RAM issue in Windows 7

[bohcurtis]

Just got Windows 7 re-installed on my computer after some hard drive issues. Upon install, I did not notice anything. Once I ran task manager I noticed that it was only picking up about 2.2 GB of RAM on my machine... I find this odd since I have 16 GB in the form of two 8 GB sticks. It picks up 16 under 'installed', but around 13 of them are 'hardware reserved'... Help? I see lots of other people are having the same issues but this one seems different.
CPU: AMD FX-4350
RAM: (Ripjaws X 8 GB)x2
MB: ASUS M5A97 R2.0
HDD: 120 GB SSD
GPU: R9 290 OC edition
Let me know what y'all can do for me.
Thanks, Bo

 

[jimmysmitty]

Can you post a screen shot of what you are seeing?

Are you sure you installed 7 64bit or 32bit?

 

[bohcurtis]

Can you post a screen shot of what you are seeing?

Are you sure you installed 7 64bit or 32bit?

Trying to get a picture to upload... Having issues. Here is a link
http://www.mediafire.com/view/88axk921h081ccl/2015-11-30_17_30_43-Windows_Task_Manager.png

It is picking up as 32-bit for some reason.. Even such, shouldn't I have 4 GB?

 

[jimmysmitty]

32Bit can only allocate up to 4GB total memory, that means system memory, cache memory and even your VRAM. It is not even letting you use the full 4GB of VRAM. You probably have 1.8GB of VRAM and the rest is system RAM if it is installed as 32bit.

To make sure if you open your C drive you should only see a Program Files folder. If it is 64bit you will see Program Files and Program Files (x86).

If it is 32bit you will need to reinstall the OS in order to change to 64bit.

 

[bohcurtis]

32Bit can only allocate up to 4GB total memory, that means system memory, cache memory and even your VRAM. It is not even letting you use the full 4GB of VRAM. You probably have 1.8GB of VRAM and the rest is system RAM if it is installed as 32bit.

To make sure if you open your C drive you should only see a Program Files folder. If it is 64bit you will see Program Files and Program Files (x86).

If it is 32bit you will need to reinstall the OS in order to change to 64bit.

It is 32-bit. Is there any way to get around a clean install? I lost my SP1 disc and I used a reinstall disc I had kicking around to get this installed, that is why it is 32-bit. I need to be able to use my RAM, but would love it if I could simply upgrade or something. Any tricks?

 

[jimmysmitty]

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows7

There are no tricks unfortunately. You need to do a clean install. Even a upgrade wont work. That link will allow you to download a 7 SP1 ISO so long as you have a legitimate key and yes that is a legitimate link from Microsoft.

 

[bohcurtis]

Thank you sir