i just changes by 2x500mb RAM cards for 2x2Gig RAm cards, yer my comp is only showing 3Gigs as being installed... just wondering if there was a way to correct that or is my comp old and stupid ;D
No its a glitch in Window XP it only shows up to 3gig but you still have all 4 gig avaible to use I think there is a software switch you can set to make it show what it can really use.
Not really. Windows 32-bit (XP or Vista, and I assume you're using 32-bit) can use up to 4gb RAM, but once you put 4gb RAM in your system the operating system allocates the address space first to other things like your video card, PCI bus, etc.. So for example, if you have a 512mb vid card, the max memory will be about 3.5gb (actually less because address space is also allocated to other things). Anywhere between 512-1gig of address space gets allocated to other stuff before any RAM addresses are allocated. It's just the architecture of the system.
The short answer is: Yes, this is how it will be. It's not just your comp, and it'll happen on pretty much any 32-bit system. Don't fret yourself about it, you're still getting enough bang for your buck.