April 4, 200521 yr Hi,I just noticed something with W2k3 SP1: there is less physical memory available to Windows than before upgrading to SP1. I've noticed this on 2 different computers.For instance, on my 1GB RAM machine, Windows used to report 1024 MB physical memory. After SP1, it now reports something like 1022,7 MB. What's up with that? Any clue?
April 5, 200521 yr Author I don't think you got it.I'm talking about the "Total physical memory" as reported by "System Information". It should be the total amount of RAM installed on the computer, and has always been until Win2k3 SP1. The "total physical memory" field in the "performance" tab of the task manager also shows the same decreased figure.For those who have installed SP1 on the Win2k3 box, just take a look at this. You'll see.I'm wondering what this is for...
April 6, 200521 yr Author Mines slightly more than 1022,7 MB but didnt notice till now<{POST_SNAPBACK}>I'm sure not many users noticed it. But there is definitely something here...Maybe it's because of some code execution security feature or something in that vein? It's just weird that I can't seem to find any information about this anywhere...
April 6, 200521 yr My guess is that its to do with SCW (Security Configuration Wizard) as all new software take extra memory
April 7, 200521 yr Author mine is 1048016 Kabout correct i think <{POST_SNAPBACK}>It's still a bit less than the full 1024 MB which is 1048576. And before SP1, the total and exact amount was shown here.The point is that SP1 *definitely* sees less total RAM, and no one knows why.If it's because of a new security feature, it's obviously something deep inside the kernel, because again, this amount of memory is the TOTAL memory detected by Windows. Obviously there are new services in SP1 and they consume more memory, but it doesn't have anything to do with the total memory, which, well, is what you have in total.I'm amazed to see that no one cares. No one is even curious to know what this (however tiny) amount of RAM is used for? I want to know!
April 7, 200521 yr but it doesn't have anything to do with the total memory, which, well, is what you have in total. [...]what this (however tiny) amount of RAM is used for? I want to know!well, you kind of answer your own question before asking it... you're right, system ram is system ram, it isn't aggregate swap + physical memory (now, at least. in nt 4 days it was different). it's hardware dependant, not software use dependant, so... it isn't measuring what's used. which is what you said.SP1 *definitely* sees less total RAMquite possibly you have simply found a (minor) bug in sp1. or not... in win2k3, system ram is measured a little differently than in other windows versions.example:http://support.microsoft.com/kb/283037how this can change based on hardware:http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/system/pnppw.../hotaddmem.mspxi am guessing that the dlls used to measure system ram simply measure it differently in sp1 for 2k3. whether that's a bug or what is anyone's guess, which i emphasize i am doing (guessing). another possibility is that you've found that 2k3 sp1 has a memory leak somewhere, though i am guessing you have eliminated that as a possibility as the amount of ram would slowly keep decrementing over days or a few weeks.
April 10, 200521 yr mine is 1048016 Kabout correct i think <{POST_SNAPBACK}>I'm amazed to see that no one cares. No one is even curious to know what this (however tiny) amount of RAM is used for? I want to know!<{POST_SNAPBACK}>well i'm curious why it would be less than the full 1024MB, because that is how much RAM i have now too. but then i have not installed SP1 on my Win2k3 machine yet, so i'll just have to see.
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