Question by Ken: 1 of my 2GB memory rams isn’t working after I had to remove it to format the hard drive for installing windows?
long story short, I ordered a desktop from CyberPowerPC.com and a windows 7 disk. I made a big mistake turning on the desktop after inserting the CD because it states on the Windows7-CD that windows 7 was previously installed onto the hard drive. Basically after making a big mistake on installing windows again, I corrupted a windows/system32 file and I couldn’t fix the problem on my own. I called CyberPower’s technical support line and I was told to remove the ram from the motherboard on the right side to format the primary drive. (I was able to format the drive and install windows 7 when I couldn’t format the drive before)…

Windows is running but I only have 2gb listed on my computer now instead of 4gb when I placed the other ram back onto the right side slot. I’m confused, is there a issue the motherboard or could it be that the memory ram I had to remove in-order to install windows 7 is damaged?….Obviously I’m not computer-smart, somebody please help me out.

NOTE: I know, I could just buy another memory ram called – (Corsair Dominator) and test a brand new one out but it’s going to cost me $ 70. I can also send the desktop back to CyberPower but the shipping and repair fee would cost me $ 95 or a little bit more. I just thought I should ask around online instead of possibly wasting money.
Somebody just told me the following statement below…..Dose this make sense?

Did you, by any chance, install Windows 7 32 bit instead of 64bit? 32bit will not be able to use the 4Gb.
You should not have to remove RAM to reformat a hard drive. That was ridiculous on their part.

Best answer:

Answer by Rhyled
HUH? RAM should have nothing to do with formatting a hard drive. Obviously it did, in this case… weird…

I’m hoping you did have the computer turned off while inserting/removing memory modules. Otherwise you may have damaged one of them.

My recommendation (assuming both memory modules are installed):
1) Get a memory testing program and make a bootable CD out of it – http://www.memtest.org/
2) Power off and reboot to that new CD to allow your existing memory to be tested. Note how much memory is displayed in the upper left.

If you see 4 GB displayed via memtest, then the memory hardware is working properly. Then it’s a matter of configuring Windows. One thing to look at is your System control panel -> Advanced System Settings (Advanced tab) Performance Settings button (Advanced Tab again). Make sure the “Total Paging File for All Disks” is somewhere between 4096 and 6144 MB. If not, set it to at least 4100.

If you DON’T see 4GB displayed via memtest, shut down the PC and remove and swap the memory modules carefully. To insert the memory modules, spread the clips on the sides of the memory to remove it, then push down on the memory module itself until the clips snap into place.

IF THAT doesn’t give you 4GB via memtest, then try testing just one module at a time, removing the other one from the system. If a module is dead, you probably killed it with static electricity. Go buy more memory.

EDIT -
Due to the way Windows memory works, a 32-bit system can’t read beyond 3.5 GB. Any memory beyond that point is not accessible. Depending on the hardware, the maximum accessible address can be anywhere from 2.9 – 3.5 GB

No matter how you put it, that’s STILL more than 2 GB

Good luck.

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