4GB RAM reported as 2GB in XP SP2 (32bit)

[NoddY]

VMWare will run on 64-bit Windows (as a 32-bit application). Since 64-bit XP reports the full 4Gb then VMWare will make use of it - however all guest OS's must be 32-bit. Grab the Workstation demo - unless you require remote access - then the product is GSX server.

http://www.vmware.com/

Xen is also a possibility for non-Windows work, using Debian or NetBSD as host OS's - http://wiki.xensource.com/xenwiki/XenFaq

[Kallex]

I second to this problem

Hello!

I'm sorry I cannot give you any solution to the problem, but I can second to it. To the very same reasons I purchased 4G of ram and planned to run some Virtual PC stuff on it for development purposes.

My system is brand new:

CPU: AMD 64x2 4400+
MB: AsRock 939S56-M, latest 1.40 BIOS
Mem: Got 4x 1G Kingston as well as 4x 1G Transcend, tried several combos, same behaviour
GPU: GeForce 6600 GT 256M
HD: SATA non-RAID single 300G disk

Trying different combos I've found out following:

Windows XP 64 sees entire 4G no problem. However due to instability of drivers and other software I moved back to the 32-bit XP Pro w/ SP2.

Then suddenly 2G of my ram is gone. Bios sees it, 3D Mark and SiSoft Sandra see it as installed properly, but Windows sees it as 2G.

Now it gets funky... I remove one stick of ram, leaving it to 3G, single-channel mode (dual channel got disabled)... Windows now sees ~2.6G of ram (this is another problem, not really related, I'd be very happy to have even 3.6G of that 4G total).

So it does get over the 2G boundary as it should.

And yes, Windows XP 32 bit does support 4G physical ram, currently my system has pagefile included running with 6G of total ram (4G pagefile, 2G of ram).

I'm not sure if it's dual channel related problem, but I cannot verify it as my motherboard automatically activates dual channel, even when using Kingston and Transcend mem sticks with unpaired slots.

[cojak]

Bloody hell.. I'm impressed.

Didn't understand to word but hey...

[DimPrawn]

Hello!

I'm sorry I cannot give you any solution to the problem, but I can second to it. To the very same reasons I purchased 4G of ram and planned to run some Virtual PC stuff on it for development purposes.

My system is brand new:

CPU: AMD 64x2 4400+
MB: AsRock 939S56-M, latest 1.40 BIOS
Mem: Got 4x 1G Kingston as well as 4x 1G Transcend, tried several combos, same behaviour
GPU: GeForce 6600 GT 256M
HD: SATA non-RAID single 300G disk

Trying different combos I've found out following:

Windows XP 64 sees entire 4G no problem. However due to instability of drivers and other software I moved back to the 32-bit XP Pro w/ SP2.

Then suddenly 2G of my ram is gone. Bios sees it, 3D Mark and SiSoft Sandra see it as installed properly, but Windows sees it as 2G.

Now it gets funky... I remove one stick of ram, leaving it to 3G, single-channel mode (dual channel got disabled)... Windows now sees ~2.6G of ram (this is another problem, not really related, I'd be very happy to have even 3.6G of that 4G total).

So it does get over the 2G boundary as it should.

And yes, Windows XP 32 bit does support 4G physical ram, currently my system has pagefile included running with 6G of total ram (4G pagefile, 2G of ram).

I'm not sure if it's dual channel related problem, but I cannot verify it as my motherboard automatically activates dual channel, even when using Kingston and Transcend mem sticks with unpaired slots.

I solved my problem by attempting to upgrade the BIOS, fried it and now have close to £1000 of useless PC components and a dead motherboard.

Oh well. At least I don't spend my time wondering where my 2GB of RAM has gone under XP SP2.

[NoddY]

Oh Dear

I solved my problem by attempting to upgrade the BIOS, fried it and now have close to £1000 of useless PC components and a dead motherboard.

Oh well. At least I don't spend my time wondering where my 2GB of RAM has gone under XP SP2.

This really is an "Oh Dear"!

[qsrk]

Me too

I have encoutered exactly the same problem. Windows only sees 2.00GB, even though the BIOS and different Windows system monitoring programs see 4GB. Why exactly 2.00GB???

My system specs:

Windows XP Pro SP2
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+
ASRock 939Dual-SATA2 motherboard
OCZ 4GB Dual Channel DDR400 RAM (2 x (2 x 1GB kits))
BFG 6800 Ultra OC 256MB AGP video card
AOpen FM56-PM Modem
Hitachi Deskstar T7K250 250GB SATAII hard drive
Lite-on SOHD-16P9S DVD-ROM drive
Sony floppy drive
Seasonic S-12 500W power supply

I tried multiple memory configs, with no success.

[DimPrawn]

We are not alone.


I believe it is something to do with SP2 on XP. The way memory is managed has changed and I believe XP SP2 will now reserve 2GB for use by kernel level application, leaving you only 2GB for applications.

Either move to XP 64Bit or Linux I'm afraid.

Or do what I did and blow the fecking thing up.

[qsrk]

I hope I don't blow anything up!

I tried 3 sticks as Kallex did, and Windows now sees 2.50 GB! At least there is some reproducibility. I also noticed that we both have the same CPU, same brand of motherboard, and we both have 256MB GeForce video cards. DimPrawn, what CPU, motherboard, and video card were you seeing problems with?

[DimPrawn]

AMD64 X2 3800
ASRock 939A8X-M
Some cheapo ATI Radeon card

[SupremeSpod]

I recently added 1 gig in the form of 2x512mb blocks. So I now have 2*512 & 2*256 sims in my PC occupying the four slots that were available. Right you all say... 1.5 GB.... erm no.... What shows up is 1.25 GB

I also have an NVidia 256mb AGP graphics card with the AGP aperture set to 256MB. What I think is happening is that 256mb(also the size of my smallest memory stick) is being mapped out for the graphics card...).

Spod - In "My twopenneth" mode!