i have a dell dimension 4600 with the intel n2828 motherboard based on the intel 865p chipset...the motherboard has 4 slots, for 4 ram dimms, each slot supporting 1gig of ram...i bought 4 gigs of ram (4 x 1gig)..and although the bios recognizes all 4 and is in duel channel mode, when i click on properties on my computer it only says that i have 3 gigs of ram... is this right...am i really utilizing that other 1gig stick or is it really only utilizing 3 gigs rather than 4...since the bios says that it is running in duel channel it makes me think that its being used cause if it was not then how could it keep all the ram running in duel channel, its almost like windows xp pro isnt recognizing the 4 gigs, when i run cpu z or pc wizard they both show the full amount, only windows dont...any suggestions, facts, or anything would be really appreciated

Many variables with this situation. It is a very common issue. Here is some reading to start with:

http://groups.google.com/groups/sear...&q=4gb+ram+3gb

alright well i took a look at that link for like 2 1/2 hours and really didnt find anything out yet except something about a 3 gig switch or something...i still dont know why windows dont recognize all 4 gigs...but i di get this link

http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_pagefilemon.htm

this is a program that monitors your virtual page file. windows hasnt caught on i guess cause they set it to a large amount like in my situation i have 4 gigs of ram and my pagefile is set to 2048 for min and 4096 for max, which is not good for xp because it hase so much extra spce for it to get fragmented and more space to go through which is not very economicle for an individual. the article says to set the min to about 100mb and the max to about 700mb (Depending on an individuals use, but average)...this concept is : less space faster access and no waisted memmory. the monitor showed on my computer that when i have wmp10, limewire, ati interface, internet, yahoo mess, fix it utility, adaware, nero 6, it was only using 87mb, which proves, i think, correct me if im wrong, that this idea and utility works for a benificial aspect to windows xp performance with its ram and for the individual user to be able to monitore the file and adjust the size according to thier needs.\

now if any one else can help me about why windows is only showing 3 gigs when i have 4 installed, that would be great. the bios, cpuz, and pc wizard all see the complet 4 gigs....thanks again in advance

so im assuming that nobody knows anything about this topic?