Windows 7 Very strange memory problem. Windows 7 sees 4gb but...

Mtlca401

New Member
Joined
Aug 10, 2009
I installed Windows 7 RC x64 last week and noticed in the system properties it says "Installed memory (RAM): 4.00 GB (3.75 of usable)". The strange thing is, I only have 3 gigs of memory installed.
 
Hello and Welcome to Windows 7 forums.. ;)

Do you happen to have a Video Card installed that has 1GB or more RAM? ;) If so then it could be that Windows 7 has alloted 1GB of your gpu's RAM to your System RAM.. ;) If not, then that is definitely a weird "problem"..

Your absolutely sure you only have 3GB's installed? Could it be that one of the sticks is actually a 2GB stick and you thought it was only a 1GB stick?
 
I am almost positive that I have 3 gigs installed, but now that I think about it when I had XP 32 bit it showed 3.25 GB. Let's say I do have 4 GB installed, why does it say I only have 3GB usable?

Either way, this is a strange problem.
 
It's basically just because of the way Windows 7 (and Vista for that matter) distributes RAM.. ;) If you do actually have 4GB's installed then no worries, you have 4GB's available to use, it's just divided up as Windows sees fit.. ;) It's not really a "problem" as such..

If you feel like reading there are a few threads on this forum that describe how 4GB RAM or more works in Windows.. ;) I'll try to find them and post the links..
 
I think the reason I thought I had 3 gigs is because 32 bit only reads up to 3.25 gigs. So, I guess I forgot I had 4 gigs.

Based off of what you told me and what I learned in school about memory, I am going to guess that 3.75 gb is for applications and the other .25 gb is for the system to use. That's just I guess, but it makes sense.

Thanks for your help, much appreciated. I am loving this 7 though.
 
The exact amounts could be slightly different but you understand the concept perfectly fine.. ;)

Windows 7 is a damn good OS! I'm glad your liking it.. :)
 
Use the remainder of your RAM as a RAMdisk. You can have it load up at startup and save it back to your disk when you log off. Works really well if you put your browsers cache in it as its super fast. Here is where you can find a free RAMdisk program and you can google how to move your specific browser cache. You wont look back. Read Link Removed - Invalid URL for more info.
 
A very interesting idea loathe! ;) I've heard of this but never really looked into it any further..
 
Back
Top Bottom