XP SP3 only recognizes 3.12 GB of of 4GB RAM

[Deeival]

Hello.

My bosses wife got the ram in her PC upgraded at staples (for $59.99 per 1GB - wtf?!) and now Windows cant seem to use it all. CPU-Z reports 4x 1GB ram sticks, but Win XP SP3 is only using 3.12GB.

Here's the hardware:

AMD 64 3600+
Nvidia Geforce 6100
4x 1GB Ram (says it's in Dual Channel mode)
Windows XP SP3

I remember a few years back there was something with XP not being able to use 4GB of Ram properly but I never ran into the problem personally. Is that what this could be?

Thanks for your help

[3.0charlie]

Xp 32bit, or 64bit?

[gingerbee]

if it's 32 bit then it will only see that much ram . if it's 64 it should see all of it . if she's only running 32 bit take it back and tell them you want your money back. they should have told ya that it will not see all of her ram when they installed it

[Deeival]

Thanks for the quick replies early in the morning :D

Sounds like she has 32bit windows running. I will check today.

Staples guy told them she has a virus and has to bring the PC in for virus removal.

[gingerbee]

job security watch out for this

[grimx133]

The employees at Staples know about as much hardware as the ones at Futureshop. Don't know about the rest of you, but I can't talk to them, can't take the bs that they dish out to people. They aren't much for component stores eh.

[CMetaphor]

Let me google that for you

[Arinoth]

32bit OS means that the processor is using 32 2 bit address lines. This means that the maximum amount of ram that can be addressed goes 2^32 ~= 4GB, however windows will take some of that ram and dedicate it (without your permission) to your south bridge devices such as your graphics.

[MarkOne]

very usefull .... thanks for the info ... I will have some use of this lmgtfy

Originally Posted by CMetaphor

Let me google that for you

[odis172]

Originally Posted by Deeival

Thanks for the quick replies early in the morning :D

Sounds like she has 32bit windows running. I will check today.

Staples guy told them she has a virus and has to bring the PC in for virus removal.

That made me lol.
I used to work at staples in sales, and yes, any place like that.. futureshop.. bestbuy - ripoffsquad, there are many people who dont know what they're taking about. I cant imagine having to deal with places like that if i was as uneducated as the average consumer on this topic.

Knowing the ins and outs of staples... my advice would be to speak to a manger (light blue shirt) specifically the technology manager, and inform him of the few fauts here.
First of all.. i suspect shes probably doing general office work on the comp, in which case 4 gigs is way overkill, with xp, 2 gigs would be excellent. At the very least, get them to take out the 1 gig stick that is not doing anything, and leave in the 3 gigs.
Inform him of the comments of the associate that suspected viruses were causing the ram to not be recognized properly, clearly not correct.
Also in the effort to gain your satisfaction, they may refund the tech labor of the original installation of the ram (which hopefully is not much more then 40 bucks) should you sternly ask for it. GL