Ken, I should think that hitting 2GB on the nose with 4GB installed calls
for investigation of the BIOS settings and then testing the hardware. It
just does not sound right to me. The lowest I have ever seen on my own
hardware with 4GB installed is 2.2GB. What do you think?

"Ken Blake, MVP" <kblake@this.is.an.invalid.domain> wrote in message
news:kecg441o0lrv5ebhpoqip3on6kp60pvf7e@4ax.com...[color=blue]
> On Thu, 05 Jun 2008 06:37:04 -0400, churin <churin@new.postalias>
> wrote:
>[color=green]
>> Ken Blake, MVP wrote:[color=darkred]
>> > On Wed, 4 Jun 2008 21:40:57 +0100, "Doug" <Doug
>> > <dougti@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:
>> >
>> >>> How can I check to see if 4GB is being made available for the system
>> >>> to
>> >>> utilize?
>> >> It sounds like the RAM isn't being detected. What does the BIOS show?
>> >
>> >
>> >> Either way, the maximum amount of RAM you will be able to access
>> >> (without
>> >> enabling PAE) is 3.2GB.
>> >
>> >
>> > Two points:
>> >
>> > 1. PAE doesn't help on Windows client operating systems, just on
>> > servers.
>> >
>> > 2. The maximum accessible amount is not precisely 3.2GB, but varies
>> > from as little as 2 to 2.5 (in rare cases) to as much as 3.5GB,
>> > depending on your hardware configuration. Here's my standard post on
>> > this subject:
>> >
>> > All 32-bit versions of Windows (not just XP) 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 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.
>> >[/color]
>> Does the above mean as follows?
>>
>> BIOS and System|Properties show correct size of installed RAM while
>> System Tools|System Information and Task Manager|Performance show the
>> maximum usable part of the installed RAM. The maximum usable part could
>> be as low as 2GB. Therefor,if 4GB is installed and Task
>> Manager|Performance indicates that the Total Physical Memory is 2GB,
>> then half of the installed RAM is waisted.[/color]
>
>
>
> Yes, that's correct. But bear in mind that a usable amount as low as
> 2GB is very rare. A more typical amount is around 3.1-3.2GB.
>
>
> --
> Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience
> Please Reply to the Newsgroup[/color]

On Thu, 5 Jun 2008 14:37:37 -0600, "Colin Barnhorst"
<c.barnhorst@comcast.net> wrote:
[color=blue]
> Ken, I should think that hitting 2GB on the nose with 4GB installed calls
> for investigation of the BIOS settings and then testing the hardware. It
> just does not sound right to me. The lowest I have ever seen on my own
> hardware with 4GB installed is 2.2GB. What do you think?[/color]


I agree. Sorry if I seemed to give the opposite opinion. I wasn't
specifically addressing Doug's problem, but rather responding to
churin to correct the somewhat inaccurate statements that "Either way,
the maximum amount of RAM you will be able to access (without enabling
PAE) is 3.2GB."

[color=blue]
>
> "Ken Blake, MVP" <kblake@this.is.an.invalid.domain> wrote in message
> news:kecg441o0lrv5ebhpoqip3on6kp60pvf7e@4ax.com...[color=green]
> > On Thu, 05 Jun 2008 06:37:04 -0400, churin <churin@new.postalias>
> > wrote:
> >[color=darkred]
> >> Ken Blake, MVP wrote:
> >> > On Wed, 4 Jun 2008 21:40:57 +0100, "Doug" <Doug
> >> > <dougti@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:
> >> >
> >> >>> How can I check to see if 4GB is being made available for the system
> >> >>> to
> >> >>> utilize?
> >> >> It sounds like the RAM isn't being detected. What does the BIOS show?
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >> Either way, the maximum amount of RAM you will be able to access
> >> >> (without
> >> >> enabling PAE) is 3.2GB.
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > Two points:
> >> >
> >> > 1. PAE doesn't help on Windows client operating systems, just on
> >> > servers.
> >> >
> >> > 2. The maximum accessible amount is not precisely 3.2GB, but varies
> >> > from as little as 2 to 2.5 (in rare cases) to as much as 3.5GB,
> >> > depending on your hardware configuration. Here's my standard post on
> >> > this subject:
> >> >
> >> > All 32-bit versions of Windows (not just XP) 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 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.
> >> >
> >> Does the above mean as follows?
> >>
> >> BIOS and System|Properties show correct size of installed RAM while
> >> System Tools|System Information and Task Manager|Performance show the
> >> maximum usable part of the installed RAM. The maximum usable part could
> >> be as low as 2GB. Therefor,if 4GB is installed and Task
> >> Manager|Performance indicates that the Total Physical Memory is 2GB,
> >> then half of the installed RAM is waisted.[/color]
> >
> >
> >
> > Yes, that's correct. But bear in mind that a usable amount as low as
> > 2GB is very rare. A more typical amount is around 3.1-3.2GB.
> >
> >
> > --
> > Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience
> > Please Reply to the Newsgroup[/color][/color]

--
Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience
Please Reply to the Newsgroup

Exact number shown on Performance/Task_Manager is 2045 while number
shown while POSTing is 4193216KB. Could you post details of suggested
investigation of the BIOS settings and testing the hardware?

Colin Barnhorst wrote:[color=blue]
> Ken, I should think that hitting 2GB on the nose with 4GB installed
> calls for investigation of the BIOS settings and then testing the
> hardware. It just does not sound right to me. The lowest I have ever
> seen on my own hardware with 4GB installed is 2.2GB. What do you think?
>
> "Ken Blake, MVP" <kblake@this.is.an.invalid.domain> wrote in message
> news:kecg441o0lrv5ebhpoqip3on6kp60pvf7e@4ax.com...[color=green]
>> On Thu, 05 Jun 2008 06:37:04 -0400, churin <churin@new.postalias>
>> wrote:
>>[color=darkred]
>>> Ken Blake, MVP wrote:
>>> > On Wed, 4 Jun 2008 21:40:57 +0100, "Doug" <Doug
>>> > <dougti@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:
>>> >
>>> >>> How can I check to see if 4GB is being made available for the
>>> system >>> to
>>> >>> utilize?
>>> >> It sounds like the RAM isn't being detected. What does the BIOS show?
>>> >
>>> >
>>> >> Either way, the maximum amount of RAM you will be able to access
>>> >> (without
>>> >> enabling PAE) is 3.2GB.
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > Two points:
>>> >
>>> > 1. PAE doesn't help on Windows client operating systems, just on
>>> > servers.
>>> >
>>> > 2. The maximum accessible amount is not precisely 3.2GB, but varies
>>> > from as little as 2 to 2.5 (in rare cases) to as much as 3.5GB,
>>> > depending on your hardware configuration. Here's my standard post on
>>> > this subject:
>>> >
>>> > All 32-bit versions of Windows (not just XP) 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 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.
>>> >
>>> Does the above mean as follows?
>>>
>>> BIOS and System|Properties show correct size of installed RAM while
>>> System Tools|System Information and Task Manager|Performance show the
>>> maximum usable part of the installed RAM. The maximum usable part could
>>> be as low as 2GB. Therefor,if 4GB is installed and Task
>>> Manager|Performance indicates that the Total Physical Memory is 2GB,
>>> then half of the installed RAM is waisted.[/color]
>>
>>
>>
>> Yes, that's correct. But bear in mind that a usable amount as low as
>> 2GB is very rare. A more typical amount is around 3.1-3.2GB.
>>
>>
>> --
>> Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience
>> Please Reply to the Newsgroup[/color]
>[/color]

Hi together!

In the past I also upgraded my RAM to 4GB, with an ASUS P5WDH Deluxe. I think I had something like 3,2 GB RAM with 1 installed Graphics Card, and around 2,25 GB with another for Crossfire. It looks like the Graphics Card uses most of the RAM.
I first tested it with XP 32 bit. With the memory remapping-feature turned on it showed me the amount of available RAM during the boot process and the amount was the same in Windows.
With memory remapping turned off I got my 4096 MB in the Bios post, but Windows limited the memory to 2 GB.
I bought Ultimate x64 a few weeks ago and it all worked fine.
In our company we often sell Supermicro Servers with Windows Server 2003 installed. There I made my first experiences with addressing 4 GB RAM. While the X5 and X6 models often had problems with 4 GB, the X7 seem to work fine with the current bios-versions.
It seems to activate pae automatically, in the past we had to add it in the boot.ini.
I usually see pae activated on desktop pcs with Win XP as well, but we usually just install 2 GB there.

I read that each task cannot address more than 2 GB so it wouldn't run faster with more RAM, does anybody know anything about that?

I hope my english isn't that bad since it's not my native language.