Why is there the Installed Memory: 4.00 GB & Available Memory ONLY: 536 MB

-2

This is a desktop computer, the problem is the difference between the installed memory versus the available memory. I search everywhere, for a fix to this problem.

Installed Physical Memory (RAM): 4.00 GB
Available Physical Memory: 536 MB- 2.20 GB
System information: HP-Pavilion, Windows Vista, Home Premium, 64-bit, Service Pack 2
Motherboard Model: FK522AA-ABA a6544f
Graphics (video card): Intel(R) G33/G31 Express Chipset Family
Total Available Graphics Memory: 286 MB
Dedicated video Memory: 0 MB
System Video Memory: 128 MB
Shared System Memory: 158 MB
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q600 @ 2.40GHz, 2400 Mhz, 4 core(s), 4 Logical Processors
BIOS Version/Date: American Megatrends Inc. 5.23, 4/21/2008
SMBIOS Version: 2.5

In the BIOS settings I am not seeing an option for Memory Remap. In fact, the only options I have is to set boot order and password.

If I go to msconfig to manual force maximum memory in the advanced options of the boot tab, it makes no difference, even though the changed settings do stick after restart.

However, if I start the pc in Safe Mode, then the available memory accesses all the memory. Hence, there must be a way to fix this issue?

I made no changes or upgrades to the computer, I bought it new from the HP website. But I still did a full memory diagnosis (passing 2 times), with no problems found.

It's registering everything in memory correctly, except for "Available Memory":

Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 4.00 GB
Total Physical Memory 3.99 GB
Available Physical Memory 1.82 GB
Total Virtual Memory 8.17 GB
Available Virtual Memory 5.81 GB
Page File Space 4.28 GB

Why is there 4 GB of physical memory installed but the pc only has access to 2 GB of memory?

Loop

Posted 2014-11-26T21:21:29.217

Reputation: 164

So you managed to tell us a lot of specs, but I failed to spot your actual question. Please Edit your question and tell us what your problem is and what you're looking for? – LPChip – 2014-11-26T21:23:43.720

Why is there 4 GB of physical memory installed but the pc only has access to 2 GB of memory? The pc is slow and I am looking for it to run faster and it would run faster if the total 4 GB of memory was accessible. Why is there 2 GB of memory missing and why can the pc not access the other 2 GB installed? – Loop – 2014-11-26T21:30:46.163

Can you please post a link to a screen shot of your Computer Properties window, and on of the Performance tab in your Task Manager? – Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007 – 2014-11-26T21:36:50.640

Onboard graphics chip, will use system RAM as it has none of its own. Are you running some graphics-intensive process/game/etc? (Intensive is going to be a relative term on a G31 chipset, which is about as low end as it gets these days;) – Tetsujin – 2014-11-26T21:37:16.790

@Tetsujin The Total Available Graphics Memory is only using 286 MB. No, I'm not running intensive graphics or any gamer/processes, and yes it's a G33/G31 chipset. Thus, it is as low as it gets and not using much memory at all. – Loop – 2014-11-26T21:52:02.280

OK according to both those screenshots (I inserted them into your question for you) you have 4GB of RAM total, and you're currently using 2.19GB of it. So what makes you think you only have 2GB available to Windows? – Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007 – 2014-11-26T21:52:14.097

possible duplicate of How do I find what's eating up all of my system's memory? (not SuperFetch)

– Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007 – 2014-11-26T22:20:56.180

When I bought the pc brand new, the available memory was 2.20 GB (sitting in idle, no new programs installed). Where is the other 1.80 GB? A brand new computer uses 1.80 GB while in idle and no new programs installed, just factory installs? – Loop – 2014-11-26T23:10:16.077

1Why don't you open Task Manager and see what processes are using that much memory? – Rsya Studios – 2014-11-27T02:11:43.227

2@Loop The unavailable memory is being used by Windows and other programs. I think you just misunderstand the term "available memory". – Louis – 2014-11-27T02:45:22.090

@RsyaStudios I bought the computer new and it was still using up that much memory. I installed more now, so it uses a bit more but not much. I cannot find how it could possibly use that much memory, that's the problem...? – Loop – 2014-11-27T03:21:08.347

Could it be because some programs preinstalled were using it? No harm in checking though-putting it in descending order makes it easier. – Rsya Studios – 2014-11-27T03:23:25.820

@Louis I never seen this before on any other computer, unless it has a problem. For example, on my Windows Ultimate x86, it has 3 GB memory installed and when I restart it and let it sit idling, then it shows 2.18 GB available memory (or something close to that, which is about right).

As another example, my windows 8.1 x64, it has 2 GB of memory and when I restart it and let it sit, then it shows 1.20 GB available (more or less, which is about right).

Yet this pc, 4 GB total, and brand new out of the box it was 2.20 GB available. I never seen the available GB above 2.20 GB. Why? – Loop – 2014-11-27T03:31:41.693

1@Loop Apologies, I misunderstood. Check out the answers, start digging, and report back. I'll upvote if your efforts reveal a mystery or an obvious answer (didn't down vote, but you've gotta try something)... – Louis – 2014-11-27T04:00:32.970

Thank you @Louis I take every answer seriously and do look into everything someone suggests. Not sure why I got all the downvotes. – Loop – 2014-11-27T04:14:40.947

run RAMMAp, this shows you the memory usage in detail: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/ff700229.aspx

– magicandre1981 – 2014-11-27T04:45:23.800

@magicandre1981 Thank you, that's helpful. – Loop – 2014-11-27T05:01:47.393

post the pictures of RAMMap or the RMP file so that we can see where your Windows uses too much RAM. – magicandre1981 – 2014-11-27T16:31:51.627

@magicandre1981 About 60% of the memory is going to "svchost.exe (LocalSystemNetworkRestricted)" is that normal? – Loop – 2014-11-28T01:00:14.107

use taskmgr to see which services are hosted by this exe: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-vista/view-services-running-on-your-computer-by-using-task-manager.

– magicandre1981 – 2014-11-28T04:54:04.387

have you identified the services? – magicandre1981 – 2014-11-28T16:59:43.390

Yes, I am in the middle of writing out a list of what I found. Thank you @magicandre1981 – Loop – 2014-11-28T17:01:57.440

Answers

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The solution was a combination of many different things:

The "Task Manager" calculates all the memory, but in the list of processes it doesn't list every instance. I downloaded a program called "Process Explorer" which gave a very detailed list of every instance.
One of the processes in the list is: "svchost.exe (LocalSystemNetworkRestricted)" which "Process Explorer" reveals is called "Superfetch". Supposedly it's described as "Maintains and improves system performance over time."

Research suggests that SuperFetch doesn't work well in Windows Vista, it just hogs memory and resources. So, I disabled it by right-clicking on the "My Computer" icon on the desktop > "Manage" > "Services and Applications > "Services" > Finding "Superfetch" and right-clicking it to see properties, then "Disable".

Using "Program Explorer" I discovered that if you download "RealPlayer" then there is an option to download any audio or video, which shows up when you hover the mouse over any media, like for example youtube videos. This takes up a lot of memory (I rarely use it but it's always active in the background). I also disabled this is "Computer Management", it's called "RealNetworks Downloader Resolver Service".
I am not sure how I got this program and had no idea it was even running but there was an "Amazon Toolbar", called "Smart Search" or something similar. This uses A LOT of memory. I had a difficult time finding it in the computer because it's not in the install/uninstall section. I finally discovered it in my Programs folder and used the uninstall icon.
The worst cases were Zonealarm firewall and AVG Antivirus. I uninstalled both and researched for a lightweight but powerful antivirus. Research suggested "Panda Cloud Antivirus". Huge improvement!
I also discovered that Windows Vista processes and stores "Available Memory" differently than Windows 7, Win 8, & Win 8.1 - so it shows up differently in "System Information".

Thus, if I am using Vista then it's going to show less "Available Memory" than other operating systems because Vista handles memory differently and uses as much memory as possible; instead of trying to reserve as much as possible. It's designed that way so that the unused memory is not just "sitting there" but actually being used. Hence the computer fan will kick in higher gear quite a bit too.

When I discovered that there are many programs that start automatically in "Computer Management" and are not being used or needed, I researched which programs in Vista that could be disabled or set to "Manual". I used this link to determine which ones: http://www.optimizingpc.com/vista/optimizing_windows_services.html That improved the memory performance too.
1. I also put "msconfig.exe" in the "run..." of the "Start" menu and within the "Startup" tab I unchecked (disabling) programs and processes that didn't need to be started at startup.

In conclusion, when I first bought the computer, brand new, I never saw the available memory above 2.20 GB out of 4 GB, mostly because of the "Superfetch" ("svchost.exe LocalSystemNetworkRestricted") - among other unneeded programs and process that come default to factory settings. And I didn't know how Vista processed memory differently. I cannot remember which Antivirus came standard, but I am sure it was a huge source of memory usage too.

I bought the computer with 4 GB of memory because I like to have many tabs and windows open simultaneously and I didn't want to be slowed down but Vista is pretty chunky, so I am looking to upgrade to Wins 7 soon too, which should help heaps.

Thank you all for your answers and help, I am very grateful! I hope this information helps others.

Loop

Posted 2014-11-26T21:21:29.217

Reputation: 164

Almost everything you've said above is wrong and you've just made things worse. Memory that before might have been providing you some benefit is now just being wasted. – David Schwartz – 2014-11-29T05:55:16.133

Despite what you say, this answer has been extremely effective. Before my computer was sluggish & slow when many processes were open. But now I can have those same processes running simultaneously without lag or slowing down (since I got rid of the memory hogs).

Plus, I trust my research and the working results, not one persons opinion. Especially an opinion from one who downvotes the question, downvotes the answer & also gets some kind of satisfaction out of making unconstructive comments that have nothing to do with pointing me in a direction that you consider more productive or effective. – Loop – 2014-11-29T08:16:58.040

If that's true, then you asked the wrong question. You should have asked why your computer was sluggish and slow and what you could do to speed it up. It's possible that by coincidence or luck you got the answer that would solve your problem, but the net result is that you still don't understand what the problem was. Your system is now wasting memory is was using before. If that makes things better, it's due to a problem you never diagnosed. – David Schwartz – 2014-11-29T08:53:59.403

I asked this question because I was unsure why the "available memory" was only 2GB (when after restart and sitting idle - even after brand new out of the box) when I had 4GB in total (hence more memory = faster computer). Some of the answers here revealed that 2GB was being used and simultaneously I have 2GB of available memory "ready to be used" (thus 4GB in total). So my task then was to find out what programs/processes were taking up the 2GB of the 4GB total memory... – Loop – 2014-11-29T09:13:52.420

... and I discovered that most of the memory was being used on programs/processes that I didn't need or want which was hogging the memory, thus the answer is based on those discoveries and as icing on the cake I also discovered the computer was faster and more effective. Hence, if someone else is wondering why their 4GB Vista computer is hogging up 2GB of their 4GB memory, then this would be a helpful answer. – Loop – 2014-11-29T09:14:31.097

And the answer to that is very simple -- memory is "use it or lose it". You can't use 2GB today in order to use 6GB tomorrow. If you're thinking "I want the memory free now so I can use it later", that's total nonsense. You can use it now and use it later. There is no harm to "hogging" memory when that memory is not needed for any other purpose. You may have accidentally fixed some other problem you had, but that was sheer luck and, unfortunately, it left you with some misunderstandings that, also unfortunately, are causing you to mislead other people. – David Schwartz – 2014-11-29T09:15:20.277

My point exactly! The memory was needed for other purposes, thus the computer slowed down and got sluggish when the memory got down to 500MB of available memory. Thus the processes/programs mentioned above where hogging the memory. Now when I restart the pc and let it sit idle, there is 3.07GB, not 2.20GB, thus it doesn't get slow and sluggish because it doesn't reach the 500MB of available memory since there is more memory to start with. This is very simple. – Loop – 2014-11-29T09:32:16.060

Except you didn't fix the actual problem. Whatever was causing that memory not to be used for a more important purpose when needed is probably still broken. And now you're wasting a ton of memory that could be used to improve your performance. And, even worse, now that you know better, you are still trying to mislead other people. Memory is use it or lose it. Before you were using it. Now you are losing it. You broke something to compensate for your problem rather than fixing it. – David Schwartz – 2014-11-29T09:41:50.110

Nothing was broke, just a sluggish pc when having many processes/programs open simultaneously because the memory was reaching the end of it's rope. I could have gotten the same result by adding more memory, say 6GB, but instead I simply got rid of processes/programs which I was not needing (but the pc was using), which freed up more memory. – Loop – 2014-11-29T09:48:43.797

Something was broken because you shouldn't need to waste memory under normal conditions. And that something may very well still be broken. (Or you may have fixed it but broken something else in the process, which seems quite likely to me.) Why is your system wasting so much memory now? Why do you have to make the painful tradeoff of wasting memory now in order to use it later? There's no reason you should have to. – David Schwartz – 2014-11-29T09:57:45.427

The fact is that based on what I use the pc for, I should have a pc that has at least 5GB memory, so it's doing very effectively considering the conditions. – Loop – 2014-11-29T10:00:09.000

Based on your screenshots:

The "Available Memory" in the System Info (screenshot 3) is showing you the amount of RAM that's currently available to you to use.

You're currently using a little more than 2 GB of your 4 GB total RAM (see memory graphs in second screenshot), so you have just under 2 GB left and "available" to you.

If you were using only 1 GB of RAM, then it would report about 3 GB available. If you were using 3.5 GB it would report about 500 MB available, etc.

Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007

Posted 2014-11-26T21:21:29.217

Reputation: 103 763

Yes, it does show that. But the way the computer functions is not handling itself in that manner. If I overload the computer with many processes, instead of accessing the remainder memory, it simply slows the computer down because it cannot access the remainder memory available. – Loop – 2014-11-26T22:05:08.987

You've got another problem then because Windows is seeing and using all your memory. Next time it's acting slow, use the Resource Monitor and or Perfmon (both built into Windows) to determine what's actually busy/stressed (CPU, memory, disk, etc.) – Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007 – 2014-11-26T22:07:30.147

If I load it in Safe Mode, the available memory says: 3.20 GB because it's not using much memory in Safe Mode. Do you get what I am saying? – Loop – 2014-11-26T22:09:30.587

If you load it in Safe Mode less stuff is running (because you're in Safe Mode), so you're using less memory, and therefore more is available to you. – Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007 – 2014-11-26T22:11:15.163

Exactly my point. But if I don't load it in safe mode, then the available memory is at 1.80 Gb - 2.20 GB, when it's just sitting idle. Where is the other 2GB of memory? Where is the pc using the memory? Why is there not 3.20 available to me (unless I am in safe mode)? That's what I am trying to figure out. It's like there is a memory leak somewhere because at tops there is ONLY 2.20GB available, so where is the other memory out of the total 4 GB installed, where is going to? How is the computer using that memory? – Loop – 2014-11-26T22:15:06.040

Things like drivers and start-up utilities use memory. "Where is the pc using the memory?" Look a the task manager, it shows you what processes are running and how much memory they are each using. Eliminate the ones that you don't need and/or that are using too much memory for your liking. PS: What you're experiencing nothing like a memory leak. :)

– Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007 – 2014-11-26T22:18:47.907

See How do I find what's eating up all of my system's memory?

– Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007 – 2014-11-26T22:21:26.607

When I bought the pc new. Brand new out the case, I started the pc and the available was 2.0 GB. No programs installed except factory install and in idle. So you're telling me that this pc uses 2.0 GB when there's almost nothing on it? I have a difficult time with that. What is the point of have 4 GB memory if you never have access to 2 GB of it? – Loop – 2014-11-26T22:55:43.190

Have you ensured there's not a bunch of HP bloatware running? We can't see you computer, you need to look and see what processes are eating up that memory. ;)

– Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007 – 2014-11-27T14:02:00.620

I used http://www.decrap.org/ when I first bought it.

– Loop – 2014-11-28T00:56:41.580

-1

When Windows starts, lots of programs run. As well as several dozen services, there are also a number of programs scheduled separately to run either when the computer starts or when a user logs on.

A few of these programs check something and then exit, but most wait for some condition which they are monitoring. As long as there is free memory available they will remain in memory: new programs will run in the free memory.

When a new program is scheduled and there is no free memory for it, then existing programs will be written out to the swap file and their memory becomes available for the new program.

Programs will not be swapped out "on spec", in case their memory is needed, because the next program to need that memory may be the very process which has just been swapped.

However, there are "RAM booster" programs which will force swapping of suspended programs: these can be useful on systems where high-priority programs need to be started as quickly as possible, and cannot afford to wait until other programs are swapped out before they can run.

This is a very simplistic overview. In fact, programs are not swapped in their entirety, but in pages of a defined memory size (hence the name "pagefile" for the Windows swap file), but the principle remains the same: RAM will continue to fill up until the total memory requirements of all the running programs exceed the physical memory available.

I hope this allows you to see that your memory is not lost: it will be made available when it is needed, but it is not immediately free for new programs (or expanded memory requirements for existing programs).

As for why an "out-of-the-box" Windows system needs 2GB of running programs, now that's another matter ...

AFH

Posted 2014-11-26T21:21:29.217

Reputation: 15 470

Yes, I understand how memory works but I appreciate the time and care you took to explain it, perhaps helpful to others. Indeed, brand new out of the box, the memory was showing 2.20 GB available. I have installed a few programs since then but nothing that would be taking up 1.80 GB of memory. – Loop – 2014-11-27T00:44:46.680

Of course 286 MB of that memory is going to graphics and other memory going to odds and ends in windows system and programs but how to figure out why the rest of the memory is gone? – Loop – 2014-11-27T00:46:54.197

If you look Task Manager's Processes tab and tick Show processes from all users you will see just how many processes there are and how much memory they require (make sure Memory Usage is ticked in View -> Select Columns...). Any unaccounted memory is probably in kernel caches. – AFH – 2014-11-27T10:47:15.270

About 60% of the memory is going to "svchost.exe (LocalSystemNetworkRestricted)" is that normal? – Loop – 2014-11-28T00:59:26.543

My W7 system has a dozen instances of svchost.exe, with a total memory requirement of ~200MB, so your figure does seem abnormal. You can try restarting the associated services. (My W7 system is a media server, so it is not set up for doing system investigations.) – AFH – 2014-11-28T13:05:25.417

Yes, with the program "Process Explorer" I see many instances of "svchost.exe" too but the "(LocalSystemNetworkRestricted)" is the biggest use of memory. I researched it and discovered that it's called SuperFetch and designed to keep track of what you open most often so the pc can open without delay. I disabled it and that helped. As research suggested, it doesn't work well compared to W7. I didn't see it in the Task Manager, so it seemed the used memory wasn't be accounted for. Thank you for the information. – Loop – 2014-11-28T15:29:38.403

Why is there the Installed Memory: 4.00 GB & Available Memory ONLY: 536 MB - 2.20 GB

Answers