[32] upgraded pc but hdd capacity and ram show different
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    [32] upgraded pc but hdd capacity and ram show different

    I made some upgrades to my Compaq today, but the HDD capacity and RAM that I added show different figures than actual. Like at the Welcome Center is shows the correct cpu figures etc., but the 4 GB Ram shows as only 3.37 GB Ram. When checking the HDD capacity Drive 1 Vol 1 (C) shows only a 127 GB HDD capacity where as I actually have a 500 GB HDD installed. How do I change this? The BIOS shows everything as being correct. New to me. Thanks.

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    photolady is offline Lifetime Friend of Site Staff
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    For your ram problem, this is normal if you're running Vista 32bit. Like all 32bit OS's will only utilize up to 3.5gb of 4gb of memory.
    Did you reinstall Vista on this SATA drive and install the drivers before doing so?

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    Quote Originally Posted by photolady
    For your ram problem, this is normal if you're running Vista 32bit. Like all 32bit OS's will only utilize up to 3.5gb of 4gb of memory.
    Did you reinstall Vista on this SATA drive and install the drivers before doing so?
    photolady thanks for the response. This is a little strange, because I have seen all 4 gbs of ram on the 'Welcome Center' in the past. That's ok, I can obviously live with 3.37 gbs.

    When I installed my Vista OS, I just used my W/Vista disk. I actually thought when OS's were installed, the drivers were the last to be installed. I don't understand what you mean about that.

    I would prefer only one partition. Can I move the remaining unallocated 337gb to drive 1 vol 1 to C: drive? Or do I have to move to a new partition? Why when installing your OS on new hdd does it only allocate space for 127 gb?

    Stop! photolady I just found a way to do this using 'Disk Management (Local 1).

    Click Start/right-click 'Computer'/click 'Manage'/click Continue/double-click Storage/double-click 'Disk Managemant (Local 1). At top left under 'Volume' right-click DRV_VOL 1(C) and then click 'Extend Volume'(shows a table of space you have already used and shows your remaining unallocated space available.) Go ahead and click 'Extend Volume'. Click 'Next' then 'Next' again to move your remaining unallocated space to DRV 1_VOL 1 (C). I now show my remaining unallocated space together with my one C drive. Nice!
    Last edited by KevinB11; August 23rd, 2008 at 06:26 AM.

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    SP1 changed the way ram amounts "display" in some screens to show all 4 gigs
    If you're happy and you know it......it's your meds.

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    Quote Originally Posted by KevinB11

    ... the 4 GB Ram shows as only 3.37 GB Ram.
    In order for your computer to communicate with each byte of RAM (computer memory), each byte of RAM must be assigned a unique memory address.

    32-bit computers and operating systems have a maximum capacity of 4,294,967,296 memory addresses (2^32).

    Many computer components other than RAM also require memory address space, such as System ROM, APIC(s), Integrated PCI devices, (network connectors, SCSI controllers, etc.), any/all PCI card(s), all of the RAM on Graphics card(s), etc., etc.

    At start-up, your computer calculates the number of addresses needed for all components except RAM. It then subtracts that number from 4,294,967,296 to determine the number of memory addresses left for RAM.

    If the total installed RAM is equal to or greater than the number of memory addresses left, some of your installed RAM will be unavailable for use by the operating system.

    For example, if the number of memory addresses needed for everything except RAM was 676,457,349:
    4,294,967,296 - 676,457,349 = 3,618,509,947
    3,618,509,947 / 1,073,741,824 (1GB) = 3.37 GB
    In other words, 3.37 would be the amount of RAM available as reported by Windows (32-bit).

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    Steve R Jones, Spyware Dr., Thanks for trying to straighten that up for me. I'm not really up on that all together. Makes a little more sense now though. At least that's the way it is. I'm fine with 3.37 GB Ram. Don't think I'll ever use it anyway. I've seen some systems with 6GB and 8GB Ram on them. Not sure why all the Ram with those machines. Must be full tower, fully loaded business pc's. Thanks.

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    As mentioned above, maximum capacity for 32-bit operating systems is 4,294,967,296 (which is 4GB). Maximum theoretical capacity for 64-bit operating systems is 18,446,744,073,709,551,616 (which is 4,294,967,296 x 4,294,967,296 ... 4.3 billion x 4.3 billion)

    2^32 = 4,294,967,296
    2^64 = 18,446,744,073,709,551,616

    Most Windows XP Home, Professional and Media Center users have the 32-bit version.

    Windows XP Professional x64 was the first widely-available consumer 64-bit Windows operating system.

    Windows Vista Home Basic, Home Premium, Ultimate and Business also come in 64-bit versions.

    The 64-bit versions take advantage of the new 64-bit CPUs that are produced and sold in most new computers.

    Although you can install a 32-bit operating system on a computer that has a 64-bit CPU, you cannot install a 64-bit operating system on a computer that has a 32-bit CPU.

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