comp not recognizing all ram

[moonbeamdanser]

I'm having a problem with my machine not recognizing all my ram.

Presently I am running 2, 2gb sticks of Kingston PC5300, for a total of 4gb.  My BIOS recognized 2 sticks with a total of 4gb available memory.  Windows and CPUZ recognizes only 2.75gb of usable memory.

My motherboard is capable of running up to 16gb of DDR2, so I know it's not that.

I WAS running Windows XP, so I had expected there to be some misinformation regarding my RAM; however I'm now running Windows 7 with the same result.

I had the same thing happen on my old motherboard, so I know it's not the board.

And I've used other sticks of ram and it's the same thing.

What am I missing here? 

[BC_Programmer]

Windows 7 x86?

[moonbeamdanser]

Just... standard windows 7, 32bit?

[BC_Programmer]

Just... standard windows 7, 32bit?

yeah, x86. that's why. you need a 64-bit version or you won't be able to recognize more then around 3-4GB of RAM.

[moonbeamdanser]

I thought that that wasn't necessary when you upgraded from XP?  Apparently I have lost my mind then.

[BC_Programmer]

I thought that that wasn't necessary when you upgraded from XP?  Apparently I have lost my mind then.

No, it's a inherent limitation of most 32-bit operating systems.

[Computer_Commando]

Licensed Memory in Windows Vista