HP Pavilion HDX 4GB RAM Problems ??!!

I have a HDX9095ea which i've had for a month now, HP have released a couple of updated models, HDX9120ea and HDX9060ea, they both have 4GB of RAM.
So today i have installed 4GB of RAM, but Windows only shows 3GB of RAM, (BIOS says 4GB) and looking on the web Windows will only use around 3GB of RAM because it is 32 bit.
So does anyone know how HP has got round this so it's using all 4GB RAM ??
I've had a good look on HP website but no luck.

Thanks.

 

Vista 32bit, any x86 32bit OS, same issue - Read this http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/000811.html

 

to be honest with you - i dont even know why manufacturers sell 4 gigs of ram with 32 bit operating systems - i mean, the os wont even recognize past 3.4 gigs (i think thats the exact number)

the only real way around it is to upgrade to the 64-bit vista

 

Hi, thanks for your message, i've read sites like that one.

My question is HP are selling laptops with 4GB RAM installed with 32 bit windows vista.

So how does HP get round the RAM problem ??

I mean they'll be alot of people complaining to HP if they can only used 3GB RAM !!

The only thing i can find is that the on-board ATI graphics card has upto 2046mb memory available ??

So does that mean vista uses 2GB and the video card uses the other 2GB ?? if so how do i do that??

 

The Windows recognizes 2.8GB if it is 32bit.

Well I don't know how HP gets around the problem. Perhaps the people don't know about the 2.8GB problem. But HP DOES offer 64bit options.

 

HP doesn't get around the problem, they just offer you the 4GB of RAM if you want to buy it, but they tell you that to use the full 4GB you have to have a 64-bit Windows OS. Windows 32-bit only allows you to use 3.2GB of RAM, and there is no getting around it.

Even if you see that it's using the 2048MB for your video card, its still not using the full 4GB, because Windows 32-bit just can't manage more than 3.2GB.

 

Hi, i live in the UK, here you can only buy specific models, (example HDX 9095ea, HDX9120ea etc...)
In the US you can specifiy a custom build machine.
In the UK the HDX9120 and HDX9160 both come with 4GB Ram, with 32bit vista installed, so the customer thinks vista is using the whole 4GB Ram !!
And HP have advertised it that it uses 4GB RAM !!
Look a this -
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...en&os=2093&product=3562457&rule=35567&lang=en

Does anyone know what HP is doing to allow vista 32 bit to use 4GB RAM ?
I've already sent them an email asking the same question.

 

^ i really doubt hp does anything to get around the "problem" - its just the way the os is set up

id be willing to bet that if you ordered the system, there would be 2x2gb dimms in the slots - you'd have 4 gigs physically in the machine - but windows just wont recognize all of it

that advertisement just shows that 4 gigs are installed in the unit - it doesnt say: "32-bit windows recognizes all 4 gigs"

 

you need a 64bit OS to see past 3.2GB of RAM.

 

Windows 2003 will use the full 4GB RAM... Of course, unless you have access to an unused license from work (or something along thsoe lines), it will cost you $700 for the OS. I am running this on my 6910 and it works great. Faster than XP, way way faster than Vista x64. The only issue I have not been able to resolve is the non-functional SD card reader.

 

That's the thing with Windows. Server editions of Windows can see more than the 4GB of RAM, but workstation 32-bit versions of Windows can't see past the 3GB of RAM. Only seeing 3GB of RAM is not a limitation of 32-bit OS's, Windows workstation 32bit OS's limit you to 3GB of RAM. Sorry I didn't include this before, I just assumed that people who purchased laptops have workstation and not server OS's installed on them, as manufacturers don't offer server OS's on their laptops.