32-bit Vista usage of RAM over 2GB?

[gluzd]

I have 3.07GB RAM recognized by 32-bit Vista (and a 4GB paging file). However, even under very heavy loads when over 1GB is paged and apps start crashing, Task Manager shows use of only 2GB average (fluctuating between 2 and 2.2GB). Why does it report ~1GB free under such conditions? If it's truly free, is there a setting in Vista I can use to utilize it?

 

[notherdude]

well, your total ram is divided up between apps and the os, so my guess is you are maxing out the amount alloted to the apps while the OS space remains unfilled. The details of windows memory management are rather complex so I can't really break it down for you and I may not have all the details correct.