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SirStrumalot

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Feb 28, 2011
391
4
Minneapolis, MN
So I have a copy of Windows 7 installed in my 13" i7 MBP via bootcamp, but notice that in the system description, it says that there is "4GB of RAM (only 2.17GB usable)". Does anybody know why this is? I was going to upgrade from 4 to 8GB this week, and was also wondering whether that would have an effect?
 
It sounds like you're running the 32-bit version of Windows 7. If so, you'll need to upgrade to the 64-bit version if you wish to use more of your RAM.
 
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So I have a copy of Windows 7 installed in my 13" i7 MBP via bootcamp, but notice that in the system description, it says that there is "4GB of RAM (only 2.17GB usable)". Does anybody know why this is? I was going to upgrade from 4 to 8GB this week, and was also wondering whether that would have an effect?

Right-click Computer from the Start menu (or if it's on your desktop), and go to properties. In there it will show you if you're running the 32-bit or 64-bit version. Although it sounds like you're running the 32-bit version. 32-bit has a physical address limit that will not allow it to utilize more than 4GB of RAM, and even then you'll be stuck with less than that due to hardware addressing. You'll want to install the 64-bit version of Windows 7.
 
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