Re: Problem with RAM

On Mon, 27 Jul 2009 14:40:52 +0530, ShadowVexx
<> wrote:


> Hello everybody, My problem is that my windows Vista is using 70% of the
> RAM that it detects i have 4GB of ram for the PC and i was wondering if
> there was a problem with my computer cause now everything is really slow
> even opening up the Task Manager. So if anybody could please help me it
> would be greatly appreciated.


Several points, and questions:

1. All 32-bit client versions of Windows (not just Vista/XP) have a
4GB address space. That's the theoretical upper limit beyond which you
can not go.

But you can't use the entire 4GB of address space. Even though you
have a 4GB address space, you can only use *around* 3.1GB of RAM.
That's because some of that space is used by hardware and is not
available to the operating system and applications. The amount you can
use varies, depending on what hardware you have installed, but can
range from as little as 2GB to as much as 3.5GB. It's usually around
3.1GB.

Note that the hardware is using the address *space*, not the actual
RAM itself. If you have a greater amount of RAM, the rest of the RAM
goes unused because there is no address space to map it to.

2. So, assuming that you have 3.1GB of usable RAM, the 70% you are
using is around 2.2GB.

3. 2.2GB isn't an enormously high number, but it's high for some
people. How much is used depends on what you have running, so tell us
what apps you have running.

4. High RAM usage and slow performance are often caused by malware
infection. What anti-virus and anti-spyware applications do you run?
Are they kept up to date?

--
Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience
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