Short form: I want to use a 16GB USB flash drive memory stick as RAM, but seem to be unable to use more than 4GB, due to the system requirements, limiting what I can enter for values (size). WHY?? More detail: The computer is a desktop machine, having a 3.0GHz dual-core processor, and 4GB RAM installed. I believe the hard drive is a 1T. I have a 16GB USB flash drive memory stick, which I want to use to boost the RAM, for games, and such. There are 3 spare USB ports on the back of the tower. The flash drive is new, with NO files saved on it. When I go into the Settings; Computer; Virtual Memory, the computer is not allowing me to enter a value greater than 4096 in the field for "Initial Size" or "Maximum Size", for the Page File of the USB drive. The Value for C: that I see is: "2096-4092". Main Question: Is there some reason why I cannot allocate more of the memory stick for RAM? (Does the flash drive need to be formatted?) Does the values for C: need to be changed? I presently have "4090" entered for values "Initial Size" and "Maximum Size" in the custom size, for the Page File of the USB Drive. Screenshot provided of Virtual Memory Settings screen: (you can see the L: drive settings (selected), and the C: settings, also) http://prntscr.com/336ocy Question 2: Also, is the "4G" of RAM which I have added to the machine, being added to the 4GB which is already installed in the tower? Question 3: Does the OS wait until the system RAM is full before using the External RAM? Thanks! edit to add: What I learned from Microsoft article "How To Set Performance Options in Windows XP": http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308417/en-us To manually change the size of virtual memory, follow these steps: ... Note After you change the size of the paging file, you may be prompted to restart Windows. If you are prompted to restart, the changes will not take effect until Windows is restarted. ... To have Windows select the best paging file size, click System managed size. The recommended minimum size is the same as 1.5 times the RAM on your computer, and 3 times that figure for the maximum size. For example, if you have 256 MB of RAM, the minimum size is 384 MB, and the maximum size is 1152 MB. For best performance, do not set the initial size to less than the minimum recommended size under Total paging file size for all drives. The recommended size is the same as 1.5 times the RAM on your computer. It is good practice to leave the paging file at its recommended size as performance can decrease if a paging file is too large. However, you may increase its size if you frequently use programs that use lots of memory , such as graphics programs or games. What I am unclear of here, is that, as you can see in the screenshot, the Recommended Size under Total paging file size for all drives is 3019M. And, the values set for the Paging File in C are 2046-4092 . The tower has been rebuilt, and has 4GB RAM . I do not know if these numbers reflect an original build of 2GB, whereas 3GB (3019M) would be 1.5 times the installed RAM, perhaps. Under Virtual Memory, I see the following (shown in screenshot): Drive C Space available: 725194MB *Custom Size Initial Size: 2046 Maximum Size: 4092 Total paging file size for all Drives Minimum allowed: 2MB Recommended: 3019MB Currently Allocated: 2046MB Given that the system has 4GB RAM installed, shouldn't the minimum be 1.5 times that value, or ~6000MB ? (not 3019MB), and the maximum be 3 times ? (not 4092) "The recommended minimum size is the same as 1.5 times the RAM on your computer, and 3 times that figure for the maximum size." Can I change the values on the Virtual memory for C drive to 2046-12000MB ? That is what I am reading from the article. But, it also says to not have a paging file on the same drive as the programs. "Try to avoid having a paging file on the same drive as the system files, usually drive C." Also, why am I unable to enter values greater than 4096 for the USB drive in Initial or Maximum? I also have a question as to whether I should select "Programs" or "System Cache" in memory usage, due to the cache requirements of games, running very few programs. edit 2: I learned that the usb drive needs to be formatted in NTFS, so I did that, which isn't easy, as that isn't a selection in the choices in the Format menu, without going into Device Mgr. A friend was telling me about formatting a usb drive ex-fat for a newer application, and got me thinking. I had selected FAT32 for this one, and had noticed no change in the page file graph usage after adding the drive, like it wasn't getting any data placed on it. So, as custom settings for this USB drive, I have the Initial value at 4091 and the Maximum at 4096, with "System Cache" selected as opposed to "Programs" in Memory usage, in Performance settings. Any answers or tips would be appreciated. Am I on the right track?

I may have been editing my last message while you were writing yours. I looked in the case, and I have 2GB installed. So, do I add 1GB or 2GB (physically).

You should go in the BIOS and disable Quick or Fast POST then see what the BIOS report during the POST test, see if it reports all the RAM and see if it doesn't detect memory errors. You should also be able to see the memory information in the BIOS, telling you how the memory slots are populated. If in doubt open the case and verify. If there is in fact 4GB installed you might want to run a memory test to make sure that some of the sticks aren't defective, you can use Memtest86+ for testing Windows XP doesn't report how much RAM is actually installed, it only reports how much is addressed and usable on some systems with 4GB installed it can report a low number like you see on your machine but the norm is more in the 2.75 to 3.25GB range, it all depends on the hardware that you have installed. John

It is a HP machine, but the motherboard, and hard drive have been replaced, as well as the RAM. It was rebuilt by a 'friend' who rebuilds computers, semi-professionally. I did not pay a 'premium' fee, so you are probably correct in that I probably do not have SLI video cards. As far as age, I can't say for sure, other than I believe Windows 7 was new. This machine already had XP. Should I physically look at the RAM card(s) to see what they are? Do I actually have 2G, or 4G? The BIOS POST screen runs VERY quickly. I barely had time to see it. I had to look several times to even see where the memory was listed on it. The motherboard is ASUS P5G41-M LE I was able to get into the BIOS, as I saw where the screen showed "Press DEL to Enter Setup. In "Boot", "Hard Disk Drives", the "1st Drive" was listed as: [HDD:PS-WDC WD2000B] "2nd Drive" was the [SATA 3M-ST31000520AS] I swapped these, so that SATA is the 1st drive, and now on startup, I do not have to press F8, ans select SATA from the list. I hope this was the correct course of action. Does the screenshot of the Task Manager indicate to you that I have 4GB RAM, but only 2GB of it is being "used" for RAM? It was right after showing the SS that you asked me to look at the BIOS POST. It must be set to fast POST, or quick. Now that I know how to enter BIOS, I can change it, if needed. I'd like to solve the RAM issue, before moving on to the RAM Disk solution Thanks John. Barry edit to add: Okay, I am getting it. So, you are saying that because Windows is reporting only ~1.88GB RAM on the General tab, that either I have only 2GB RAM, or I have two 2GB mem cards and one is faulty, or I DO have 4GB, and a LOT of RAM is being reserved for... something, which is 'using' up 2GB of my 4GB RAM. But, the BIOS POST shows 2014MB: OK edit ti add: Apparently I have been misleading ALL ALONG, as I habe been mistaken. A simple look inside the tower reveals one memory card; a 2GB Patriot PC2-6400 CL6 PSD22G80026 NOW WHAT?? Work on the RAMDisk option, I suppose. Except that, since 'Removing' the 256MB RAMDisk I erroniously installed, the Installation window does not have a 'Install RamDisk' button. It is grayed out. I removed the program and re-installed to no success. I am sure there are other free ones out there... Well, one success. We solved toe boot issue. Now, i habe the boot.ini file with a /PAE switch, but have learned that 2GB is the installed RAM size.

POST is "Power On Self Test" this is the first information you see on the screen when you boot the computer, you see this before Windows starts to boot, unless you are using quick or fast POST you should see the memory being counted on the screen while the computer is booting, you have to keep your eyes on the screen, the POST results may only be on screen for about 10 seconds. Quick or Fast POST can be enabled or disabled in the BIOS. If you have to ask you probably don't have SLI video cards, it's like driving a Rolls Royce, if you drive one you know! SLI allows you to have 2, 3 or 4 video cards installed, these high end card arrangements allows sharing of the workload for greater video processing power, most SLI machines are arranged in a dual configuration, instead of having one video card the computer has 2. If your machine does in fact have 4GB of RAM installed then there is lot of address space being used for other hardware, this is usually only seen on higher end machines loaded with lots of hardware, most PC's will see reserved hardware address space in the order of 750MB to 1.25GB, on machines with 4GB of RAM installed this usually leaves 2.75 to 3.25GB of usable RAM which is what Windows would report at the System Properties General information tab . What make of machine do you have and how old is it? John

On the General tab, in My Computer, it is only showing "3.0GHZ 1.96GB RAM Pressing 'tab' when the motherboard screen displays, will display the BIOS Post message. It scrolls VERY fast, and then it goes into PC Recovery mode, because I did not seltct SATA to boot. Do I press F2 to enter the BIOS to see the start order, and correct the startup issue? edited: However, I was able to take a picture of it with my phone, and the message displays: DDR2 800 2014MB: OK (Installed Memory Size 2048MB) Secondarily, I goofed when Installing the RAMDisk, and it was set on 256M size, so I Removed it, and now I cannot seem to Install another one. LOL. ... But, it seems that I have other issues... I do not presently know about the "SLI" cards... How would I know? Forgive my ignorance...

Having trouble: Adding RAM with a USB memory stick to a Windows XP desktop that has 4GB installed

Anonymous

Short form:

I want to use a 16GB USB flash drive memory stick as RAM, but seem to be unable to use more than 4GB, due to the system requirements, limiting what I can enter for values (size). WHY??

More detail:

The computer is a desktop machine, having a 3.0GHz dual-core processor, and 4GB RAM installed. I believe the hard drive is a 1T.

I have a 16GB USB flash drive memory stick, which I want to use to boost the RAM, for games, and such. There are 3 spare USB ports on the back of the tower. The flash drive is new, with NO files saved on it.

When I go into the Settings; Computer; Virtual Memory, the computer is not allowing me to enter a value greater than 4096 in the field for "Initial Size" or "Maximum Size", for the Page File of the USB drive.

The Value for C: that I see is: "2096-4092".

Main Question:

Is there some reason why I cannot allocate more of the memory stick for RAM?

(Does the flash drive need to be formatted?)

Does the values for C: need to be changed?

I presently have "4090" entered for values "Initial Size" and "Maximum Size" in the custom size, for the Page File of the USB Drive.

Screenshot provided of Virtual Memory Settings screen: (you can see the L: drive settings (selected), and the C: settings, also)

http://prntscr.com/336ocy

Question 2:

Also, is the "4G" of RAM which I have added to the machine, being added to the 4GB which is already installed in the tower?

Question 3:

Does the OS wait until the system RAM is full before using the External RAM?

Thanks!

edit to add:

What I learned from Microsoft article "How To Set Performance Options in Windows XP":

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308417/en-us

To manually change the size of virtual memory, follow these steps:

...Note After you change the size of the paging file, you may be prompted to restart Windows. If you are prompted to restart, the changes will not take effect until Windows is restarted.

...

To have Windows select the best paging file size, click System managed size. The recommended minimum size is the same as 1.5 times the RAM on your computer, and 3 times that figure for the maximum size. For example, if you have 256 MB of RAM, the minimum size is 384 MB, and the maximum size is 1152 MB.
For best performance, do not set the initial size to less than the minimum recommended size under Total paging file size for all drives. The recommended size is the same as 1.5 times the RAM on your computer. It is good practice to leave the paging file at its recommended size as performance can decrease if a paging file is too large. However, you may increase its size if you frequently use programs that use lots of memory, such as graphics programs or games.

What I am unclear of here, is that, as you can see in the screenshot, the Recommended Size under Total paging file size for all drives is 3019M.

And, the values set for the Paging File in C are 2046-4092.

The tower has been rebuilt, and has 4GB RAM.

I do not know if these numbers reflect an original build of 2GB, whereas 3GB (3019M) would be 1.5 times the installed RAM, perhaps.

Under Virtual Memory, I see the following (shown in screenshot):

Drive C

Space available: 725194MB

*Custom Size

Initial Size: 2046

Maximum Size: 4092

Total paging file size for all Drives

Minimum allowed: 2MB

Recommended: 3019MB

Currently Allocated: 2046MB

Given that the system has 4GB RAM installed, shouldn't the minimum be 1.5 times that value, or ~6000MB ? (not 3019MB), and the maximum be 3 times ? (not 4092)

"The recommended minimum size is the same as 1.5 times the RAM on your computer, and 3 times that figure for the maximum size."

Can I change the values on the Virtual memory for C drive to 2046-12000MB ?

That is what I am reading from the article. But, it also says to not have a paging file on the same drive as the programs.

"Try to avoid having a paging file on the same drive as the system files, usually drive C."

Also, why am I unable to enter values greater than 4096 for the USB drive in Initial or Maximum?

I also have a question as to whether I should select "Programs" or "System Cache" in memory usage, due to the cache requirements of games, running very few programs.

edit 2:

I learned that the usb drive needs to be formatted in NTFS, so I did that, which isn't easy, as that isn't a selection in the choices in the Format menu, without going into Device Mgr.

A friend was telling me about formatting a usb drive ex-fat for a newer application, and got me thinking. I had selected FAT32 for this one, and had noticed no change in the page file graph usage after adding the drive, like it wasn't getting any data placed on it.

So, as custom settings for this USB drive, I have the Initial value at 4091 and the Maximum at 4096, with "System Cache" selected as opposed to "Programs" in Memory usage, in Performance settings.

Any answers or tips would be appreciated.

Am I on the right track?

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.

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149 answers

Anonymous

2014-03-24T22:43:37+00:00

I may have been editing my last message while you were writing yours.

I looked in the case, and I have 2GB installed.

So, do I add 1GB or 2GB (physically).
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Anonymous

2014-03-24T22:17:54+00:00

You should go in the BIOS and disable Quick or Fast POST then see what the BIOS report during the POST test, see if it reports all the RAM and see if it doesn't detect memory errors. You should also be able to see the memory information in the BIOS, telling you how the memory slots are populated. If in doubt open the case and verify. If there is in fact 4GB installed you might want to run a memory test to make sure that some of the sticks aren't defective, you can use Memtest86+ for testing

Windows XP doesn't report how much RAM is actually installed, it only reports how much is addressed and usable on some systems with 4GB installed it can report a low number like you see on your machine but the norm is more in the 2.75 to 3.25GB range, it all depends on the hardware that you have installed.

John
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Anonymous

2014-03-24T21:30:01+00:00

It is a HP machine, but the motherboard, and hard drive have been replaced, as well as the RAM.

It was rebuilt by a 'friend' who rebuilds computers, semi-professionally. I did not pay a 'premium' fee, so you are probably correct in that I probably do not have SLI video cards.

As far as age, I can't say for sure, other than I believe Windows 7 was new. This machine already had XP.

Should I physically look at the RAM card(s) to see what they are? Do I actually have 2G, or 4G?

The BIOS POST screen runs VERY quickly. I barely had time to see it. I had to look several times to even see where the memory was listed on it.

The motherboard is ASUS P5G41-M LE

I was able to get into the BIOS, as I saw where the screen showed "Press DEL to Enter Setup.

In "Boot", "Hard Disk Drives", the "1st Drive" was listed as: [HDD:PS-WDC WD2000B]

"2nd Drive" was the [SATA 3M-ST31000520AS]

I swapped these, so that SATA is the 1st drive, and now on startup, I do not have to press F8, ans select SATA from the list.

I hope this was the correct course of action.

Does the screenshot of the Task Manager indicate to you that I have 4GB RAM, but only 2GB of it is being "used" for RAM? It was right after showing the SS that you asked me to look at the BIOS POST.

It must be set to fast POST, or quick. Now that I know how to enter BIOS, I can change it, if needed.

I'd like to solve the RAM issue, before moving on to the RAM Disk solution

Thanks John.

Barry

edit to add:

Okay, I am getting it. So, you are saying that because Windows is reporting only ~1.88GB RAM on the General tab, that either I have only 2GB RAM, or I have two 2GB mem cards and one is faulty, or I DO have 4GB, and a LOT of RAM is being reserved for... something, which is 'using' up 2GB of my 4GB RAM.

But, the BIOS POST shows 2014MB: OK

edit ti add:

Apparently I have been misleading ALL ALONG, as I habe been mistaken.

A simple look inside the tower reveals one memory card; a 2GB Patriot PC2-6400 CL6 PSD22G80026

NOW WHAT??

Work on the RAMDisk option, I suppose. Except that, since 'Removing' the 256MB RAMDisk I erroniously installed, the Installation window does not have a 'Install RamDisk' button. It is grayed out.

I removed the program and re-installed to no success.

I am sure there are other free ones out there...

Well, one success. We solved toe boot issue.

Now, i habe the boot.ini file with a /PAE switch, but have learned that 2GB is the installed RAM size.
Was this answer helpful?

0 comments No comments
Anonymous

2014-03-24T20:54:06+00:00

POST is "Power On Self Test" this is the first information you see on the screen when you boot the computer, you see this before Windows starts to boot, unless you are using quick or fast POST you should see the memory being counted on the screen while the computer is booting, you have to keep your eyes on the screen, the POST results may only be on screen for about 10 seconds. Quick or Fast POST can be enabled or disabled in the BIOS.

If you have to ask you probably don't have SLI video cards, it's like driving a Rolls Royce, if you drive one you know! SLI allows you to have 2, 3 or 4 video cards installed, these high end card arrangements allows sharing of the workload for greater video processing power, most SLI machines are arranged in a dual configuration, instead of having one video card the computer has 2.

If your machine does in fact have 4GB of RAM installed then there is lot of address space being used for other hardware, this is usually only seen on higher end machines loaded with lots of hardware, most PC's will see reserved hardware address space in the order of 750MB to 1.25GB, on machines with 4GB of RAM installed this usually leaves 2.75 to 3.25GB of usable RAM which is what Windows would report at the System Properties General information tab . What make of machine do you have and how old is it?

John
Was this answer helpful?

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Anonymous

2014-03-24T19:51:20+00:00

On the General tab, in My Computer, it is only showing "3.0GHZ 1.96GB RAM

Pressing 'tab' when the motherboard screen displays, will display the BIOS Post message.

It scrolls VERY fast, and then it goes into PC Recovery mode, because I did not seltct SATA to boot.

Do I press F2 to enter the BIOS to see the start order, and correct the startup issue?

edited:

However, I was able to take a picture of it with my phone, and the message displays:

DDR2 800 2014MB: OK (Installed Memory Size 2048MB)

Secondarily, I goofed when Installing the RAMDisk, and it was set on 256M size, so I Removed it, and now I cannot seem to Install another one. LOL. ...

But, it seems that I have other issues...

I do not presently know about the "SLI" cards... How would I know? Forgive my ignorance...
Was this answer helpful?

0 comments No comments