RAM Upgrade.

fatboypee

Hi,

I wonder if anyone can help... I bought a Dell e520 desktop in the summer running Vista Ultimate on 2 gig of RAM. I added 2 gig of Ballistix RAM about three weeks ago, stupid probably as the RAM speed won't run any quicker than whats there already, but wots bothering me is I slotted in the 2 cards but only 3 gig ever shows up ? Doesn't matter how I swap them in and out, only 3 gig shows?

The spec says up to 4 gig, is it the speed of RAM confusing the wonderful Vista?

would I be just as well taking out the 2 gig that came with the PC and using just the ballistix ram ? or does the extra gig Vista Can see make a difference ?

Thanks

FBP.

seamus

32 bit operating systems can only address 4GB of RAM and XP and Vista have trouble when you actually put in the full amount, so it only appears as 3GB. Google it and you'll find the answer - afaik there's a patch for Vista that will fix this.

-TK^Creator

ur probably running vista 32bit and it doesn't rly like running 4gbs of ram. but i dont know huge amount about it but i think thats it

Gadgetman496

There is a switch that can be edited into the Boot.ini file to get round this in XP so it might be the same for Vista.

Google for "3GB Switch"

Actually I just found it......

Issue


You want to enable the 3GB switch on the Windows Vista™ operating system.


Solution


To enable the 3GB switch on Windows Vista™

Right-click Command Prompt in the Accessories program group of the Start menu. Click Run as Administrator.
At the command prompt, enter "bcdedit /set IncreaseUserVa 3072"
Restart the computer.
To turn off the 3GB switch

Right-click on Command Prompt in the Accessories program group of the Start menu. Click Run as Administrator.
At the command prompt, enter "bcdedit /deletevalue IncreaseUserVa"
Restart the computer.
For more information on the 3GB switch, refer to the following Microsoft MSDN article:

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms791558.aspx


-

mathias

Switch or no switch , the maximum you will see will be 3.25GB , thats all thats possible with a 32 bit OS , no more ,the rest belongs to the system stack , it cannot be patched to show the 4GB thats impossible. The patch and switches mentioned are for systems that limit to 2GB , and will allow you to see the extra 1.25GB if you have 4 GB , thats all.

If you want to see the full 4GB's you'll have to go to a 64 bit OS , and thats its own little minefield , you'll need to hunt down 64 bit drivers for all your gear , and even at that a lot of them are unstable.

fatboypee

Great response, thanks to all who contributed.

I found this: http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/Help/41531554-d5ef-4f2c-8fb9-149bdc5c8a701033.mspx

which pretty muxh stuffs me..

one thing I'm not sure of tho, is I'm thick, ok but I thought Vista would, when i bought the machine, automatically be set up as 64bit... is there any way of changing this, given that it was pre-loaded 32bit ??

Suppose not, an maybe, given the comments, i don't want to, but am not so far impressed with the speed and seriously thinking of dumping it and rverting to XP Pro !!!!!! To hell with all the gadgets, if they run as slow as they appear, they're less than useless to me as it stands... :mad::mad::mad:

thanks again..

FBP.

Gadgetman496

When you purchase or install the operating system you have to decide which to go with (32 or 64 bit) so, you have 32 bit & that's what you're licenced for. If you wanted to move to 64 you would have to purchase it & reinstall.

I have to agree with you regarding Vista though. I have it here & I'm not much impressed, even allowing for the bitch'n in period that accompanies all new OS's, I finally decided that I definitely don't like it much. I'm using a dual boot system with XP Pro so It's a doddle to switch back & forth, not that there is much switching!! I'm using XP Pro 90% of the time.


-

PogMoThoin

fatboypee wrote: »

and seriously thinking of dumping it and rverting to XP Pro !!!!!!

:rolleyes: Remember, You'll need 64bit Xp pro to recognise 4Gb ram.
I've installed 64bit Vista with only 2Gb ram as I'm upgrading to 4Gb soon & i'm already prepared.