Peter,

I know Windows Vista doesn't use the whole 4GB. That isn't what I was
saying. If you look at my original post, I did mention that. My point is
that Windows Vista does report correctly that my PC does have 4GB of memory.
My system has 4GB and Windows Vista is showing me that I have 4GB. From a
hardware perspective, that is what I want to know. Now from a software
perspective, you may want Windows Vista to tell you how much RAM is usable.
I don't really care how much RAM Windows Vista uses when it comes to the
operating system telling me how much physical RAM the system has. After all,
it swaps stuff to the hard drive anyway. If I put 4GB of physical memory
into a PC, I want the operating system say the PC has 4GB of memory.

But my main point was to help anyone that has this same problem with their
system when they attempt to upgrade from 2GB to 4GB. Before they start
messing with voltages, they should try upgrading the BIOS which may solve the
problem. After all, we are not all experts on what voltages all the hardware
should run at.

"Peter Foldes" wrote:

Henry

Here is a better explanation as copied from Ken Blake MS MVP


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.


--
Peter

Please Reply to Newsgroup for the benefit of others
Requests for assistance by email can not and will not be acknowledged.

"Henry Morgan" wrote in message ...
Sorry to not agree, but on my version of Windows Vista 32-bit it shows 4.0GB.
I went to Control Panel, System and Maintenance, and under System, I clicked
on View amount of RAM and processor speed and it shows:
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.40GHz 2.39 GHz
Memory (RAM): 4.0 GB
System type: 32-bit Operating System

I don't know if it can use all 4.0GB, but it is displaying it correctly.
Are you looking at the amount of memory somewhere else?

"Peter Foldes" wrote:

Your Bios reports 4 Gig but your system will report only 3Gigs or about in Vista

--
Peter

Please Reply to Newsgroup for the benefit of others
Requests for assistance by email can not and will not be acknowledged.

"Henry Morgan" Henry wrote in message ...
I encountered the exact same problem with Windows Vista 32-bit. My PC has
worked fine with 2GB of memory. I figured upgrading would be simple and
purchase a new set of Corsair Dominator 2GB PC2-8500 C5 1066MHz modules (2 x
1GB DDR2). This pair is EXACTLY the same type as was originally in the PC.
With 4GB installed, I would get the Blue Screen of death when attempting to
boot. Even when trying to boot in safe mode. I tried some of the things
suggested here and then decided to see if my motherboard had an updated BIOS
available. Sure enough, my BIOS was a year old and one of the new versions
reads "Improve Memory compatibility". I didn't think upgrading the BIOS
would fix the problem since the original and new memory was working fine when
installed separately. But to my surprise, it fixed the problem. I am now
running Windows Vista 32-bit with 4GB memory installed and it reports that
the system has 4.0 GB. Whether is uses all 4 GB, I don't care. I just
wanted it to work. So the first thing I would check if you get this problem
is your BIOS.

"Violent Ken" wrote:


help me vista gurus.

after using this PC about 1 month i finally got my RMA replacement of
2gbRAM

everything is 100% stable with 2GB, but when i add the 2nd 2gb vista
will not boot.

something about sptd.exe failed or corrupt. however BOTH 2gb kits boot
vista and work perfectly alone, but all 4gb in at once will not boot

any ideas? i know the memory is fine

thanks in advance as i cannot figure this out


--
Violent Ken

Ultimate x64\Q6600 G0\8800GTS\4Gb Crucial 1066 Ballistix\Gigabyte
P35C-DS3R

Thanks for your explanation Henry

--
Peter

Please Reply to Newsgroup for the benefit of others
Requests for assistance by email can not and will not be acknowledged.

"Henry Morgan" wrote in message ...
Peter,

I know Windows Vista doesn't use the whole 4GB. That isn't what I was
saying. If you look at my original post, I did mention that. My point is
that Windows Vista does report correctly that my PC does have 4GB of memory.
My system has 4GB and Windows Vista is showing me that I have 4GB. From a
hardware perspective, that is what I want to know. Now from a software
perspective, you may want Windows Vista to tell you how much RAM is usable.
I don't really care how much RAM Windows Vista uses when it comes to the
operating system telling me how much physical RAM the system has. After all,
it swaps stuff to the hard drive anyway. If I put 4GB of physical memory
into a PC, I want the operating system say the PC has 4GB of memory.

But my main point was to help anyone that has this same problem with their
system when they attempt to upgrade from 2GB to 4GB. Before they start
messing with voltages, they should try upgrading the BIOS which may solve the
problem. After all, we are not all experts on what voltages all the hardware
should run at.

"Peter Foldes" wrote:

Henry

Here is a better explanation as copied from Ken Blake MS MVP


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.


--
Peter

Please Reply to Newsgroup for the benefit of others
Requests for assistance by email can not and will not be acknowledged.

"Henry Morgan" wrote in message ...
Sorry to not agree, but on my version of Windows Vista 32-bit it shows 4.0GB.
I went to Control Panel, System and Maintenance, and under System, I clicked
on View amount of RAM and processor speed and it shows:
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.40GHz 2.39 GHz
Memory (RAM): 4.0 GB
System type: 32-bit Operating System

I don't know if it can use all 4.0GB, but it is displaying it correctly.
Are you looking at the amount of memory somewhere else?

"Peter Foldes" wrote:

Your Bios reports 4 Gig but your system will report only 3Gigs or about in Vista

--
Peter

Please Reply to Newsgroup for the benefit of others
Requests for assistance by email can not and will not be acknowledged.

"Henry Morgan" Henry wrote in message ...
I encountered the exact same problem with Windows Vista 32-bit. My PC has
worked fine with 2GB of memory. I figured upgrading would be simple and
purchase a new set of Corsair Dominator 2GB PC2-8500 C5 1066MHz modules (2 x
1GB DDR2). This pair is EXACTLY the same type as was originally in the PC.
With 4GB installed, I would get the Blue Screen of death when attempting to
boot. Even when trying to boot in safe mode. I tried some of the things
suggested here and then decided to see if my motherboard had an updated BIOS
available. Sure enough, my BIOS was a year old and one of the new versions
reads "Improve Memory compatibility". I didn't think upgrading the BIOS
would fix the problem since the original and new memory was working fine when
installed separately. But to my surprise, it fixed the problem. I am now
running Windows Vista 32-bit with 4GB memory installed and it reports that
the system has 4.0 GB. Whether is uses all 4 GB, I don't care. I just
wanted it to work. So the first thing I would check if you get this problem
is your BIOS.

"Violent Ken" wrote:


help me vista gurus.

after using this PC about 1 month i finally got my RMA replacement of
2gbRAM

everything is 100% stable with 2GB, but when i add the 2nd 2gb vista
will not boot.

something about sptd.exe failed or corrupt. however BOTH 2gb kits boot
vista and work perfectly alone, but all 4gb in at once will not boot

any ideas? i know the memory is fine

thanks in advance as i cannot figure this out


--
Violent Ken

Ultimate x64\Q6600 G0\8800GTS\4Gb Crucial 1066 Ballistix\Gigabyte
P35C-DS3R

"Henry Morgan" wrote in message
...
Peter,

I know Windows Vista doesn't use the whole 4GB. That isn't what I was
saying. If you look at my original post, I did mention that. My point is
that Windows Vista does report correctly that my PC does have 4GB of memory.
My system has 4GB and Windows Vista is showing me that I have 4GB. From a
hardware perspective, that is what I want to know. Now from a software
perspective, you may want Windows Vista to tell you how much RAM is usable.

I'd like it to show both the amount of physical RAM detected (good for
troubleshooting a hardware problem) and also the amount available
for use by the OS (helps with optimizing RAM usage)

Tom Lake

Install Aida32 or Everest

--
Peter

Please Reply to Newsgroup for the benefit of others
Requests for assistance by email can not and will not be acknowledged.

"Tom Lake" wrote in message ...


"Henry Morgan" wrote in message
...
Peter,

I know Windows Vista doesn't use the whole 4GB. That isn't what I was
saying. If you look at my original post, I did mention that. My point is
that Windows Vista does report correctly that my PC does have 4GB of memory.
My system has 4GB and Windows Vista is showing me that I have 4GB. From a
hardware perspective, that is what I want to know. Now from a software
perspective, you may want Windows Vista to tell you how much RAM is usable.

I'd like it to show both the amount of physical RAM detected (good for
troubleshooting a hardware problem) and also the amount available
for use by the OS (helps with optimizing RAM usage)

Tom Lake