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So I've googled around and tried a lot of stuff to fix this and none of it has worked. Half my RAM is hardware reserved, and I do some image processing of large collections of images, so I need that RAM.

Right now I'm running Windows 7 Home Premium on the following system:

  • Motherboard: MSI Z97S SLI Krait Edition
  • CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K @ 4.00 GHz
  • GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 980
  • RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 32 GB (4 x 8 GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-1600C9Q-32GXM

I checked my motherboard's user manual before buying the RAM and it should be compatible.

I've tried going in to advanced boot options under msconfig and looking at maximum memory, and checked on unchecked I have the problem.

I have the latest BIOS updates through MSI.

The BIOS is seeing all 32 GB, as is Resource Monitor and Nvidia's Geforce Experience.

I really don't know what is up. Other posts have had people ask to see screenshots of the resource monitor and the Device Manager's resource by connections window with Memory expanded, so both of those are here:

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Ben N
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Entaras
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  • Can you test adding sticks individually and seeing the results in Windows? EG, If you have only 2x8GB added, if it sets 8GB to being hardware reserved? – Jonno Jan 29 '16 at 17:54
  • I haven't yet, if nothing else crops up I'll try that this evening. – Entaras Jan 29 '16 at 17:56
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    @Entaras : an upgrade to Windows® 10 would be able to solve the licence problem. – user2284570 Jan 30 '16 at 10:20
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    Sorry for the completely gratuitous comment but *man that's a sweet machine*. – Tobia Tesan Jan 30 '16 at 11:50
  • @user2284570 Why not Windows 7 Pro? – Tobia Tesan Jan 30 '16 at 11:52
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    @TobiaTesan : because it wouldn’t be free. – user2284570 Jan 30 '16 at 11:56
  • @user2284570 but it would be cheap, you can scounge up a legit copy for 50 bucks on eBay. If OP's workflow is Windows 7-centered it *might* make more sense - less surprises. – Tobia Tesan Jan 30 '16 at 11:59
  • @TobiaTesan : Not for legit : copies aren’t for reselling. I’m also not sure if upgrading is possible in that case *(unlike the Windows 10 solution)*. So a fresh install would be necessary. As the ᴏᴘ need performance for image processing, He might need latest directcompute in the future *(Windows 10 again)*. – user2284570 Jan 30 '16 at 12:00
  • @user2284570 I mean shrink-wrapped (=actually legit) copies :) – Tobia Tesan Jan 30 '16 at 13:34
  • @TobiaTesan : before the iso age, their were physical copies shipped by Microsoft. And they were always written`not for resale`on them. At least this is what I remember. – user2284570 Jan 30 '16 at 19:32
  • Yes: legit, shrinkwrapped, *not opened*, *not NFR*, not (insert condition that might cast doubt over the legitimacy of such a copy here) ***retail*** copies of Windows can be had for cheap on eBay and elsewhere. I really hope this is sufficient disambiguation :) – Tobia Tesan Jan 30 '16 at 20:30
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    @TobiaTesan: I guess people forget that MS sell Windows in boxes in stores because they assume that it always comes free with your PC. – slebetman Jan 31 '16 at 00:01
  • [Can I put more than 16 GB of RAM to use with Windows 7 Home Premium?](http://superuser.com/q/443505/241386) – phuclv Jan 31 '16 at 08:01
  • The title seems to be cut... – Andrew T. Jan 31 '16 at 09:13
  • @TobiaTesan I've seen shrink wrapped counterfeits with keys that started failing a week or two after installing. – David Schwartz Feb 01 '16 at 18:40

1 Answers1

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You need a higher edition of Windows, professional or above. Windows 7 Home Premium is limited to 16 GB. This is not a hardware limit but a limit enforced by the operating system.

From Memory Limits for Windows and Windows Server Releases

Version              Limit on X86   Limit on X64
Windows 7 Ultimate      4 GB          192 GB  
Windows 7 Enterprise    4 GB          192 GB  
Windows 7 Professional  4 GB          192 GB  
Windows 7 Home Premium  4 GB          16 GB
Windows 7 Home Basic    4 GB          8 GB
Windows 7 Starter       2 GB          N/A

Alternatively just click that button to get your free* upgrade to Windows 10, where:

Version              Limit on X86   Limit on X64
Windows 10 Home          4 GB          128 GB

*except where not free

Falco Alexander
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Mokubai
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