vista memory problem

[iamchickenlover]

i have 4 gigs of ram in my computer and i had 64 bit vista then my hard drive broke and and tried to reinstall vista ultimate 64 bit it would install then when it restarted it would pop up a blue screen and then try again and fail. i could not fix it so i installed the 32 bit software and it only shows 2.5 gigs of memory shouldn't it show at least 3 gigs? also why would the 64 bit not install the disk did not look damaged.

 

[Teny]

run memtest for for your ram, and try to run the HDD diagnosis, and see if you got only any problems with your hardware

 

[LukaszR1]

weird situation. did you try installing the 64-bit version again after putting the 32-bit?

try maybe install the 64-bit version with only 2 gigs of ram in the Mobo, then once the installation is done, and your computer loads and runs smoothly, put in the rest of the 2 gigs, and see if it runs now. just a suggestion

 

[iamchickenlover]

weird situation. did you try installing the 64-bit version again after putting the 32-bit?

try maybe install the 64-bit version with only 2 gigs of ram in the Mobo, then once the installation is done, and your computer loads and runs smoothly, put in the rest of the 2 gigs, and see if it runs now. just a suggestion

tried that. the weird thing is is that both sticks must be working if it sees 2.5 cause there are 2 2 gig sticks. if i call Microsoft do you think they will replace my disk? i just do not understand why vista only sees 2.5 not 3.

 

[LukaszR1]

tried that. the weird thing is is that both sticks must be working if it sees 2.5 cause there are 2 2 gig sticks. if i call Microsoft do you think they will replace my disk? i just do not understand why vista only sees 2.5 not 3.

chances are...if you are going to deal with Microsoft, you'll get no where. you have a legal vista key correct? then just download the vista cd off a torrent, and use your legal key. no need to contact Microsoft and go through the hassle for them to send you a disk.
The vista disks are all universal, just get a copy whether downloading it or from a buddy, but just use you legal key.

by the way...are you running Vista basic or premium?

 

[CrossCech]

Sounds like you've got memory issues. Keep in mind not all assembled hardware for 32 bit Vista will function and allow 4 gigs of memory to show as 4 gb. With it showing 2.5 gb out of 4 though, I'd start by pulling your memory out and booting with just a 1gb stick. Of course this depends on your config of memory (4x1gb or 2x2gb).
If it were me, I'd reinstall 64 bit and figure out which stick is causing your BSOD .. cause from what you've described it looks like you got a bad stick.

***Apologize for posting what was already suggested above. Slow typing on my part ... you guys are quick!

 

[Atomic Rooster]

I have heard that if you are having problems installing Vista x64 with 4GB of memory installed, try removing 2GB and then install Vista. After you get evrything set up, you can then add the other 2GB back in.

Here's a little info on your memory availability:

This paper from HP helps explain it–the platform can theoretically support the full 4GB, but your hardware is going to allocate some of the address space (not the physical RAM) to the PCI bus, the video adapter memory address space, and other resources. 32-bit OSs need to use part of the full 4GB address space to address these resources, subtracting from the maximum memory you have available to the OS and applications:

The PCI memory addresses starting down from 4 GB are used for things like the BIOS, IO cards, networking, PCI hubs, bus bridges, PCI-Express, and video/graphics cards. The BIOS takes up about 512 KB starting from the very top address. Then each of the other items mentioned are allocated address ranges below the BIOS range. The largest block of addresses is allocated for today's high performance graphics cards which need addresses for at least the amount of memory on the graphics card. The net result is that a high performance x86-based computer may allocate 512 MB to more than 1 GB for the PCI memory address range before any RAM (physical user memory) addresses are allocated.

So, if your video adapter has 512MB of RAM (like mine does), your maximum memory is going to at most be 3.5GB, because Vista has to use 512MB of that address space to address your video memory. It'll actually be lower than the 3.5GB because there are other hardware resources that need address space, too. So, it never hurts to fill your computer with 4GB of RAM–you'll definitely get the max, but you won't be able to address it all. You probably won't be able to address much more than 3GB, and you might not be able to address more than 2GB.

 

[LukaszR1]

Sounds like you've got memory issues. Keep in mind not all assembled hardware for 32 bit Vista will function and allow 4 gigs of memory to show as 4 gb. With it showing 2.5 gb out of 4 though, I'd start by pulling your memory out and booting with just a 1gb stick. Of course this depends on your config of memory (4x1gb or 2x2gb).
If it were me, I'd reinstall 64 bit and figure out which stick is causing your BSOD .. cause from what you've described it looks like you got a bad stick.

well not only does he possibly have a bad stick, but depending on the version of vista he's running, it will only show a certain amount of memory.


Here, this might answer your question
http://windowsmvp.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!80195647FE07388F!157.entry

as for why you only see 2.5 gig, could very well be a bad ram stick.

 

[iamchickenlover]

the first time i installed vista before my hard rive died i installed 64 bit with 4 gigs just fine. could it just not like my new hard drive? it is a western digitail 500 gig

 

[CrossCech]

I don't see why it wouldn't "like your new hard drive" other than if it's faulty somehow. Have you tried slaving the hard drive in another machine to see if it comes up and allows you to quick format it and check for errors via command prompt chkdsk?

Have you confirmed that both memory sticks are good? Tried putting them in another machine possibly to test?