Missing Ram

I have a HP pavilion a815n (519J processor) running windows XP. I wanted to run Silent Hunter 4 and the diagnostic at UBI said I didn't have sufficient ram to operate the game. So I went to the store (I had 1.5 GB of ram in the machine to start with) and added 2x 1Gb sticks in the other bank. Why am I only seeing 2.9 Gb of Ram now? shouldn't I be able to see all (3.5 Gb) of ram? Is there a command that will allow me to see what is located in the two banks?

 

Shut off the computer and pull out all your RAM, and then test all your sticks one by one. Once you know that all of them are working properly, put them all back in the computer, and go in to BIOS to check how much memory is showing there, before you go to Windows again.

 

It also depends if the memory count is all the memory installed or the usable memory after deducting what amount on-board video or graphics are using.

Go into CONTROL PANEL>SYSTEM. The screen that comes up will show the total amount of memory Windows recognizes (including any memory the PC allocates to on-board video) . If your system allocates 512MB (half a GB) for video, other system check software may be deducting this and listing only the 3GB available for other things.

Hope this helps.

 

I suspect gman has the correct answer. Be aware that some computers that borrow RAM for their on-board graphics chip vary how much they use up to a limit. So don't be shocked if you see a different amount of total RAM displayed on subsequent visits to CONTROL PANEL>SYSTEM.

Incidentally the BIOS and Memtest will state the true amount of RAM, without deductions for the on-board graphics.

 

Hi,

Just a thought - XP 32 bit will not run but about what you are showing (2.9). If you want to run more you will need XP 64 of a later OS.

Jim

 

Hi again,

Oops! That's "or a later OS" and not "of a later OS".

Jim

 

The following table specifies the limits on physical memory for Windows XP.Version Limit in 32-bit Windows Limit in 64-bit Windows
Windows XP
4 GB
128 GB
Windows XP Starter Edition
512 MB
Not applicable

Taken from:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa366778(v=vs85).aspx#physical_memory_limits_windows_xp

 

While the physical limit is 4Gb, the Windows 32-bit OS can only address 3.5 Gb because some room is reserved for hardware addressing and other system needs.

http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2007/03/dude-wheres-my-4-gigabytes-of-ram.html

What is most likely happening is that your onboard video card is taking up 512Mb of memory, like gman was saying.