unreadable memory

Question

Running Vista, have 8 GB of ram in computer that works of in another computer.  Why only 3.24 shows in system information when 8 GB in installed?

Answer 1

If its a desktop pc,some pc MBs require all ram cards be the same (single or dual) try uninstalling 1 at

a time if all are compatable with above.

Answer 2

Is your computer 32 bit or 64 bit?  If you have a 32 bit computer, it cannot access more than somewhere around 3 to 4 GB, or so, of memory, depending upon how the particular computer is built/designed.  A 64 bit computer can access much more than 4 GB of memory (the 64-bit machine I am on right now has Windows 7 Enterprise, and has 16 GB of RAM installed).  System information only shows how much RAM your computer can actually access.  On your particular computer, if it is a 32-bit machine, the reason only 3.24 GB shows as installed, is that (assuming you have a 32-bit machine) that is all the RAM the computer could access.  Most of a memory stick capability going upwards to 8 GB would be waisted on a 32-bit computer.  For that reason, typically a 4 GB memory stick installation is done on a 32-bit computer, if the user wanted to maximize the memory potential for that machine.  Even with a 4 GB memory stick installation, on a 32-bit machine, a small portion of the memory is not actually used.