4GB Ram not showing up as 4 in Windows!?

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Level 1

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4GB Ram not showing up as 4 in Windows!?

I just bought the new MacBook Pro 13" 2.26Ghz which i upgraded the RAM to 4GB instead of the 2GB by default. However, in Mac OS X it shows 4GB but in Windows Vista (Via Boot Camp) it shows only 2790 MB (2.7GB). So is the 4GB usefully utilized or is it not? Cause i upgraded from the first gen mac book which was REALLY slow when processing alot of things and i saw this sweet MBP which seems a steal for the 4GB ram. Help and thanks in advance

Macbook Pro 13" 2.26GHz, Mac OS X (10.5.7), RAM

Posted on Jun 19, 2009 8:06 AM

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Answer 1

Jun 19, 2009 8:25 AM in response to hengyx

Hi hengyx,
What version of Vista are you running? Only certain versions of Windows Vista (the more expensive, 64-bit ones) can address more than 3gb of memory. I know Vista Ultimate can address all 4gb, and I think business can too. Home Basic definitely cannot.

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Answer 2

JoeyR

Level 6

8,305 points

Jun 19, 2009 8:43 AM in response to hengyx

Actually, there is no difference in price between the 32 and 64 bit versions of Vista. For starters, your video card takes about 256MB away from your available RAM right off the bat. If you are using the 32 bit version of Vista (as I'm guessing you are), it can only functionally use about 3.3GB of RAM. So take that 3.3GB and subtract the shared video RAM and you're about where you should be.

Microsoft updated the way Vista reports RAM I think with Service Pack 1. As lots of people were complaining that they had 4GB installed... but Vista was only showing about 3GB... they changed it to show how much RAM is "installed" vs. how much can actually be "used". Unless you're using a 64 bit version of Vista, your numbers look about right.

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Answer 3

hengyx Author

Level 1

0 points

Jun 20, 2009 9:28 AM in response to hengyx

oh thx alot guys, i never knew Windows also got how much RAM it can use, looks like my upgrd will be more useful in Mac OS X itself =( Thx so much!

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Answer 4

MacRS4

Level 2

330 points

Jun 20, 2009 10:21 AM in response to hengyx

You may find this useful/interesting: http://www.markc.me.uk/MarkC/Blog/Entries/2008/3/254Gb_Memory_MapLimit.html

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Answer 5

sdschramm

Level 3

525 points

Jun 21, 2009 6:26 PM in response to hengyx

funny how my macbook is the opposite. Mac OS X will only take 2GB but Windows will take 4GB???

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2020467&tstart=0

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