New 4GB laptop

[yronnen]

Hi,

I have read about many issues with Vista 32 and having over 3GB of ram. I know the reasons (hardware level driver adresses etc.), but here's the thing: I recently got a new laptop with 4GB ram and Vista Premium 32bit. Windows sees the entire 4GB. Is it possible? I have a discrete video memory, so maybe that's the reason.

Thoughts?

[cluberti]

Hi,

I have read about many issues with Vista 32 and having over 3GB of ram. I know the reasons (hardware level driver adresses etc.), but here's the thing: I recently got a new laptop with 4GB ram and Vista Premium 32bit. Windows sees the entire 4GB. Is it possible? I have a discrete video memory, so maybe that's the reason.

Thoughts?

If you're using SP1, Vista UI was changed to show the installed memory, rather than available memory. msinfo32 still shows the difference, as previous.

[S.SubZero]

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc709618.aspx

With SP1, Windows Vista will report the amount of system memory installed rather than report the amount of system memory available to the OS. Therefore 32-bit systems equipped with 4GB of RAM will report all 4GB in many places throughout the OS, such as the System Control Panel. However, this behavior is dependent on having a compatible BIOS, so not all users may notice this change.

[yronnen]

Thanks, this explains everything.