64 Bit 2GB of my RAM disappeared

  • Thread starter Thread starter Richj44
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R

Richj44

Hello. I am running Vista 64 Home Premium. My relevant system specs:
Asus P5B-E mobo (Intel 965 chipset)
Q6600
4GB OCZ PC 6400 RAM.

I have been running this configuration for 6 months or so and *just* last
night, I noticed that Windows is no longer recognizing the full 4GB of RAM.
I first noticed something out of the ordinary when gaming, and the game began
to stutter badly due to disk swapping, which never happened in the past.
When I tabbed out of the game I saw my "All CPU" gadget showed 99%
utilization, which again, never used to happen. After rebooting and checking
a few more things (including turning down graphics settings on the game), I
realized that the CPU meter was only showing 2046M of RAM. I am absolutely
certain that it normally showed 4096, but I don't know when or how long it's
been showing only 2046.

I verified that Windows indeed is only seeing 2046 by several other methods,
including DXDiag and a couple of system commands I found while researching
the issue. (Winver in an elevated command prompt, and systeminfo both show
2046).

Memory remapping is still enabled in BIOS. If I disable it, Windows sees
something over 3GB 3096 or something, I forget the exact amount). But with
remapping enabled, I have lost 2GB.

Finally, I ran Memtest86 (not for long this time, about 30 minutes. But
enough to ensure that it did see all 4GB and it all at least passed a few
tests. I have run Memtest for over 24 hours previously on this RAM and it
passed).

I suspect something I installed has hosed Windows so that it no longer sees
the RAM but have no idea what. Like I said, I don't know exactly when this
began and I haven't installed any software recently...hmm. Except for a
Windows update on 7/22, the Search 4.0 update. I'm going to uninstall it and
see if it makes a difference.

But if anyone has any other thoughts or ideas I would sure appreciate
hearing them.

Thanks!
 
"Richj44" <Richj44@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:A199CA04-31C5-46AA-9B05-0DAF197DCC26@microsoft.com...
> Hello. I am running Vista 64 Home Premium. My relevant system specs:
> Asus P5B-E mobo (Intel 965 chipset)
> Q6600
> 4GB OCZ PC 6400 RAM.
>
> I have been running this configuration for 6 months or so and *just* last
> night, I noticed that Windows is no longer recognizing the full 4GB of
> RAM.
> I first noticed something out of the ordinary when gaming, and the game
> began
> to stutter badly due to disk swapping, which never happened in the past.
> When I tabbed out of the game I saw my "All CPU" gadget showed 99%
> utilization, which again, never used to happen. After rebooting and
> checking
> a few more things (including turning down graphics settings on the game),
> I
> realized that the CPU meter was only showing 2046M of RAM. I am
> absolutely
> certain that it normally showed 4096, but I don't know when or how long
> it's
> been showing only 2046.
>
> I verified that Windows indeed is only seeing 2046 by several other
> methods,
> including DXDiag and a couple of system commands I found while researching
> the issue. (Winver in an elevated command prompt, and systeminfo both
> show
> 2046).
>
> Memory remapping is still enabled in BIOS. If I disable it, Windows sees
> something over 3GB 3096 or something, I forget the exact amount). But
> with
> remapping enabled, I have lost 2GB.
>
> Finally, I ran Memtest86 (not for long this time, about 30 minutes. But
> enough to ensure that it did see all 4GB and it all at least passed a few
> tests. I have run Memtest for over 24 hours previously on this RAM and it
> passed).
>
> I suspect something I installed has hosed Windows so that it no longer
> sees
> the RAM but have no idea what. Like I said, I don't know exactly when
> this
> began and I haven't installed any software recently...hmm. Except for a
> Windows update on 7/22, the Search 4.0 update. I'm going to uninstall it
> and
> see if it makes a difference.
>
> But if anyone has any other thoughts or ideas I would sure appreciate
> hearing them.
>
> Thanks!

Have you checked that it isnt physically loose in the slot. Try reseating
your ram sticks.
 
Yes, I checked that the ram is seated properly. Also please note that the
BIOS and Memtest both see all 4 gig. I ran Memtest for 10 hours last night
with no errors.

Thanks anyway,

RJ
 
"Richj44" <Richj44@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:A199CA04-31C5-46AA-9B05-0DAF197DCC26@microsoft.com...
> Hello. I am running Vista 64 Home Premium. My relevant system specs:
> Asus P5B-E mobo (Intel 965 chipset)
> Q6600
> 4GB OCZ PC 6400 RAM.
>
> I have been running this configuration for 6 months or so and *just* last
> night, I noticed that Windows is no longer recognizing the full 4GB of
> RAM.
> I first noticed something out of the ordinary when gaming, and the game
> began
> to stutter badly due to disk swapping, which never happened in the past.
> When I tabbed out of the game I saw my "All CPU" gadget showed 99%
> utilization, which again, never used to happen. After rebooting and
> checking
> a few more things (including turning down graphics settings on the game),
> I
> realized that the CPU meter was only showing 2046M of RAM. I am
> absolutely
> certain that it normally showed 4096, but I don't know when or how long
> it's
> been showing only 2046.
>
> I verified that Windows indeed is only seeing 2046 by several other
> methods,
> including DXDiag and a couple of system commands I found while researching
> the issue. (Winver in an elevated command prompt, and systeminfo both
> show
> 2046).
>
> Memory remapping is still enabled in BIOS. If I disable it, Windows sees
> something over 3GB 3096 or something, I forget the exact amount). But
> with
> remapping enabled, I have lost 2GB.
>
> Finally, I ran Memtest86 (not for long this time, about 30 minutes. But
> enough to ensure that it did see all 4GB and it all at least passed a few
> tests. I have run Memtest for over 24 hours previously on this RAM and it
> passed).
>
> I suspect something I installed has hosed Windows so that it no longer
> sees
> the RAM but have no idea what. Like I said, I don't know exactly when
> this
> began and I haven't installed any software recently...hmm. Except for a
> Windows update on 7/22, the Search 4.0 update. I'm going to uninstall it
> and
> see if it makes a difference.
>
> But if anyone has any other thoughts or ideas I would sure appreciate
> hearing them.
>
> Thanks!


Lower the dram speed to 667 and see if anything changes.
 
Colin,

Thanks for the suggestion. Nothing changes when I lower the speed of the
RAM. I took a spare HD I had lying around, formatted it, and did a clean
install of Vista Home Premium 64 and it sees all 4 GB properly.

This is not a hardware issue. Nothing is loose. Nothing is defective.

Something hosed my original Vista install and prevents it from seeing half
of the 4GB of installed RAM. Whether it's Vista itself or one of the many
programs I have installed, I have no idea because I don't know exactly when
the problem began, I only know when I first noticed it. And at that time the
only thing I had done recently was to install a Vista update and the game,
"Oblivion". I have installed, uninstalled, and reinstalled Oblivion several
times on this Vista install with no problems, however, so I really doubt
that's the culprit.

Perhaps as I gradually reinstall all my games and apps over the next several
weeks I will find the culprit the hard way. Or I suppose there's a remote
possibility that MS Support might actually turn out to be helpful. They
replied today by telling me to 1: update my BIOS
2: enable memory remapping
or 3: make sure I'm running 64 bit Vista.

Considering I covered all three of those points in my request for support,
it was a disappointing response to say the least.
"Colin Barnhorst" wrote:

> "Richj44" <Richj44@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:A199CA04-31C5-46AA-9B05-0DAF197DCC26@microsoft.com...
> > Hello. I am running Vista 64 Home Premium. My relevant system specs:
> > Asus P5B-E mobo (Intel 965 chipset)
> > Q6600
> > 4GB OCZ PC 6400 RAM.
> >
> > I have been running this configuration for 6 months or so and *just* last
> > night, I noticed that Windows is no longer recognizing the full 4GB of
> > RAM.
> > I first noticed something out of the ordinary when gaming, and the game
> > began
> > to stutter badly due to disk swapping, which never happened in the past.
> > When I tabbed out of the game I saw my "All CPU" gadget showed 99%
> > utilization, which again, never used to happen. After rebooting and
> > checking
> > a few more things (including turning down graphics settings on the game),
> > I
> > realized that the CPU meter was only showing 2046M of RAM. I am
> > absolutely
> > certain that it normally showed 4096, but I don't know when or how long
> > it's
> > been showing only 2046.
> >
> > I verified that Windows indeed is only seeing 2046 by several other
> > methods,
> > including DXDiag and a couple of system commands I found while researching
> > the issue. (Winver in an elevated command prompt, and systeminfo both
> > show
> > 2046).
> >
> > Memory remapping is still enabled in BIOS. If I disable it, Windows sees
> > something over 3GB 3096 or something, I forget the exact amount). But
> > with
> > remapping enabled, I have lost 2GB.
> >
> > Finally, I ran Memtest86 (not for long this time, about 30 minutes. But
> > enough to ensure that it did see all 4GB and it all at least passed a few
> > tests. I have run Memtest for over 24 hours previously on this RAM and it
> > passed).
> >
> > I suspect something I installed has hosed Windows so that it no longer
> > sees
> > the RAM but have no idea what. Like I said, I don't know exactly when
> > this
> > began and I haven't installed any software recently...hmm. Except for a
> > Windows update on 7/22, the Search 4.0 update. I'm going to uninstall it
> > and
> > see if it makes a difference.
> >
> > But if anyone has any other thoughts or ideas I would sure appreciate
> > hearing them.
> >
> > Thanks!
>
>
> Lower the dram speed to 667 and see if anything changes.
>
 
Problem solved. It turns out the culprit is indeed Oblivion, or one of the
patches or mods I installed along with it. The bad part is, apparently it's
a one-way street. Uninstalling Oblivion, or using system restore to return
to a point prior to initially installing it, doesn't help. Once it loses the
2GB of RAM there's no "fixing" it.

Luckily I have been imaging my drive every step of the way, so I could
quickly return it to a pre-Oblivion state (thanks, True Image 11!).

Thanks to all who tried to help. I'd still love to hear an explanation of
what happens and how it happens, but at least I know now how to avoid having
it happen again. Oblivion's a cool game, but not *that* cool.

RJ
 
Hmmm. I wonder if Oblivion modified your boot configuration files. If so,
that's seriously naughty. But it would be something that would behave like
this. (There's a switch that you can add to your boot configuration that
limits the amount of memory used - very helpful when trying to troubleshoot
a problem, but NOT something a game install should be mucking with!!!)

--
Charlie.
"Richj44" <Richj44@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:838232FB-138B-4557-B597-BCB13AEFFA63@microsoft.com...
> Problem solved. It turns out the culprit is indeed Oblivion, or one of
> the
> patches or mods I installed along with it. The bad part is, apparently
> it's
> a one-way street. Uninstalling Oblivion, or using system restore to
> return
> to a point prior to initially installing it, doesn't help. Once it loses
> the
> 2GB of RAM there's no "fixing" it.
>
> Luckily I have been imaging my drive every step of the way, so I could
> quickly return it to a pre-Oblivion state (thanks, True Image 11!).
>
> Thanks to all who tried to help. I'd still love to hear an explanation of
> what happens and how it happens, but at least I know now how to avoid
> having
> it happen again. Oblivion's a cool game, but not *that* cool.
>
> RJ
 
Charlie,

Thanks for the thoughts. Is there some way I can check the boot
configuration file(s) to determine if this switch is indeed limiting the
amount of RAM Vista sees?

I still have a long way to go before I have my new drive loaded with
everything, but the old drive is sitting intact in an external closure. If
there was a way to determine if this is indeed the problem, and to correct
it, it would sure save a lot of hassle.

Thanks,

RJ

"Charlie Russel - MVP" wrote:

> Hmmm. I wonder if Oblivion modified your boot configuration files. If so,
> that's seriously naughty. But it would be something that would behave like
> this. (There's a switch that you can add to your boot configuration that
> limits the amount of memory used - very helpful when trying to troubleshoot
> a problem, but NOT something a game install should be mucking with!!!)
>
> --
> Charlie.
> "Richj44" <Richj44@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:838232FB-138B-4557-B597-BCB13AEFFA63@microsoft.com...
> > Problem solved. It turns out the culprit is indeed Oblivion, or one of
> > the
> > patches or mods I installed along with it. The bad part is, apparently
> > it's
> > a one-way street. Uninstalling Oblivion, or using system restore to
> > return
> > to a point prior to initially installing it, doesn't help. Once it loses
> > the
> > 2GB of RAM there's no "fixing" it.
> >
> > Luckily I have been imaging my drive every step of the way, so I could
> > quickly return it to a pre-Oblivion state (thanks, True Image 11!).
> >
> > Thanks to all who tried to help. I'd still love to hear an explanation of
> > what happens and how it happens, but at least I know now how to avoid
> > having
> > it happen again. Oblivion's a cool game, but not *that* cool.
> >
> > RJ
>
>
 
Certainly - a tool like Vista Boot Pro or EasyBCD should do the job. They'll
show you what your boot configuration is without the ugliness of trying to
interpret and use the ghastly MS command line for it. (Bcdedit.exe is easily
the most user hostile MS tool since Edlin.)

--
Charlie.
http://msmvps.com/blogs/xperts64
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/charlie.russel


"Richj44" <Richj44@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:82BC2A54-78BE-41A6-A844-B2DD5FACD434@microsoft.com...
> Charlie,
>
> Thanks for the thoughts. Is there some way I can check the boot
> configuration file(s) to determine if this switch is indeed limiting the
> amount of RAM Vista sees?
>
> I still have a long way to go before I have my new drive loaded with
> everything, but the old drive is sitting intact in an external closure.
> If
> there was a way to determine if this is indeed the problem, and to correct
> it, it would sure save a lot of hassle.
>
> Thanks,
>
> RJ
>
> "Charlie Russel - MVP" wrote:
>
>> Hmmm. I wonder if Oblivion modified your boot configuration files. If so,
>> that's seriously naughty. But it would be something that would behave
>> like
>> this. (There's a switch that you can add to your boot configuration that
>> limits the amount of memory used - very helpful when trying to
>> troubleshoot
>> a problem, but NOT something a game install should be mucking with!!!)
>>
>> --
>> Charlie.
>> "Richj44" <Richj44@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:838232FB-138B-4557-B597-BCB13AEFFA63@microsoft.com...
>> > Problem solved. It turns out the culprit is indeed Oblivion, or one of
>> > the
>> > patches or mods I installed along with it. The bad part is, apparently
>> > it's
>> > a one-way street. Uninstalling Oblivion, or using system restore to
>> > return
>> > to a point prior to initially installing it, doesn't help. Once it
>> > loses
>> > the
>> > 2GB of RAM there's no "fixing" it.
>> >
>> > Luckily I have been imaging my drive every step of the way, so I could
>> > quickly return it to a pre-Oblivion state (thanks, True Image 11!).
>> >
>> > Thanks to all who tried to help. I'd still love to hear an explanation
>> > of
>> > what happens and how it happens, but at least I know now how to avoid
>> > having
>> > it happen again. Oblivion's a cool game, but not *that* cool.
>> >
>> > RJ
>>
>>
 
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