Hi,
Did a clean install of Windows 10 in 64 Bit and now on my properties it only says 4GB of Ram are usable instead of the full 8GB. (Pic Attached)
I had never seen this before and I did have Win10 installed after upgrading from 8.
Decided to do a clean install because it had been a while.
Please Help!
Some how the usable RAM is restricted to 4GB. Press Win+R to open a Run prompt and then execute the command msconfig. This will open the System Configuration. Click on the Boot tab and then Advanced options. The box Maximum memory should be unchecked to allow using the maximum installed memory. If this is not your case, next thing to try is boot into BIOS and see the RAM allocation for your onboard graphics card (if any). Keep it at 512MB or 1GB maximum, you won't notice any difference with more video memory.
More then likely you had some bad RAM to begin with. Tuxboit will allow you to create a Clonezilla USB to do a RAM test.
I would still run memtest 86+ overnight, just to be safe.
You only need a 4 GB USB stick to run Clonezilla on. I like it for imaging of drives and also to have the memtest, if I have issues.
Windows had a good System test with 7. Now they are taking a lot of stuff away, so you have to keep system tools on a USB Stick or DVD. Especially if you need to adjust partitions or rescue for lost password, etc.
Actually I opened up the CPU.
Took the Rams out and put them back in (probably in different order)
restarted the PC and all is back to normal
Guess i got lucky then!
Thanks for all the replies!!
This is known that if you remove the CPU and install it again can fix issues. This is not always the case, but sometimes works. Maybe some dirt impairs contact of some pins and reinstalling it makes better contact. Who knows? The same is true for RAM. Frequently merely changing the order of the modules eliminates issues. These are few of the weird solutions that make others wonder what we technicians did that they hadn't tried already!
i have the same issue.. have 8gb but can only use 4gb , not sure why
If the two modules are not the same brand or same model, then one of them could be incompatible with your motherboard. First I would test each one alone to see if it works. If both work alone on the first slot, then try putting them on the next, to see if they both work at all slots. If the work at all slots alone, then you have to to examine your BIOS settings. If they are all to auto, then try upgrading the BIOS to improve compatibility. As a last resort you could try some manual RAM timing settings or even tweak the voltage a bit. There is a chance (particularly in old motherboards) that after you set manually some things, the computer won't boot. Don't panic, just remove the motherboard battery and leave it unplugged for some minutes to reset the BIOS to default, then try different settings. Needless to say that if both modules work OK in BIOS and you see 8GB total, but in Windows you only see 4GB, then Bingo! You have 32-bit Windows installed! Backup your files and drivers and then format and install the respective 64-bit version (Home or Pro) with the same key. It should activate automatically.
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