[SOLVED] Windows detects less RAM

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Raydge

Raydge

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Nov 17, 2015
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Hello! So I opened System the other day and I saw that under installed RAM, it only said 4.00GB instead of the expected 8.00 which I have in my tower. What's causing this to happen? I searched on the internet for a solution but I found none, as the problems that existed required the System window to say for example "only 4 usable". Mine doesn't say that. What it displays is just 4.00GB as if only one of the RAM sticks is functional. I checked with my UEFI and it detects both slots as occupied with RAMs so the issue must be with Windows. I'm running 7 Professional x64. If it helps, I recently activated virtual memory to allegedly increase my RAM but I believe it is disabled now. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
Solution
kerberos_20
windows reads your hardware from bios
u can try reseating your ram sticks, try one by one, or clear cmos
bios can show all connected (not working) ram, windows will report only working ram
also check msconfig if u didnt limit your ram capacity there
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We're going to need more information.

Please list your specs like so:
CPU:
Motherboard:
Ram:
SSD/HDD:
GPU:
PSU:
Chassis:
OS:

If this is a laptop, include the make and model and it's SKU. Mention the slots you're using for the rams on the board.

You might also want to go into BIOS and see which version you're currently on. Also, on Windows 7 it's advised to leave the option for virtual memory alone, unless you're running ow on (physical)ram. You could also try reseating the rams.
 
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Lutfij said:
We're going to need more information.

Please list your specs like so:
CPU:
Motherboard:
Ram:
SSD/HDD:
GPU:
PSU:
Chassis:
OS:

If this is a laptop, include the make and model and it's SKU. Mention the slots you're using for the rams on the board.

You might also want to go into BIOS and see which version you're currently on. Also, on Windows 7 it's advised to leave the option for virtual memory alone, unless you're running ow on (physical)ram. You could also try reseating the rams.
Click to expand...

As this problem is pretty straightforward, I felt there is no need to list any specs. All you need to know is already stated in the original post. However I will humour you:

CPU: AMD A6600K 3.90gHz
Motherboard: AsRock FM2A58+ BTC Retail
RAM: 2 x Kingston HyperX Predator 4GB each
SSD/HDD: Seagate (something I don't remember) 225GB SSD / Kingston 500GB HDD
GPU: AMD Radeon R7 560 Series
PSU: Thermaltake 650W
Chassis: (why is this relevant...?)
OS: Windows 7 Professional

I don't want to address the elephant in the room, but my PC is custom-built, not a laptop. I made it in a way I needed to, and has been performing admirably, except from this little setback.

As you can see in this screenshot there is my system info, along with the problem area circled in red. Note that it says only 4GB are installed, (not "8GB only 4GB usable") which contradicts this picture. Here, you can see that the UEFI detects both sticks as RAMs, (as shown by the yellow outline, which becomes purple when hovered over) and even specifies their names on the bottom. This proves that they DO work, ergo the problem isn't on the hardware-side, but rather on the OS. I have a sneaking suspicion that this had to do with my enabling of the virtual memory option, which I made sure I have turned off now, however the problem still persists. Before you mention anything obvious, all my drivers are up to date, as well as the OS itself, everything is clean and organized in the disk drives due to my OCD, I have had no BSODs whatsoever, and when I was building the tower, I knew better than get a buncha random parts and jam them in there.

To conclude, I don't know whether the information I was asked to provide will help or not, but here's hoping that it does, cause I tried everything that I know, which is a lot. If you two need anything else screenshot just let me know.
 
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SkyNetRising said:
Screenshots mentioned earlier - would help (CPU-Z and Resource Monitor).
Also screenshot from msconfig/boot section.
Click to expand...

The resource monitor window displays my max ram as 4096MB, while idle, and uses about 1.5 of the GBs. The Windows runs the regular services on boot and some extra ones I had added long before this problem (believe me I checked) Will post screenshots along when I can.
 
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Your system shows that you only have 4GB of RAM. You have a faulty RAM stick or a bad RAM slot.

If you want to know which one you will have to test each RAM stick. If you have a faulty RAM stick or RAM slot it will be the one where the system does not post when seated.

Reseating your RAM could fix the issue.
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0 Downvote
windows reads your hardware from bios
u can try reseating your ram sticks, try one by one, or clear cmos
bios can show all connected (not working) ram, windows will report only working ram
also check msconfig if u didnt limit your ram capacity there
 
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Solution
If either was faulty, it wouldn't show up on the UEFI System Browser identified as a RAM stick no less, hence why I believe the stick or the seating are not the problem.
 
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SkyNetRising said:
And CPU-Z - memory and spd tab - screenshots?
https://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html

and msconfig/boot/advanced options screenshot?
Click to expand...

Not gonna install CPUZ cause I have to close it from the task manager completely and it's too much of a chore for me. All the information is on the screenshots I provided anyway, I don't see what else you can glean from that app. And I said it again: I have not limited the memory from the msconfig, that was in fact the first thing I checked. I changed the slots my sticks are in, that seems to have fixed it, but it occasionally shifts back to 4GBs again after a couple reboots, and it did that even before I changed the slots. I'll keep this thread open if I see it staying at 8GB for a week. If it's fixed, I'll register this as faulty slots. We'll see.
 
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SkyNetRising said:
BTW - this sounds like BS.
Click to expand...

It is my approach to the fact that the program won't terminate itself, stop getting so worked up over it. If you think it's what you called it then it's a you problem; I won't bother installing it, and if it's so necessary for you then I apologize.
Additionally, the UEFI screenshot displays the module names if we're talking about the same thing, and we know they're both detected normally, else one wouldn't show on the browser. Both do btw, after I changed the slots as well. Windows just detects only one for some reason, even when I booted with only one of them for both sticks, so we know none are broken or anything.
With the current setup, it looks like I'll be chalking it up to faulty slots, but I'm still not convinced. Guess we won't be needing that oh so precious program after all (I think). We'll see in a couple days..
 
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CPU-Z is the program to use to get information about your CPU, RAM, motherboard. It's not like it's a bloatware. It is a very useful program. Like GPU-Z, HWINFO. Everyone should have these programs installed for monitoring.

If you don't want to provide the information asked by the people who take their free time on this forum to help you then I guess this thread won't go anywhere.

Good luck to you sir.
 
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