapping' but I guess I don't need to change anything in BIOS because the first case works. Any idea?

  6. #6
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    Re: Windows 7 not utilizing installed 6GB of RAM

    Hey!
    Run the command :
    Code:
    msinfo32
    What does it show in total physical memory and Installed memory section? Do reply this would be useful...!

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Apr 2009
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    5

    Re: Windows 7 not utilizing installed 6GB of RAM

    Hi Rudra,
    Installed physical memory (RAM): 4.00 gb
    Total physical memory : 2.00 gb.

    looking forwards to your reply.
    tks

  8. #8
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    Re: Windows 7 not utilizing installed 6GB of RAM

    Hey!
    It shows installed memory as 4GB so it has recognized all the memory but still it is using on 2GB of RAM, that is kind of weird..!! Well all you could do is try updating your BIOS. As a lot of people had this problem and some got it solved after BIOS update. But some still see only 2.87GB. One reason for this is, every hardware device needs physical memory to map address for its use. If you have a Graphics card of say 1GB, 1GB of ram will be reserved for the graphics card because it will map the 1GB of data of graphics card on the physical memory... Open resource monitor and click on Memory tab. At the bottom you will be able to see a bar representation of what memory is used and where! Post Back! All the best!

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Apr 2009
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    5

    Re: Windows 7 not utilizing installed 6GB of RAM

    Hey,
    it showed:
    Hardware reserved: 2049mb
    In use: 1433 mb
    modified: 36mb
    standby: 544mb
    free: 40mb

    why the 'hardware reserved' eats up all my 2gb?

    Like I said in prev. post, I also have a 'fresh install' (of Windows7) on another partition, and it showed all 4gb RAM properly, which means it may not be caused by BIOS (I have the latest BIOS for my machine, by the way).

  10. #10
    Join Date
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    Re: Windows 7 not utilizing installed 6GB of RAM

    Hey!
    Glad you found out what was the matter. Well what graphics card are you using i mean whats memory of the card? 1GB card uses 1GB RAM and other devices use extra memory...! Every hardware that you connect to the computer reserves some amount of memory according to the data and address bus of the device and the amount of data it needs to address. So this is what the case is... I guess you need more memory then... All the best..!

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Apr 2009
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    5

    Re: Windows 7 not utilizing installed 6GB of RAM

    Hi, I put my two configurations here, and it baffles me that it just reserves 2mb in the first case.
    Also, can I change the pagefile size, to 4gb?

    Code:
     
    + Fresh install:
    
    Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 4.00 GB
    Total Physical Memory 4.00 GB
    Available Physical Memory 2.90 GB
    Total Virtual Memory 7.99 GB
    Available Virtual Memory 6.78 GB
    Page File Space 4.00 GB
    Page File C:\pagefile.sys
    
    Resource monitor showing:
    
    hardware reserved 2 mb
    In use 1309 mb
    modified 69 mb
    standby 812 mb
    free 1894 mb
     
    Available 2703 mb
    cached 887mb
    Total 4094 mb
    Installed 4096 mb
     
    
    + Upgrade from vista64 (the troublesome install):
    Installed Physical Memory (RAM)    4.00 GB
    Total Physical Memory    2.00 GB
    Available Physical Memory    1.11 GB
    Total Virtual Memory    4.00 GB
    Available Virtual Memory    2.96 GB
    Page File Space    2.00 GB
    Page File    C:\pagefile.sys
    
    Resource monitor showing:
    hardware reserved 2049 mb
    In use 846 mb
    modified 66 mb
    standby 583 mb
    free 520 mb
     
    Available 1132 mb
    cached 715mb
    Total 2047 mb
    Installed 4096 mb

    Thanks

  12. #12
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    Re: Windows 7 not utilizing installed 6GB of RAM

    Hey!
    You can try that too. To change the Virtual Memory size of your Windows seven see this thread : Change Virtual Memory/PageFile Size in Windows 7 Hope this helps you... Do post back! All the best!

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Apr 2009
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    5

    Re: Windows 7 not utilizing installed 6GB of RAM

    didn't help. although page file size is now 4gb, the Total Physical Memory is still 2gb. You got any clue.
    Btw thanks again for keep replying to me.

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
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    Re: Windows 7 not utilizing installed 6GB of RAM

    I am using Window 7 with 2GB memory only and its howing me full... now i guess this can be a bug. I researched and found out that many others have the same problems and some can't even change the Virtual memory! Microsoft must fix this bug! Anyways... All the best!

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Aug 2009
    Posts
    1

    Re: Windows 7 not utilizing installed 6GB of RAM

    Well everyone, here is a great attempt to configure the usable RAM in a Windows 7 x64 system. Go to Run and type msconfig. Once you do this a box will come up and then go to the boot tab. On advanced options on the boot you will find two options, number of processors and max memory. Select the box max memory and it should automatically put the amount of memory installed. Once you reboot it will allocate more memory to your sytem but still hold a bit back for hardware requirements. Like mine has 8 GB and has only 6.75 GB usable. If you check the resource monitor it shows that I have 6.91 GB available to me directly and the rest to hardware requirements. Without doing this process, I had added 8 GB and only 2 GB was usable.

    Once you do this and also set the number of processors to the max at what you have, quad core (4), dual core (2) along with the max memory change it will allow your computer to boot faster and shutdown faster. Hope that helps.

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