You have a computer running Windows 7 32-bit. You add 2 GB of RAM to the computer for a total of 6GB but there is no performance improvement. What is the problem and what are two possible solutions?

A performance increase would depend on what programs you use.

If you run only one program at a time and none would benefit from the extra memory there would be no performance increase.

A newer motherboard (with a faster chipset), better graphics card or faster processor and/or hard disk might be of benefit, but only if the programs you use would run better for the hardware changes.

I understand the uses of memory & maximum of 4Gb in a 32bit system but was curious if Readyboost could raise that figure. I can't find any input about it on any of MS' literature on Readyboost.

On Sat, 26 Jan 2013 08:41:16 +0000, doncolleen6 wrote:

You have a computer running Windows 7 32-bit. You add 2 GB of RAM to the computer for a
total of 6GB but there is no performance improvement. What is the problem and what are two possible solutions?

Two points:

1. All 32-bit client versions of Windows (not just XP/Vista/7/8) have
   a  4GB address space (64-bit versions can use much more). That's the
   theoretical upper limit beyond which you can not go.

But you can't use the entire  address space. Even though you have a
4GB address space, you can only use around 3.1GB of RAM. That's
because some of that space is used by hardware and is not available to
the operating system and applications. The amount you can
use varies, depending on what hardware you have installed, but can
range from as little as 2GB to as much as 3.5GB. It's usually around
3.1GB.

Note that the hardware is using the address space, not the actual
RAM itself. If you have a greater amount of RAM, the rest of the RAM
goes unused because there is no address space to map it to.

2. Even if you were able to make use of all 6GB (for example, if you
   were running 64-bit Windows) that would not necessarily mean
   performance improvement. More RAM improves performance only up to a
   point. Where that point is depends on what apps you run, but for most
   people only running typical Office applications, you shouldn't expect
   to see RAM over 4GB making any improvement.

so installing the 64-bit version of Windows would increase performance ? because then I could use more then 3.5 GB of RAM.  what else could I do to increase my performance?

32-bit Windows can only address 4GB of memory. The 4GB includes video memory and system BIOSes, so you will never have access to all 4GB for programs. 3.5GB is the usual maximum available.

To use more than 4GB of RAM you must install a 64-bit version of Windows.