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I added a stick of RAM in my Sony Vaio laptop which runs on 32-bit Windows 7 Home Premium, the laptop had 3GB of ram, now it has 4GB (I swapped a stick of 1GB ram to a stick of 2GB).

After that, both the Task Manager and Resource Monitor does not see the 4GB, they both say "Total 2911MB", but the Resource Monitor shows 4096MB Installed RAM. I went in msinfo32 & saw it lists: "Installed Physical RAM 4GB", "Total Physical RAM 2.84GB"

I checked in BIOS, it says: "System Memory 4096MB". I went in msconfig.exe and cleared the "Maxmium memory" box. It does not change a thing.

Does anyone know why? And how to make all 4GB RAM available?

EDIT: I performed Memory Diagnostic Test by using Windows built-in tool, it returned with no errors found.

I also found under System it shows: "Installed physical RAM: 4GB (2.84GB usable)

I attached screenshots of msinfo32, Task Manager, Resource Monitor as below:

ALSO: The picture of the greyed out BIOS options:

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  • So do you have a 64-bit operating system installed?
    – Daniel B
    Commented Dec 12, 2018 at 15:47
  • No, it's 32-bit. But to my understanding, 32-bit Windows 7 allows max. 4GB RAM, is that correct?
    – Donbe_280385
    Commented Dec 12, 2018 at 15:49
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    RAM isn’t the only thing living in the memory address space. There’s also mapped device memory and whatnot. That’s what you’re seeing right now.
    – Daniel B
    Commented Dec 12, 2018 at 15:51

3 Answers 3

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Its "Hardware Reserved", This usually happens when your motherboard either claims it or if Windows denies it.

It might be one of the following

  • The stick is not compatible with your Motherboard
  • The RAM stick is bad.
  • If you have 32bit (You do), you get about 3.5GB from 4GB.
  • It can be that you have two different brands of RAM, They might have the same MHz but they also have to have the same Memory Timings.

Sometimes running System Assessment in control panel will get windows to accept it. (Windows 7)

Edit: My bad, Around 2.9 GB is normal for 32bit 4GB systems, It Varies a good bit system to system. I expected maybe 3.5 would be available. Some Configurations use more, some less.

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  • The 2 sticks of RAM are different brand (both 2GB) I also found under System, it shows "Installed physical RAM: 4GB (2.84GB usable). (refer to my Edited question) Is this caused by different brands of RAM? How come the amount of usable RAM is one stick and a half?
    – Donbe_280385
    Commented Dec 12, 2018 at 16:24
  • The two different brands aren't a problem in this case, Everything should be fine if Memory Diagnostic Test passed, Unless you get BSOD. If your still not sure, you can run memtest86 tenforums.com/tutorials/14201-memtest86-test-ram.html
    – Pancakedinner
    Commented Dec 12, 2018 at 16:46
  • As shown on Task Manager: the total physical RAM is 2911. That is no increase from before the 1GB RAM was replaced by the 2GB one. That's what I don't get. Maybe it's because this Sony laptop is no longer supported hence BIOS and/or motherboard cannot make the added RAM usable?
    – Donbe_280385
    Commented Dec 12, 2018 at 19:22
  • What model laptop do you have?
    – Pancakedinner
    Commented Dec 12, 2018 at 20:05
  • Sony Vaio VGN-NS10L
    – Donbe_280385
    Commented Dec 12, 2018 at 20:10
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After some further research, I believe the problem is my Sony Vaio laptop's BIOS does not support RAM remapping, hence the increased RAM cannot be used.

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  • 1
    Are you sure about that? Disabling memory remapping is no longer an option on modern hardware. To make use of remapped RAM, you need a 64-bit operating system. Try a Linux Live USB or something similar.
    – Daniel B
    Commented Dec 12, 2018 at 20:47
  • I was sure until you commented Lol Ok, that theory doesn't work then. We are back to square one. :-/ What I don't get is: BIOS can see 4GB system RAM, but only 2.84GB usable. Why?
    – Donbe_280385
    Commented Dec 12, 2018 at 20:50
  • 1
    The other answers already cover that, more or less: Starting from the 4 GB downwards, non-RAM memory ranges are occupying the address space. How much these address space is taken depends on installed hardware. You absolutely need a 64-bit OS to make full use of 4 GiB (or even 3 GiB) of RAM.
    – Daniel B
    Commented Dec 12, 2018 at 20:55
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I would check the RAM and make sure it's good with something like MemTest86 or whatever your preferred RAM testing program is (Windows has a built in diagnostic for it too I believe).

Also, if you're running a 32-bit version of Windows 7, that may also be causing the issue. See here: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/8869563/how-much-memory-can-be-accessed-by-a-32-bit-machine

If all else fails, check the company's website for your model of computer and see if the BIOS is completely up to date, sometimes BIOS updates let the Motherboard play much better with the RAM. You can use CPU-Z which is free software in order to check your current BIOS version. (It'll be under the mainboard tab)

It could also come down to the RAM sticks not being compatible with each other which if that's the case, I'd say look up the 2GB stick you had before you had problems via the model number on the stick and see if you can't pick up another of the exact model to see if that works properly.

Hope I listed something that can help, if you have any questions or updates, feel free to comment and I'll do my best to help! :)

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  • It is a 32-bit Windows 7. I have performed memory diagnostic (Windows built-in), it returned with no errors found. I am pretty confident that this RAM is compatible with the laptop, I bought it on Cruicial.com after research.
    – Donbe_280385
    Commented Dec 12, 2018 at 15:53
  • The 32-bit could be the issue, I know some 32-bit systems don't really like addressing more than 3GB of RAM. Hmm, what's your CPU? I'm curious if you have a 64-bit CPU. (I need the exact model number, CPU-Z can get that too if you don't know how)
    – tommy61157
    Commented Dec 12, 2018 at 15:56
  • The CPU is Intel Pentium T3200, socket P, it's an old laptop, I doubt the CPU is 64-bit. The thing is BIOS sees the System RAM as 4096MB.
    – Donbe_280385
    Commented Dec 12, 2018 at 15:58
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    Do check my link I just edited into my answer, it does show that sometimes due to Windows, you may not have access to all 4GB even if the BIOS recognizes it.
    – tommy61157
    Commented Dec 12, 2018 at 16:00
  • Also, your CPU does support 64-bit: ark.intel.com/products/37160/…
    – tommy61157
    Commented Dec 12, 2018 at 16:01

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