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I have installed Windows 7 Ultimate x64. In System Properties, Windows tells me I have 4Gb RAM but only 3Gb is usable, displayed in the following format:
Installed memory (RAM): 4.00 GB (3.00 GB usable)
Previous to this installation, I had Vista Ultimate x64 installed and that always showed 4GB and all of it was usuable. What is it about Windows 7 that has changed this? If this is indeed a problem caused by BIOS settings, I have not altered them in any way so does this mean that Windows 7 changes the BIOS settings at the point of install?
I do not believe this to be related to some memory being allocated to my Graphics Card, it already has 512MB of dedicated memory. Why would Windows 7 assign it another 1GB of RAM, giving me a total of 1.5GB graphics memory? As I said, this was NEVER a problem on Vista Ultimate x64.
Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.
Hello AshK86,
Thank you for posting on Microsoft Answers Forums.
Can you list what model motherboard, processor and graphics card you are using? The “Hardware or BIOS reserved” is pointing towards the type of motherboard you have. I know you said you didn’t see this with Vista, but let’s make sure we rule it out just in case.
Regards,
Edgar
Microsoft Answers Support Engineer
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Same issue. In my case it was "Memory Remap Feature" on an Asus P5B-Deluxe, BIOS ver. 1238. Set it to enabled and the the problem was resolved. None of the settings under System Configuration\Boot\Advanced made any difference in my case.
32-bit Windows has an address space of 4GB. Part of that is used by system BIOSes and graphics memory.
With a 256MB graphics card about 3.3-3.5GB of RAM can be addressed and used, assuming you have 4GB fitted.
If you fit a graphics card with 1GB of memory only about 2.6-2.8GB of the RAM would be addressable and usable.
If your system RAM is greater than 4 GB you might need 64bit version windows OS.
Please check following link for detail info.
I hope this will help you.
Thanks...........
Go to Start > Search msconfig > Boot > advanced options > Change maximum memory for the memory that you want to use. Done.
