32bit and 3.25GB of RAM

[Revilo]

Alright, you lot are tech savvy so I need some help. Just been checking out my system and discovered I'm running Windows XP 32bit. Now, this makes my 4GB of RAM pretty pointless as it only detects 3.25GB of RAM if it's 32bit. Are there any solutions to this, short of getting a new 64bit OS?

I don't know if it's relevant or not, but my D: drive isn't formatted. Could this be part of the problem or is it totally unrelated?

Cheers

 

[Cyborg Eastern European]

From what I know: NO.
That the same with pretty much any 32bit OS though, right?

 

[Revilo]

Yeh, it can't pick up anything over about 3 and a bit Gigs from what I know.

 

[Sir Prince]

Nope, 32 bit only uses 3 to 3.5 gigs.

You really don't need to worry though, as I highly doubt you need more than 3 gigs (I'm still running on 2 gigs with everything maxed!).

 

[Revilo]

Yeh I suppose I don't need to worry too much just yet. One day I'll get a surprise when I suddenly find I've got some extra RAM lying around, eh?

 

[Alf]

You won't need more than 3 gigs, i got 4 in a 32bit system, i don't think i have used more than 2 yet.

 

[Revilo]

So what is formatting my D: drive going to do?

 

[leprechaun]

So what is formatting my D: drive going to do?

Wipe out all the files on it so you can start afresh.

 

[Revilo]

Ooh. It isn't formatted in the first place though, so does that mean it's just sitting there doing nothing?

 

[Cyborg Eastern European]

Formatting a disk means wiping it clean.
Empty, wiped, tabula rasa.

 

[Revilo]

So why when I double click Local Disk D: it comes up with an error saying 'The disk in drive D is not formatted. Do you want to format it now?'

 

[IntelHydralisk]

So why when I double click Local Disk D: it comes up with an error saying 'The disk in drive D is not formatted. Do you want to format it now?'

Because D: is likely not your harddrive but instead an external drive or CD/DVD rom drive. External drives need to be formatted as FAT32, NTFS, etc. before being used.

 

[Revilo]

So there is nothing on my D: drive and it would be safe to format it, thus giving me more room to store things?

 

[IntelHydralisk]

So there is nothing on my D: drive and it would be safe to format it, thus giving me more room to store things?

You still haven't stated what your D: drive is. Is it a harddrive? Flash drive? cd/dvd rom??

If there's nothing on it go ahead and format it.

 

[Revilo]

It's a hard disk drive, so will it be fine for me to go ahead and format it?

 

[Seff]

If you don't mind losing whatever's on it (if anything), yes.

 

[Revilo]

That's the thing though, I don't even know if anything is on it. I can't open it or explore it to see if there is.

 

[Seff]

No loss then, is it?

 

[Taimat396]

Uhh...Check you have a C drive. Guy I know's is called D for some reason.

 

[Revilo]

True. Calodine, I have got a C: drive, so it shouldn't screw anything up on that even if it does do something unexpected. All my stuff is on C: anyway, as far as I can tell.