4 GB of Ram - Too many problems!

Officer-Pie

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Hey guys! For Christmas, I got 2 more GB of ram, topping off my computer with the max supported amount of ram, supported by Windows XP (eXpect Problems) Pro. Recently, though it has been crashing my computer. ALSO, the worst factor, my computer only picks up 3gb of ram. Anyone know how to fix? Have experienced this problem before? Please help!

It seems to not effect my gaming, but it crashed me when I tryed to post. It makes RAM, Random crAshing Memory.
 
Well if its crashing it may just be bad memory.... run prime 95 or a similar program to test your ram and make sure they are good sticks... if not, well then its easy, they need to be replaced, if they are then something else is wrong.

In terms of the max supported, its actually not a Win XP thing, its a 32 bit thing. The max amount of memory you can have in a 32 bit system is 4 Gb. HOWEVER, this is the max amount of TOTAL system memory not just ram. You have to factor in things like video card ram and other system memory, then RAM can use up whatever is left at that point. So, 3Gb from what I hear is usually about the max amount of RAM a 32 bit system will see. Sorry, no fix there except to upgrade to a 64 bit OS (if your hardware supports it)
 
This is the exact reason I picked up Vista-64 when I built my new system. I wanted to put in 6 gigs of RAM. No way anything but a 64-bit OS would support that much.
 
Windows XP 64 bit will fix the memory recognition. as for the crashing, you may have a bad stick of memory, try removing one of the new sticks and see if it'll boot. if it does, then try with the other stick. You can also try Memtest86 to see if theres an issue with your memory.
 
Yeah, it's a 32-bit thing. I've always wanted to put in another two sticks of RAM, but decide against it everytime since that'll give me 4 GB, and much of it will be wasted. However, even 64-bit sometimes has trouble with over 4GB RAM. As for the memory problems, that's due to a bad RAM stick. (most likely) You can try reseating it, or run some tests on it. Warranty should cover any damage.
 
stupid question coming from me, but how many slots are you using? how many sticks? ar eoyu running 32 or 64?

i still dont understand the point of having more then 4bg ram, 4 is enough my goodness XD what are you doing that you need 6gb of ram o.O i understand work comes in, but come on :p
 
stupid question coming from me, but how many slots are you using? how many sticks? ar eoyu running 32 or 64?

i still dont understand the point of having more then 4bg ram, 4 is enough my goodness XD what are you doing that you need 6gb of ram o.O i understand work comes in, but come on :p

4 Slots
4 1GB Sticks
I have a 32 bit processor, so 64 would fail.


Yes, Vista 64bit can support 8. Blah. This computer is a year old, I am gonna try to send in some money for that raffle. I want that Fury!
BTW, that fury is awesome looking :D

TY for all the problems fixes, I just found out I have a 32 bit processor, so all things but yanking them out won't work.

Testing the sticks - My brother was using them last. He got 2 2GB sticks, I got 4 1GB, he used the 2 1gb's last, so, their good at my understanding.
I think its just my processor, just fails at.. Processing.
Maybe I can get some upgrades. Anyways, I will just yank them out.
 
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do you have any idea what motherboard and the chipset it utilizes is in your current machine
 
Aside from a 64-bit OS, you need to make sure your motherboard is able to support 8GB of physical address space.

You should run test your memory. I'd recommend memtest, http://www.memtest86.com/
 
Ok windows XP32 bit only sees 3 gigs of ram,and will use only 3.3 gigs..anything over will cause problems.
which is why i have 3 gigs
2 1 gig and 2 512s..in duel channel
 
As well as factoring in all the Physical memory, does it also include Virtual memory at all? Just wondering for myself :P

I think that everyone else has gotten the right idea as well, could be bad memory, could be heating problems (its aaalways a heating problem :P j/k), it could be a number of things. You just need to try and whittle down the possibilities of what the problem could be.

Aarandorf

Im not quite sure if virtual memory has anything to do with it... i think its probably just physical memory, but again im not sure.

Another thing I was thinking about was perhaps the newer RAM put into the system is different speed or configuration as the old RAM, and the motherboard settings may need to be lowered or adjusted to allow the newer ram to function properly.
 
you need 64-bit, you will only be able to use 3.6 gigs of memory until you get 64-bit.

as for the crashes, getting 64-bit may fix that problem. Also, you might try using only 1 RAM module at a time for all four so you can single out whichever one is damaged and will crash, if any of them are damaged.

-Blue
 

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