Windows XP does not recognize all my RAM

[o_o]

Hi,

I am not sure if this belongs in the Memory & Storage forum or in the Operating Systems forum, because it is a bit of both.

I had a Win XP Pro machine with 4 GB of RAM (4 sticks). (I know due to the 32 bit issue, I could only see 3.2GB or so.) Then a stick of RAM goes bad, and the computer worked with just 2 GB. (Motherboard configurations prevented me from using 3GB i.e. it only allows me to use 1, 2 or 4 GB.) Now I have a new stick of RAM (exact Model/Brand), and I cannot get Windows XP to see more than 2 GB. I’d appreciate any ideas to fix this issue.

I have 4 pieces of Corsair Value Select 1 GB DDR Memory on a Mach Speed MSNV-939 Motherboard.

I know that the 4 pieces of RAM I have work. If I boot the machine using a USB stick with MemTest, it sees the entire 4GB of RAM, and MemTest runs fine. I can also boot this machine using PuppyLinux (on a USB), and it too sees all the 4GB. Finally, even in Windows XP, CPU-Z can see the 4 GB and tell me details about each of the DDR slots. Why cannot Win XP see more than 2 GB?

By the way, I have tried disabling PAE just in case and still I get only 2 GB. I’d be grateful for any ideas.

Thank you,
O. O.

 

[razel]

Very interesting that winxp seems stuck. Maybe you can unstuck it by running 1gb. Boot into winxp then put all 4gb back.

 

[Fred B]

I have this line put in the bootini /maxmem=3072 , than there is more ram to use when availble .

The whole thing
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition" /FASTDETECT /NOGUIBOOT /NoExecute=alwaysoff /pae /maxmem=3072 /numproc=2

 

[o_o]

Very interesting that winxp seems stuck. Maybe you can unstuck it by running 1gb. Boot into winxp then put all 4gb back.

Thank you razel actually I tried this, but it did not work. With only 1 GB, it shows only 1 GB. However when I put all the remaining sticks in, I get 2 GB.

I have yet to try Fred B suiggestion though.

 

[o_o]

I have this line put in the bootini /maxmem=3072 , than there is more ram to use when availble .

The whole thing
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition" /FASTDETECT /NOGUIBOOT /NoExecute=alwaysoff /pae /maxmem=3072 /numproc=2

Thank you Fred B unfortunately this did not work. It still shows only 2 GB :$ .
I think I would want something like /minmem instead of /maxmem - but this option does not exist.

Any ideas on how to coax WinXP to use more memory.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Disable "Memory Remapping" in the BIOS.

 

[o_o]

I am sorry to resurrect this old thread, but I wanted to post my conclusion (not resolution) with the hope that it might help others with the same problem.

Windows 32 bit (whether XP or 7) has got a weird issue where it includes Graphic Cards and other Cards in the 4 GB memory limit i.e. the 4GB is not just RAM (which was my misunderstanding).

(To those more knowledgable than me, you need to Start -> Run -> Meminfo.exe, and then look under Hardware Resources -> Memory. Then do Hex Addition/Subtraction of the Resource Column to determine the memory.)

I know that other 32 Bit OSes (particular Linux) also allocate memory to accessory devices/cards, but Microsoft seems to take more memory address space than necessary to sell more 64 Bit versions.

Anyway, I pulled out all Cards (and I had a lot, particularly 2 Graphic Cards of 1GB each :hmm, and only kept a single VGA 32 MB card in the machine. As expected I got 3 GB memory.

I think VirtualLarry was almost correct i.e. you need to ENABLE Memory Remapping in the BIOS, and then you get some extra memory i.e. a total of 3.5GB with a basic 32 MB card. When I put in all my cards again, Enabling Memory Hole Remapping pushed the memory from 2GB (as mentioned in my original post) to 2.25GB.

Thanks to all for your help.

 

[tweakboy]

You need a 64 bit OS for unlimited ammount of RAM. gl