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I have a Windows XP machine with 4 GB of memory. As expected (and discussed in a dozen or so other questions on this site) the OS could only see 3 and a bit... until yesterday. As of yesterday, the "System Properties" window shows only 768 MB RAM.

dxdiag shows the same thing... actually, it reports 766 MB. On the other hand, the BIOS still shows 4096 MB, and msinfo32 reports "Total Physical Memory: 4,096 MB."

I've never seen anything like this before. Where could the other 3.25 GB of my memory possibly have gone? Is some faulty driver mistakenly mapping most of my memory to some piece of hardware?

UPDATE: Quick summary of the situation so far: The BIOS shows 4 GB. MemTest86+ shows 4 GB, and all of its tests pass. The msinfo32 utility shows that 4 GB are installed in the computer. However, both Windows XP "System Information" and SliTaz Linux report only 768 MB of memory. MemTest86+ seems to conclusively rule out a hardware problem, but two operating systems seeing the same thing rules out a software problem! So, where do I look next?

UPDATE 2: I tried resetting the CMOS back to factory defaults: no luck. I tried taking out one of the sticks (I have 2x2 GB) and booting: the computer only saw 768 MB. So I took that stick out and put the other stick in: 768 MB. I took them both out and put them in the second set of slots: 768 MB. Finally, in the name of trying everything, I installed the two modules in the "wrong" arrangement, i.e. not in a matched pair: Still 768 MB. No matter what arrangement of memory I have, the computer only sees the first 768 MB.

Peter Mortensen
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Josh
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11 Answers11

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Open the Device Manager and under the View menu, choose "Resources by connection". Expand the Memory node and see if you can figure out what, if anything, is occupying the memory. If you're only seeing 768MB, there's probably an entry starting at 3000 0000 named "PCI bus". Expand that node, and see if there's anything actually at 3000 0000. (RAM is "System board".) You can then try disabling that hardware, perhaps installing an alternate (video, network, drive controller, etc.)

Ken
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Start → Run → type msconfig and click OK.

Open the BOOT.INI tab, click Advanced Options..., and see if /MAXMEM= is checked.

Other than that, shut down the computer and reseat the memory modules. Or remove the modules and try various combinations. Also run a check with Memtest86+.

768 MB could be just 1 GB working OK, minus 256 MB shared video memory.

Peter Mortensen
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I just had this problem on my ASUS 1201n after a BIOS and GPU driver update.

System shows "2 GB RAM (768 MB available)". I went into the BIOS and switched off the Boot Booster option, and the RAM was set properly then.

Peter Mortensen
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Ivan
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Some ideas of what to try:

  1. Clear the CMOS
  2. Unplug the power and remove the RAM for 30 minutes, reseat it well.
  3. If you have access to another identical computer, try exchanging RAM.
  4. Take the computer to a repairman that will have the tools and spare parts required to run all the needed experiments.
harrymc
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In the BIOS, do you have an OS Install Mode option? Most Dells have this and it artificially limits the amount of RAM an OS sees to make it play nice with older OSes. IF it is on, make sure it is set to off.

MDMarra
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I came across this post yesterday when I got a similar memory issue with a Windows 7 laptop sporting 3 GB RAM, but only reporting 766 MB available.

Having read through various posts I decided to physically change the available RAM by simply removing one of the SODIMMS. So my 3 GB laptop was temporarily 1 GB (removing the 2 GB module). I suspect as mentioned before, re-seating or swapping over good RAM would not make a difference.

And voila! 1 GB RAM was suddenly seen. I then removed the 1 GB module replacing the 2 GB module - and 2 GB was seen and usable. Then replaced the 1 GB and the 2 GB and all 3 GB was available, not the 766 MB or whatever it was.

I also adjusted the video RAM in the BIOS and although this had the effect of incrementally changing the available RAM, it did not fix the problem for me.

The original issue appears to have been caused by (of all things) the Windows validation/activation. Following a dead hard disk and no recovery software, I used a retail version of Windows 7 64-bit to re-install (knowing the EULA was incorrect). I then re-activated Windows with the correct EULA (from the base of the laptop). Although Windows was happy and re-activated OK, it was following this (and apparently it is fairly common) that available memory issues arose.

It appears Windows reserves too much memory (incorrectly) for other hardware use. I also uninstalled some hardware devices along the way, but this made no difference either.

Peter Mortensen
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Joe McMorrow
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FIX FOR ME (Windows 10):

  • Open msconfig → Boot tab → Advanced options
  • Check maximum memory box and type your maximum amount of available RAM
  • Click OK, OK
  • Reboot and pray

After that, Windows told that 3.25 GB (out of 4) could be used, instead of 767 MB.

Note that if you reopen msconfig, the maximum memory checkbox might be unchecked + maximum memory field set back to 0. However, that should not change anything to available memory any more.

This was Inspired by this other answer.

Peter Mortensen
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Maxime Pacary
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In my case Windows was showing only 2GB whilst I have 4GB installed (I actually have 8GB, but know a 32-bit system cannot see beyond 4GB). I have a Gigabyte motherboard with AMD-radeon R5 on-board graphics card.

I have many OS in the same drive and verified all of 'em substracted 2GB out of my total, so I suspected the onboard VGA card could be stealing those 2GB although I couldn't find a confirmation within Windows.

Inspired by other answers here, this was my fix:

  1. I got into BIOS (technically I should call it EFI configuration)
  2. Entered menu Peripherials, GFX (this is the fine tune control over the graphics)
  3. One of the settings said "UMA framebuffer size" which was set to "Auto"
  4. I changed it to manual, and it opened before me the option to choose among many sizes in the range from 16MB to 2GB.
  5. I chose 512MB, and saved (F10)

In effect, the onboard graphics card was the culprit; under the innocent "Auto" option it was just borrowing the maximum value!

Hope this helps someone!

M. Suscripto
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FIX FOR ME:

I had the same problem with an Acer Aspire laptop running Windows 7 showed 3 GB in Windows, but only 768 MB usable, but I thought of the previous answers and thought "why would this start playing up overnight after months of trouble free use with no driver updates?" So I removed the 1 gigabyte stick leaving the 2 gigabyte stick in and there was no POST.

I replaced the 2 gigabyte with the one stick I had removed and post fine. DA DA, faulty 2 gigabyte stick! I replaced the 2 gigabyte stick, and I now have 2.75 usable out of 3 gigabyte.

Peter Mortensen
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nwcs
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I had this problem on a Asus EeePC 1201N, with Windows 8.

On each boot, the BIOS was reset and asked to load default values (F2). Installing the latest Nvidia's drivers for the graphic card solved my problem: the Windows' one wasn't working as it should.

To get the latest Nvidia's drivers: http://www.nvidia.fr/Download/index.aspx?lang=fr

Peter Mortensen
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Hugo H
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You could test the system using a BartPE build of Windows. The easiest software to acquire for this is Hirens10.1

I would recommend Hiren's as it is quick to load and deal with. During the boot just select mini windows; it should be the third option down. Once you are in mini windows you should be able to check to see if it is a fault of your current Windows installation or if it a memory or motherboard fault.

In my opinion no technician is complete without these tools, so you might as well get a copy.

Peter Mortensen
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Kythos
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