Aspire 5630 with windows 7 professional only registers 3GB ram out of 4GB installed

Advisor-4
Advisor-4 Member Posts: 2 New User

Hi All,

I have installed windows 7 Professional on my Aspire 5630 laptop and increased the memory from 2Gb to 4GB but it tells me that only 3GB is usable.  I have tried all the suggested methods on the various sites but none work. Does anyone know of  of a BIOS update for this model?

 

Answers

  • billsey
    billsey ACE Posts: 34,291 Trailblazer

    This is normal if you have installed the 32 bit version of Windows, in fact it's the single biggest reason why someone would upgrade from the 32 bit version to the 64 bit version. The 32 bit can't address a full 4GB, a 64 bit can do 4GB and much higher (certainly much higher than motheboards allow).

     

    To switch from 32 bit to 64 bit you can use the same CD Key, but you'll have to iinstall from scratch and reinstall all your applications. An upgrade version of Windows won't work, since you aren't upgrading but instead are installing from scratch.

    Click on "Like" if you find my answer useful or click on "Yes" if it answers your question.
  • Advisor-4
    Advisor-4 Member Posts: 2 New User

    Thank you billsey, for your prompt reply (I have been away for a few days) I should have stated in my message that this is a new install of windows 7 on a newly formatted drive and it is 64 bit. This is why I was asking about a new BIOS for this laptop. Acer do not list any windows 7 information for this computer. PS it was Vista 32 bit home premium before.