RAM usage in Windows 7 64 bit

My desktop was having Vista 32bit OS. It come pre-installed with that. I had upgraded the same to Windows 7 64bit. And increased the ram to 5GB. As 64bit operating system allows you to have a much higher ram capacity. I upgraded my OS to Windows 7 64bit. But when I check in the system information I found that there is only 3.3GB RAM detected. I have 2 sticks of 2GB and 1 of 1GB. So it must show all of them instead of just 3GB. I had read the documents properly which clearly says that I can add upto 32GB RAM on my motherboard. To gain a better system performance I had upgraded to 64-bit OS and now I am facing this kind of problem. How to make the system to consume all 5GB RAM.

Ask your manufacturer. Is it a assembled computer or branded. If it is branded then you need to contact the manufacturer and ask about the system ram limit. There are some specific computer which has hardware limitation. Second you said that you was having Windows Vista first then you upgraded to Windows 7 64bit. Did you formatted your system or simply upgraded it over Vista. If you had not formatted then take your data backup first and then remove everything. And then install Windows 7 64bit from scratch. One more thing, go in your bios and see if there is any settings available to modify the RAM thing. There are possibilities that it can be limited by bios.

What is your motherboard. You must mention the model here so that we can offer you a more clear highlight on the same. My motherboard supports 64bit hardware, but the documents clearly says that I cannot add more than 4GB ram to it. Even after that when I did the setup I can only find around 2.25GB RAM. That is really weird. Either the issue lies with Windows or with the BIOS which is restricting RAM usage.

Upgrade is the cause of that. You have to format your system and install Windows from scratch. That would help you in many ways. Before adding any new hardware do contact your manufacturer or read the documents properly. All RAM sticks which you had added must be of common configuration. Another thing you can try is upgrade your systems bios. It is also one thing needed for all 64bit OS to work properly. Because if BIOS update is not proper you cannot do anything.

haha, gues what this is a known issue by microsoft and a very common issue with windows 7. I am having the same issue, upgrade from vista (wich read all 6 gigs of my ram) to win 7 64bit wich sees all 6 gigs but but only considers 3.5 gigs usuable. Yup thats right Windows 7 64 Bit sometimes just cant get past that 3.5 gig memory limit.

After spending a week dealing with microsoft tech support on the phone they considerd this issue unresolved and claim the are currently working on an update to fix it.

according to the tech guy from microsoft, it is an issue with the bios and the motherboard. all of you that are having this problem, it is becuase something in windows 7 does not fully support either your mother board or your bios or both. The memory mapping will do you no good. Unless you go out and buy the most latest motherboard, processor and ram, you are going to continue to have this issue. <-- Directly from microsoft tech support.

To the guy that posted this "It also depends on exactly which version of the board you have. There
are 3 editions of the PT880 Pro-A7 and the specs for 2 of them is only
2GB of RAM is supported. Now, even though they say only 2GB is
supported you may realize a bit more than that but not all 4GB. Dell
says my 1501 laptop only supports 2GB. With 4GB in the laptop Dell has
it configured so that Win 7 only sees 2.25GB."

Gues what? They lied to you. Their hardware is not fully compatible with windows 7. That is why it only sees 2.25 gb.

So... since I have installed windows 7 64 bit, I have lost over half of my ram (3.5gigs Unusable), I have lost the ability to print on any of the 20 printers at my home and office (there are as of yet no drivers for windows 7 64 bit on most printers), oh yeah, and the latest windows update killed microsoft office.

Check out this screen shot of windows 7 64bit not passing the 3.5 gig memory limit
EPIC FAIL!!!

I want my money back.

I had such problem: Windows7 64 bit showed what 4Gb RAM installed but 3Gb usadge. Bios showed all 4Gb of RAM. The next solution treats this problem:
1. If BIOS does't show all installed memory then enable MEMORY REMAP function.
2. If BIOS show all installed memory then check
a) MSCONFIG.EXE-->Boot-->Advanced options: disable checkbox maximum
memory (if checkbox disable yet then enable it, reboot system and after
that disable again (i know what it looks like "magic" but it work!)
b) Reboot computer and upgrade performance raiting.

PS: Sorry for my English and best wishes from Russia.