Why does my computer Say I only have 1 gig memory?

Question

When I have a 2 gig stick in and showing. Also it says my computer can only have 1.54gig memory total. I have a brand new computer and it is 32 bit. It can handle 4 gig memory. So why does the computer or os see differently? I have xp home. I have a dual core intel celeron 1.6 ghz processor on an Abit micro I-45cv ATX mobo, 450 watt psu, 2 gig Patriot pc5400 667mhz memory. Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

actually you are thinking of 64 bit Vista.

64 bit xp can only handle around 2 GB.

32 bit can probably only handle 1 GB.

Answer 2

While a 32bit Operating System can address 4GB of memory, that is not always the case for your computer. The other limiting factor is the memory controller on your computer. Your memory controller on your motherboard can probably only address up to 1GB per DIMM slot.

Answer 3

the below answer is incorrect. 32bit can address 2^32 byes thats about 4GB (ur right with that) It may be your motherboard. There is a restrcition on how large a single memory module can be. My computer only supports 512MB slots. if i pop in two 1GBers itll only still find 1GB. this is most likely ur problem which means u cant fix it w/o upgrading

also, some hardware (such as memory cards) will steal memory. ur memory card my be stealing 512MB from ur RAM

Answer 4

What's most likely happening is your computer is allocating some of your ram to video, or some other form of shared memory. Integrated video options commonly do this, but so do some lower-end videocards. This is happening at the BIOS level, which means your OS doesn't see it, and doesn't control it. Don't worry, though, your RAM isn't being wasted, just used in a way that windows can't control.

The person above me is totally wrong. 32-bit OS's can handle up to 4 gigs of RAM, and even more with 34 bit extensions. 64 bit OS's can handle much much more.

EDIT: The person below me is wrong too, because the specs for your motherboard say up to 4 gigs, and you only have two slots. That means each slot can take a 2 gig stick.