memory issues

I am sure this is a total Newb question but.. I had 2GB in my machine...got the hankering for more..
So I now have 4 1gb sticks, 2 matched pairs. They are all installed and recognized by the bios- it says ddr dimms are in slots 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7.. and reads them as dual channel(so it recognizes that they are matched pairs.)
Vista sees 3.25 GB memory. Even if I had a pair of 1gbs, and a pair of 512's wouldn't it be more like 3.1GB?
Since I added this RAM, Vista is having trouble mounting my USB flash drive(I get the device driver message, it then says it correctly mounted my PNY USB 4Gb drive..but it never shows up). I have been using it for ReadyBoost(I plugged the Flash drive into another Vista machine and it sees it and says it is fast enough..so not corruption/bad flash drive)
Wow, that is hard to understand, and I wrote it!!!
The motherboard is an MSI K8N SLI(nForce 4)

I'll bet you're running the 32-bit version of Vista.
What you're seeing is a know issue with XP that probably exists in Vista-32.
Vista-64 should be able to see all your memory.
"Zapper" wrote in message

I am sure this is a total Newb question but.. I had 2GB in my machine...got the hankering for more..
So I now have 4 1gb sticks, 2 matched pairs. They are all installed and recognized by the bios- it says ddr dimms are in slots 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7.. and reads them as dual channel(so it recognizes that they are matched pairs.)
Vista sees 3.25 GB memory. Even if I had a pair of 1gbs, and a pair of 512's wouldn't it be more like 3.1GB?
Since I added this RAM, Vista is having trouble mounting my USB flash drive(I get the device driver message, it then says it correctly mounted my PNY USB 4Gb drive..but it never shows up). I have been using it for ReadyBoost(I plugged the Flash drive into another Vista machine and it sees it and says it is fast enough..so not corruption/bad flash drive)
Wow, that is hard to understand, and I wrote it!!!
The motherboard is an MSI K8N SLI(nForce 4)

Nope, running x64. It is a memory mismatch/bios/motherboard issue...
I reset the mobo and it saw 3.9 gb ram at first then dropped back down to 3.4 on successive restarts...off to eh store to drop another $50 to get matching memory...should have done it the first time..
thansk for the suggestion though "HDRDTD" wrote in message

I'll bet you're running the 32-bit version of Vista.
What you're seeing is a know issue with XP that probably exists in Vista-32.
Vista-64 should be able to see all your memory.
"Zapper" wrote in message I am sure this is a total Newb question but.. I had 2GB in my machine...got the hankering for more..
So I now have 4 1gb sticks, 2 matched pairs. They are all installed and recognized by the bios- it says ddr dimms are in slots 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7.. and reads them as dual channel(so it recognizes that they are matched pairs.)
Vista sees 3.25 GB memory. Even if I had a pair of 1gbs, and a pair of 512's wouldn't it be more like 3.1GB?
Since I added this RAM, Vista is having trouble mounting my USB flash drive(I get the device driver message, it then says it correctly mounted my PNY USB 4Gb drive..but it never shows up). I have been using it for ReadyBoost(I plugged the Flash drive into another Vista machine and it sees it and says it is fast enough..so not corruption/bad flash drive)
Wow, that is hard to understand, and I wrote it!!!
The motherboard is an MSI K8N SLI(nForce 4)

Hold on. Check your BIOS. This is very common, especially the 3.25 number. I have seen it discussed in the ng's frequently. My BIOS doesn't reserve any ram for whatever it is that the folks were talking about in the postings I read, so I haven't really tracked it. But don't jump to any conclusions here.
"Zapper" wrote in message

Nope, running x64. It is a memory mismatch/bios/motherboard issue...
I reset the mobo and it saw 3.9 gb ram at first then dropped back down to 3.4 on successive restarts...off to eh store to drop another $50 to get matching memory...should have done it the first time..
thansk for the suggestion though "HDRDTD" wrote in message I'll bet you're running the 32-bit version of Vista.
What you're seeing is a know issue with XP that probably exists in Vista-32.
Vista-64 should be able to see all your memory.
"Zapper" wrote in message I am sure this is a total Newb question but.. I had 2GB in my machine...got the hankering for more..
So I now have 4 1gb sticks, 2 matched pairs. They are all installed and recognized by the bios- it says ddr dimms are in slots 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7.. and reads them as dual channel(so it recognizes that they are matched pairs.)
Vista sees 3.25 GB memory. Even if I had a pair of 1gbs, and a pair of 512's wouldn't it be more like 3.1GB?
Since I added this RAM, Vista is having trouble mounting my USB flash drive(I get the device driver message, it then says it correctly mounted my PNY USB 4Gb drive..but it never shows up). I have been using it for ReadyBoost(I plugged the Flash drive into another Vista machine and it sees it and says it is fast enough..so not corruption/bad flash drive)
Wow, that is hard to understand, and I wrote it!!!
The motherboard is an MSI K8N SLI(nForce 4)

If I were running SLI, then the system would reserve 255 MB of RAM...but I am not, so that isn't it.
I just checked on one set of memory is cl 2.5, and the new ones are 3...probably to aggressive timing for the new ones..Fry's is closed(or at least not answering the phone) so I will bang on it tonite and see if I can slow it down enough to see it all
"Colin Barnhorst" wrote in message

Hold on. Check your BIOS. This is very common, especially the 3.25 number. I have seen it discussed in the ng's frequently. My BIOS doesn't reserve any ram for whatever it is that the folks were talking about in the postings I read, so I haven't really tracked it. But don't jump to any conclusions here.
"Zapper" wrote in message Nope, running x64. It is a memory mismatch/bios/motherboard issue...
I reset the mobo and it saw 3.9 gb ram at first then dropped back down to 3.4 on successive restarts...off to eh store to drop another $50 to get matching memory...should have done it the first time..
thansk for the suggestion though "HDRDTD" wrote in message I'll bet you're running the 32-bit version of Vista.
What you're seeing is a know issue with XP that probably exists in Vista-32.
Vista-64 should be able to see all your memory.
"Zapper" wrote in message I am sure this is a total Newb question but.. I had 2GB in my machine...got the hankering for more..
So I now have 4 1gb sticks, 2 matched pairs. They are all installed and recognized by the bios- it says ddr dimms are in slots 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7.. and reads them as dual channel(so it recognizes that they are matched pairs.)
Vista sees 3.25 GB memory. Even if I had a pair of 1gbs, and a pair of 512's wouldn't it be more like 3.1GB?
Since I added this RAM, Vista is having trouble mounting my USB flash drive(I get the device driver message, it then says it correctly mounted my PNY USB 4Gb drive..but it never shows up). I have been using it for ReadyBoost(I plugged the Flash drive into another Vista machine and it sees it and says it is fast enough..so not corruption/bad flash drive)
Wow, that is hard to understand, and I wrote it!!!
The motherboard is an MSI K8N SLI(nForce 4)

Go over to microsoft.public.windows.64bit.general and address Charlie Russell in your subject line and "3.25 GB issue". Tell him in the body that you have heard he is a guru about this and ask what the skinny is. I hate to see you go off to the store for nothing.
"Zapper" wrote in message

If I were running SLI, then the system would reserve 255 MB of RAM...but I am not, so that isn't it.
I just checked on one set of memory is cl 2.5, and the new ones are 3...probably to aggressive timing for the new ones..Fry's is closed(or at least not answering the phone) so I will bang on it tonite and see if I can slow it down enough to see it all
"Colin Barnhorst" wrote in message Hold on. Check your BIOS. This is very common, especially the 3.25 number. I have seen it discussed in the ng's frequently. My BIOS doesn't reserve any ram for whatever it is that the folks were talking about in the postings I read, so I haven't really tracked it. But don't jump to any conclusions here.
"Zapper" wrote in message Nope, running x64. It is a memory mismatch/bios/motherboard issue...
I reset the mobo and it saw 3.9 gb ram at first then dropped back down to 3.4 on successive restarts...off to eh store to drop another $50 to get matching memory...should have done it the first time..
thansk for the suggestion though "HDRDTD" wrote in message I'll bet you're running the 32-bit version of Vista.
What you're seeing is a know issue with XP that probably exists in Vista-32.
Vista-64 should be able to see all your memory.
"Zapper" wrote in message I am sure this is a total Newb question but.. I had 2GB in my machine...got the hankering for more..
So I now have 4 1gb sticks, 2 matched pairs. They are all installed and recognized by the bios- it says ddr dimms are in slots 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7.. and reads them as dual channel(so it recognizes that they are matched pairs.)
Vista sees 3.25 GB memory. Even if I had a pair of 1gbs, and a pair of 512's wouldn't it be more like 3.1GB?
Since I added this RAM, Vista is having trouble mounting my USB flash drive(I get the device driver message, it then says it correctly mounted my PNY USB 4Gb drive..but it never shows up). I have been using it for ReadyBoost(I plugged the Flash drive into another Vista machine and it sees it and says it is fast enough..so not corruption/bad flash drive)
Wow, that is hard to understand, and I wrote it!!!
The motherboard is an MSI K8N SLI(nForce 4)

Some memory can be reserved on some motherboards for the PCI Bus. Should be a setting in your BIOS to solve this.
"Zapper" wrote in message

If I were running SLI, then the system would reserve 255 MB of RAM...but I am not, so that isn't it.
I just checked on one set of memory is cl 2.5, and the new ones are 3...probably to aggressive timing for the new ones..Fry's is closed(or at least not answering the phone) so I will bang on it tonite and see if I can slow it down enough to see it all
"Colin Barnhorst" wrote in message Hold on. Check your BIOS. This is very common, especially the 3.25 number. I have seen it discussed in the ng's frequently. My BIOS doesn't reserve any ram for whatever it is that the folks were talking about in the postings I read, so I haven't really tracked it. But don't jump to any conclusions here.
"Zapper" wrote in message Nope, running x64. It is a memory mismatch/bios/motherboard issue...
I reset the mobo and it saw 3.9 gb ram at first then dropped back down to 3.4 on successive restarts...off to eh store to drop another $50 to get matching memory...should have done it the first time..
thansk for the suggestion though "HDRDTD" wrote in message I'll bet you're running the 32-bit version of Vista.
What you're seeing is a know issue with XP that probably exists in Vista-32.
Vista-64 should be able to see all your memory.
"Zapper" wrote in message I am sure this is a total Newb question but.. I had 2GB in my machine...got the hankering for more..
So I now have 4 1gb sticks, 2 matched pairs. They are all installed and recognized by the bios- it says ddr dimms are in slots 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7.. and reads them as dual channel(so it recognizes that they are matched pairs.)
Vista sees 3.25 GB memory. Even if I had a pair of 1gbs, and a pair of 512's wouldn't it be more like 3.1GB?
Since I added this RAM, Vista is having trouble mounting my USB flash drive(I get the device driver message, it then says it correctly mounted my PNY USB 4Gb drive..but it never shows up). I have been using it for ReadyBoost(I plugged the Flash drive into another Vista machine and it sees it and says it is fast enough..so not corruption/bad flash drive)
Wow, that is hard to understand, and I wrote it!!!
The motherboard is an MSI K8N SLI(nForce 4)

Thank you SOOOO Much. I think we have it solved with Bios issue options. I will cross my fingers for a few days!!
"Colin Barnhorst" wrote in message

Go over to microsoft.public.windows.64bit.general and address Charlie Russell in your subject line and "3.25 GB issue". Tell him in the body that you have heard he is a guru about this and ask what the skinny is. I hate to see you go off to the store for nothing.
"Zapper" wrote in message If I were running SLI, then the system would reserve 255 MB of RAM...but I am not, so that isn't it.
I just checked on one set of memory is cl 2.5, and the new ones are 3...probably to aggressive timing for the new ones..Fry's is closed(or at least not answering the phone) so I will bang on it tonite and see if I can slow it down enough to see it all
"Colin Barnhorst" wrote in message Hold on. Check your BIOS. This is very common, especially the 3.25 number. I have seen it discussed in the ng's frequently. My BIOS doesn't reserve any ram for whatever it is that the folks were talking about in the postings I read, so I haven't really tracked it. But don't jump to any conclusions here.
"Zapper" wrote in message Nope, running x64. It is a memory mismatch/bios/motherboard issue...
I reset the mobo and it saw 3.9 gb ram at first then dropped back down to 3.4 on successive restarts...off to eh store to drop another $50 to get matching memory...should have done it the first time..
thansk for the suggestion though "HDRDTD" wrote in message I'll bet you're running the 32-bit version of Vista.
What you're seeing is a know issue with XP that probably exists in Vista-32.
Vista-64 should be able to see all your memory.
"Zapper" wrote in message I am sure this is a total Newb question but.. I had 2GB in my machine...got the hankering for more..
So I now have 4 1gb sticks, 2 matched pairs. They are all installed and recognized by the bios- it says ddr dimms are in slots 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7.. and reads them as dual channel(so it recognizes that they are matched pairs.)
Vista sees 3.25 GB memory. Even if I had a pair of 1gbs, and a pair of 512's wouldn't it be more like 3.1GB?
Since I added this RAM, Vista is having trouble mounting my USB flash drive(I get the device driver message, it then says it correctly mounted my PNY USB 4Gb drive..but it never shows up). I have been using it for ReadyBoost(I plugged the Flash drive into another Vista machine and it sees it and says it is fast enough..so not corruption/bad flash drive)
Wow, that is hard to understand, and I wrote it!!!
The motherboard is an MSI K8N SLI(nForce 4)

You're welcome. I knew heading for the store was going to be a disappointment.
"Zapper" wrote in message

Thank you SOOOO Much. I think we have it solved with Bios issue options. I will cross my fingers for a few days!!
"Colin Barnhorst" wrote in message Go over to microsoft.public.windows.64bit.general and address Charlie Russell in your subject line and "3.25 GB issue". Tell him in the body that you have heard he is a guru about this and ask what the skinny is. I hate to see you go off to the store for nothing.
"Zapper" wrote in message If I were running SLI, then the system would reserve 255 MB of RAM...but I am not, so that isn't it.
I just checked on one set of memory is cl 2.5, and the new ones are 3...probably to aggressive timing for the new ones..Fry's is closed(or at least not answering the phone) so I will bang on it tonite and see if I can slow it down enough to see it all
"Colin Barnhorst" wrote in message Hold on. Check your BIOS. This is very common, especially the 3.25 number. I have seen it discussed in the ng's frequently. My BIOS doesn't reserve any ram for whatever it is that the folks were talking about in the postings I read, so I haven't really tracked it. But don't jump to any conclusions here.
"Zapper" wrote in message Nope, running x64. It is a memory mismatch/bios/motherboard issue...
I reset the mobo and it saw 3.9 gb ram at first then dropped back down to 3.4 on successive restarts...off to eh store to drop another $50 to get matching memory...should have done it the first time..
thansk for the suggestion though "HDRDTD" wrote in message I'll bet you're running the 32-bit version of Vista.
What you're seeing is a know issue with XP that probably exists in Vista-32.
Vista-64 should be able to see all your memory.
"Zapper" wrote in message I am sure this is a total Newb question but.. I had 2GB in my machine...got the hankering for more..
So I now have 4 1gb sticks, 2 matched pairs. They are all installed and recognized by the bios- it says ddr dimms are in slots 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7.. and reads them as dual channel(so it recognizes that they are matched pairs.)
Vista sees 3.25 GB memory. Even if I had a pair of 1gbs, and a pair of 512's wouldn't it be more like 3.1GB?
Since I added this RAM, Vista is having trouble mounting my USB flash drive(I get the device driver message, it then says it correctly mounted my PNY USB 4Gb drive..but it never shows up). I have been using it for ReadyBoost(I plugged the Flash drive into another Vista machine and it sees it and says it is fast enough..so not corruption/bad flash drive)
Wow, that is hard to understand, and I wrote it!!!
The motherboard is an MSI K8N SLI(nForce 4)

I actaully had contacted MSI and this is their responce.
MSI Tech. 06/26/2006 This is the limitation of the mb: http://www.msicomputer.com/product/p_spec.asp?model=K8N_SLI-FI&class=mb Due to the South Bridge resource deployment, the system density will only be detected up to 3+ GB (not full 4GB) when each DIMM is installed with an 1GB memory module
I am going to write back to them and tell them that it can be solved for x64 OS's and tell them that these OS are going to be much more popular with their customers since they ship in the box, and the chips(CPU and Memory) are so affordable nowadays. For my system, the CPU AMD 64 3800+($150) and 4 GB memory($320) were cheaper then the top end video cards!!!!! I am running on a $100 MB so it is VERY affordable to go 64 bit nowadays.
"Colin Barnhorst" wrote in message

You're welcome. I knew heading for the store was going to be a disappointment.
"Zapper" wrote in message Thank you SOOOO Much. I think we have it solved with Bios issue options. I will cross my fingers for a few days!!
"Colin Barnhorst" wrote in message Go over to microsoft.public.windows.64bit.general and address Charlie Russell in your subject line and "3.25 GB issue". Tell him in the body that you have heard he is a guru about this and ask what the skinny is. I hate to see you go off to the store for nothing.
"Zapper" wrote in message If I were running SLI, then the system would reserve 255 MB of RAM...but I am not, so that isn't it.
I just checked on one set of memory is cl 2.5, and the new ones are 3...probably to aggressive timing for the new ones..Fry's is closed(or at least not answering the phone) so I will bang on it tonite and see if I can slow it down enough to see it all
"Colin Barnhorst" wrote in message Hold on. Check your BIOS. This is very common, especially the 3.25 number. I have seen it discussed in the ng's frequently. My BIOS doesn't reserve any ram for whatever it is that the folks were talking about in the postings I read, so I haven't really tracked it. But don't jump to any conclusions here.
"Zapper" wrote in message Nope, running x64. It is a memory mismatch/bios/motherboard issue...
I reset the mobo and it saw 3.9 gb ram at first then dropped back down to 3.4 on successive restarts...off to eh store to drop another $50 to get matching memory...should have done it the first time..
thansk for the suggestion though "HDRDTD" wrote in message I'll bet you're running the 32-bit version of Vista.
What you're seeing is a know issue with XP that probably exists in Vista-32.
Vista-64 should be able to see all your memory.
"Zapper" wrote in message I am sure this is a total Newb question but.. I had 2GB in my machine...got the hankering for more..
So I now have 4 1gb sticks, 2 matched pairs. They are all installed and recognized by the bios- it says ddr dimms are in slots 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7.. and reads them as dual channel(so it recognizes that they are matched pairs.)
Vista sees 3.25 GB memory. Even if I had a pair of 1gbs, and a pair of 512's wouldn't it be more like 3.1GB?
Since I added this RAM, Vista is having trouble mounting my USB flash drive(I get the device driver message, it then says it correctly mounted my PNY USB 4Gb drive..but it never shows up). I have been using it for ReadyBoost(I plugged the Flash drive into another Vista machine and it sees it and says it is fast enough..so not corruption/bad flash drive)
Wow, that is hard to understand, and I wrote it!!!
The motherboard is an MSI K8N SLI(nForce 4)

I know. I have been following over on the x64 group. It sure didn't take long to get a good result. They are good people.
"Zapper" wrote in message

I actaully had contacted MSI and this is their responce.
MSI Tech. 06/26/2006 This is the limitation of the mb: http://www.msicomputer.com/product/p_spec.asp?model=K8N_SLI-FI&class=mb Due to the South Bridge resource deployment, the system density will only be detected up to 3+ GB (not full 4GB) when each DIMM is installed with an 1GB memory module
I am going to write back to them and tell them that it can be solved for x64 OS's and tell them that these OS are going to be much more popular with their customers since they ship in the box, and the chips(CPU and Memory) are so affordable nowadays. For my system, the CPU AMD 64 3800+($150) and 4 GB memory($320) were cheaper then the top end video cards!!!!! I am running on a $100 MB so it is VERY affordable to go 64 bit nowadays.
"Colin Barnhorst" wrote in message You're welcome. I knew heading for the store was going to be a disappointment.
"Zapper" wrote in message Thank you SOOOO Much. I think we have it solved with Bios issue options. I will cross my fingers for a few days!!
"Colin Barnhorst" wrote in message Go over to microsoft.public.windows.64bit.general and address Charlie Russell in your subject line and "3.25 GB issue". Tell him in the body that you have heard he is a guru about this and ask what the skinny is. I hate to see you go off to the store for nothing.
"Zapper" wrote in message If I were running SLI, then the system would reserve 255 MB of RAM...but I am not, so that isn't it.
I just checked on one set of memory is cl 2.5, and the new ones are 3...probably to aggressive timing for the new ones..Fry's is closed(or at least not answering the phone) so I will bang on it tonite and see if I can slow it down enough to see it all
"Colin Barnhorst" wrote in message Hold on. Check your BIOS. This is very common, especially the 3.25 number. I have seen it discussed in the ng's frequently. My BIOS doesn't reserve any ram for whatever it is that the folks were talking about in the postings I read, so I haven't really tracked it. But don't jump to any conclusions here.
"Zapper" wrote in message Nope, running x64. It is a memory mismatch/bios/motherboard issue...
I reset the mobo and it saw 3.9 gb ram at first then dropped back down to 3.4 on successive restarts...off to eh store to drop another $50 to get matching memory...should have done it the first time..
thansk for the suggestion though "HDRDTD" wrote in message I'll bet you're running the 32-bit version of Vista.
What you're seeing is a know issue with XP that probably exists in Vista-32.
Vista-64 should be able to see all your memory.
"Zapper" wrote in message I am sure this is a total Newb question but.. I had 2GB in my machine...got the hankering for more..
So I now have 4 1gb sticks, 2 matched pairs. They are all installed and recognized by the bios- it says ddr dimms are in slots 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7.. and reads them as dual channel(so it recognizes that they are matched pairs.)
Vista sees 3.25 GB memory. Even if I had a pair of 1gbs, and a pair of 512's wouldn't it be more like 3.1GB?
Since I added this RAM, Vista is having trouble mounting my USB flash drive(I get the device driver message, it then says it correctly mounted my PNY USB 4Gb drive..but it never shows up). I have been using it for ReadyBoost(I plugged the Flash drive into another Vista machine and it sees it and says it is fast enough..so not corruption/bad flash drive)
Wow, that is hard to understand, and I wrote it!!!
The motherboard is an MSI K8N SLI(nForce 4)

Darn...it is the motherboard...BRAND NEW!!!!
Install 1 pair, 2 GB, take out and install other pair, 2 GB...install all 4 and get 3.4 GB....
The Bios also says that my VGA width is PCI "Zapper" wrote in message

I am sure this is a total Newb question but.. I had 2GB in my machine...got the hankering for more..
So I now have 4 1gb sticks, 2 matched pairs. They are all installed and recognized by the bios- it says ddr dimms are in slots 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7.. and reads them as dual channel(so it recognizes that they are matched pairs.)
Vista sees 3.25 GB memory. Even if I had a pair of 1gbs, and a pair of 512's wouldn't it be more like 3.1GB?
Since I added this RAM, Vista is having trouble mounting my USB flash drive(I get the device driver message, it then says it correctly mounted my PNY USB 4Gb drive..but it never shows up). I have been using it for ReadyBoost(I plugged the Flash drive into another Vista machine and it sees it and says it is fast enough..so not corruption/bad flash drive)
Wow, that is hard to understand, and I wrote it!!!
The motherboard is an MSI K8N SLI(nForce 4)

That's not unusual at all. Chances are the motherboard is just fine.
I would suggest reading the manual carefully where it describes how much memory is supported and how it's supported.
There might be an explanation in there explaining why you only see 3.4GB even tho 4GB is physically installed.
"Zapper" wrote in message

Darn...it is the motherboard...BRAND NEW!!!!
Install 1 pair, 2 GB, take out and install other pair, 2 GB...install all 4 and get 3.4 GB....
The Bios also says that my VGA width is PCI "Zapper" wrote in message I am sure this is a total Newb question but.. I had 2GB in my machine...got the hankering for more..
So I now have 4 1gb sticks, 2 matched pairs. They are all installed and recognized by the bios- it says ddr dimms are in slots 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7.. and reads them as dual channel(so it recognizes that they are matched pairs.)
Vista sees 3.25 GB memory. Even if I had a pair of 1gbs, and a pair of 512's wouldn't it be more like 3.1GB?
Since I added this RAM, Vista is having trouble mounting my USB flash drive(I get the device driver message, it then says it correctly mounted my PNY USB 4Gb drive..but it never shows up). I have been using it for ReadyBoost(I plugged the Flash drive into another Vista machine and it sees it and says it is fast enough..so not corruption/bad flash drive)
Wow, that is hard to understand, and I wrote it!!!
The motherboard is an MSI K8N SLI(nForce 4)

There are some threads in microsoft.public.windows.64bit.general that are applicable to x86 that you should drop in on and read. You most likely will find the explanations and tips you need.
"Zapper" wrote in message

Darn...it is the motherboard...BRAND NEW!!!!
Install 1 pair, 2 GB, take out and install other pair, 2 GB...install all 4 and get 3.4 GB....
The Bios also says that my VGA width is PCI "Zapper" wrote in message I am sure this is a total Newb question but.. I had 2GB in my machine...got the hankering for more..
So I now have 4 1gb sticks, 2 matched pairs. They are all installed and recognized by the bios- it says ddr dimms are in slots 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7.. and reads them as dual channel(so it recognizes that they are matched pairs.)
Vista sees 3.25 GB memory. Even if I had a pair of 1gbs, and a pair of 512's wouldn't it be more like 3.1GB?
Since I added this RAM, Vista is having trouble mounting my USB flash drive(I get the device driver message, it then says it correctly mounted my PNY USB 4Gb drive..but it never shows up). I have been using it for ReadyBoost(I plugged the Flash drive into another Vista machine and it sees it and says it is fast enough..so not corruption/bad flash drive)
Wow, that is hard to understand, and I wrote it!!!
The motherboard is an MSI K8N SLI(nForce 4)

Yep, sorry everyone.. Colin had already steered me to windows. x64 and Charlie pointed me to the correct info... This morning one of my other messages did not go through using Microsoft Communities, and I accidently sent this old message from my drafts folder..
Thanks for the suggestions all..
"Colin Barnhorst" wrote in message

There are some threads in microsoft.public.windows.64bit.general that are applicable to x86 that you should drop in on and read. You most likely will find the explanations and tips you need.
"Zapper" wrote in message Darn...it is the motherboard...BRAND NEW!!!!
Install 1 pair, 2 GB, take out and install other pair, 2 GB...install all 4 and get 3.4 GB....
The Bios also says that my VGA width is PCI "Zapper" wrote in message I am sure this is a total Newb question but.. I had 2GB in my machine...got the hankering for more..
So I now have 4 1gb sticks, 2 matched pairs. They are all installed and recognized by the bios- it says ddr dimms are in slots 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7.. and reads them as dual channel(so it recognizes that they are matched pairs.)
Vista sees 3.25 GB memory. Even if I had a pair of 1gbs, and a pair of 512's wouldn't it be more like 3.1GB?
Since I added this RAM, Vista is having trouble mounting my USB flash drive(I get the device driver message, it then says it correctly mounted my PNY USB 4Gb drive..but it never shows up). I have been using it for ReadyBoost(I plugged the Flash drive into another Vista machine and it sees it and says it is fast enough..so not corruption/bad flash drive)
Wow, that is hard to understand, and I wrote it!!!
The motherboard is an MSI K8N SLI(nForce 4)

I too felt a sense of deja vue vue.
"Zapper" wrote in message

Yep, sorry everyone.. Colin had already steered me to windows. x64 and Charlie pointed me to the correct info... This morning one of my other messages did not go through using Microsoft Communities, and I accidently sent this old message from my drafts folder..
Thanks for the suggestions all..
"Colin Barnhorst" wrote in message There are some threads in microsoft.public.windows.64bit.general that are applicable to x86 that you should drop in on and read. You most likely will find the explanations and tips you need.
"Zapper" wrote in message Darn...it is the motherboard...BRAND NEW!!!!
Install 1 pair, 2 GB, take out and install other pair, 2 GB...install all 4 and get 3.4 GB....
The Bios also says that my VGA width is PCI "Zapper" wrote in message I am sure this is a total Newb question but.. I had 2GB in my machine...got the hankering for more..
So I now have 4 1gb sticks, 2 matched pairs. They are all installed and recognized by the bios- it says ddr dimms are in slots 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7.. and reads them as dual channel(so it recognizes that they are matched pairs.)
Vista sees 3.25 GB memory. Even if I had a pair of 1gbs, and a pair of 512's wouldn't it be more like 3.1GB?
Since I added this RAM, Vista is having trouble mounting my USB flash drive(I get the device driver message, it then says it correctly mounted my PNY USB 4Gb drive..but it never shows up). I have been using it for ReadyBoost(I plugged the Flash drive into another Vista machine and it sees it and says it is fast enough..so not corruption/bad flash drive)
Wow, that is hard to understand, and I wrote it!!!
The motherboard is an MSI K8N SLI(nForce 4)