Member Avatar for murderotica

Hello there, I have a pc with 4gb ram and installed with it is Window Vista Premium 32x. I think it only uses 2-3 gb of my ram. Is there any way that could maximize it? I'm an avid gamer, I was suppose to buy the Windows Vista 64x but my friend told me that it has few support for drivers and games. So he told me to buy 32x instead because I don't want to waste my money buying games that could not be supported.

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Short summary and practical next steps that add to the replies from , and .

The most likely cause is address-space being reserved for devices (graphics and PCI devices), which reduces what a 32‑bit kernel can show. Useful diagnostics and low-risk fixes follow.

  • Verify firmware/BIOS memory detection first: on boot enter the motherboard setup (the POST key shown at startup) and confirm the total memory reported. If firmware shows less than 4096MB, reseat DIMMs, swap slots, test modules one at a time, or run Memtest86+ from USB to rule out faulty RAM.
  • In Windows use resmon (Resource Monitor) -> Memory to see the “Hardware Reserved” value and compare with msinfo32 (System Information) -> Installed/Total Physical Memory. A large hardware-reserved figure points to address ranges taken by devices.
  • Check Windows boot configuration for an artificial cap: run msconfig, Boot tab -> Advanced Options -> ensure “Maximum memory” is unchecked. A set value here can force Windows to use less RAM.
  • If firmware shows 4GB but Windows reserves a chunk, try disabling unused onboard devices or removing unnecessary PCI cards (each consumes MMIO ranges). A BIOS update can sometimes improve mapping behavior; note that some BIOS “memory remap” options only meaningfully help when a 64‑bit OS is used.

Longer-term option: migrate to a 64‑bit Windows build. That is the cleanest way to avoid hardware MMIO eating address space. Migration requires a clean install and 64‑bit drivers for chipset, graphics and other devices; 32‑bit applications still run under WoW64, but very old 16‑bit installers do not.

Quick checklist (for pages saved later): confirm BIOS sees 4GB; run Resource Monitor to quantify “Hardware Reserved”; clear any msconfig maximum-memory cap; consider BIOS update or a move to x64 after validating driver support.

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Member Avatar for Suspishio

Your friend was wrong IMHO. Vista 64 is well supported for drivers on the modern PC (which you have, yes?).

As I and others explained in several other posts, With Vista 32 you will have lost around 3/4 of a GB (if you have a 512MB graphics card). 4GB is better than 3GB because you net out at 1/4GB less at the end of the day with 3GB.

Note that if you upgrade to Vista 64 (didn't you have the disk in the box with your 32bit OS like I did?), then it'll be a fresh install unless you can be bothered to slipstream SP1 into the x64 install files and then perform the install.

Member Avatar for murderotica

My graphics card is only 256MB, well I do have the CD. Thanks for the reply.

Member Avatar for francisabey

The largest address that can be designated by 32-bits is 4Gig. The device address range consists of register space and i/o space mapped to the physical devices video cards, sound cards, network cards, and other hardware devices. Think of it as an equation for 32Bit Windows OS:

4 Gig MAX Address Range >= (Address Range Memory) + (Address Range Hardware)

The Address Range of Hardware is fixed for the same combination of hardware. When you add a second video card for SLI/Crossfire, it needs another set of address ranges to use for register space and i/o space in order to use the device.

The upper bound limit of 32bit is fixed at 4Gig.


How To: Enable Support For 4GB of RAM (or More) in Windows Vista 32-bit

Member Avatar for murderotica

Thanks for the article. :)

Member Avatar for airbourne

I run Vista 64 bit, and have very few problems. The only real issue I have is my PC crashes on occasion and windows says its my motherboard drivers and the motherboard manufacturer says its a windows problem. Whatever, I just want to play games, and since it only happens rarely (every 2 weeks or so) I just ignore it - reformatted 2 times and it still happens even with all the latest drivers.

Everything else runs beautifully.

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