On Thu, 31 Jul 2008 13:55:00 -0700, §????
<§ty??@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:
[color=blue]
>
>
> "Vostman" wrote:
>[color=green]
> >
> > Hi all
> >
> > Recently I had a problem with my RAID and had to wipe every thing now I
> > have everything installed, but I have 4 sticks of Ram (4x1 sticks) but
> > my computer details display that I only have 2gig. I heard there is a
> > check box I need to tick to use maximum memory but to be honest I
> > haven't a clue where to start looking as I lack knowledge in this kind
> > of thing.
> >
> > Any help is welcome.
> >
> > Thanks
> >
> > Vost
> >
> >
> > --
> > Vostman
> >[/color]
>
> YOU MUST run 64bit Operation system If you doubt me then please call
> microsoft they will explain 32bit can only support 3 GB of ram[/color]



Sorry, this is not correct, on two counts:

1. He is only seeing 2GB (not 3) out of the 4GB he has. I'm not sure
what his problem is, but with as little as 2GB accessible, it's highly
unlikely that it's the issue you're alluding to.

2. It is *not* correct that "32bit can only support 3 GB of ram." The
actually number varies, depending on the configuration of your
computer. All 32-bit client versions of Windows (not just Vista) have
a 4GB address space. That's the theoretical upper limit beyond which
you can not go.

But you can't use the entire 4GB of address space. Even though you
have a 4GB address space, you can only use *around* 3.1GB of RAM.
That's because some of that space is used by hardware and is not
available to the operating system and applications. The amount you can
use varies, depending on what hardware you have installed, but can
range from as little as 2GB (it's extremely rare that it's that
little) to as much as 3.5GB. It's usually around 3.1GB.

Note that the hardware is using the address *space*, not the actual
RAM itself. The rest of the RAM goes unused because there is no
address space to map it too.


--
Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience
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