WINDOWS 7 32 BIT HARDWARE RESERVED MEMORY IS VERY HIGH

Hello,

i have windows 7 Professional 32 Bit.

i have installed 4 GB RAM(SINGLE RAM).

i just facing lot of lag recent days.

Then only i noticed that, my system is showing 2.11 GB usable which means almost 2 GB is hardware Reserved.

i saw lot of systems before like 3.5 GB usable, but this is huge. i just check with msconfig and make changes in boot tab also.

but it doesnt make any difference. i just checked in bios also. it doesnt have any advanced options to config.

i know one thing that, if i re install the windows 7 means, it will mostly clear this issue.

but i dont want to reset the system. 

Kindly help me to solve this issue

In all probability,  nothing is wrong and there's nothing to fix. Reinstalling Windows will not fix it.

All 32-bit client versions of Windows (not just XP/Vista/7/8/10) have a
4GB address space (64-bit versions can use much more). That's the
theoretical upper limit beyond which you can not go.


But you can't use the entire  address space. Even though you have a  4GB address space, most people can only use *around* 3.1GB of RAM. That's because some of that space is used by hardware and is not available to the operating system and applications. The amount you can

use varies, depending on what hardware you have installed, but can range from as little as 2GB to as much as 3.5GB. It's usually around 3.1GB.

Note that the hardware is using the address *space*, not the actual RAM itself. If you have a greater amount of RAM, the rest of the RAM goes unused because there is no address space to map it to.

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This is unusual, but I must disagree with Ken.  I suspect this is a rather elderly system.  IF, Windows 7 has never been re-installed and IF it is the original hard drive, my experience has shown that a hard drive replacement ($50 to $100) and a clean re-install of Windows 7, will yield a dramatically improved system.  I've done this literally hundreds of times and it always results in an amazing improvement.  Assuming the system is otherwise in good condition, it will perform as well as and likely better than when it was new.

Windows Update is the messiest part of the re-install.  Follow my process (used hundreds of times) and I can virtually guarantee very good results:

https://www.askwoody.com/2019/canadian-tech-how-to-rebuild-a-win7-system-with-minimal-snooping/

Keep in mind that a 32 bit system is not a huge performer and can never be.  Don't expect good performance if trying to use more than about 2 different programs at one time.  That includes only 2 tabs in Chrome.

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First, undo everything you did on the boot tab of msconfig.  Msconfig is a diagnostic tool, not a "fix it" tool.  Changing settings on the msconfig boot/advanced options tab can only harm the functioning of your system.  In fact, setting the "Maximum memory" on the msconfig boot/advanced options tab can decrease the amount of available RAM


Even if a hardware device has its own built-in memory (e.g., a video card), Windows has to reserve an "address space" equal to the amount of device memory in order to let the system access and interact with that memory.  That amount is subtracted from the available system memory and is said to be "hardware reserved" and unavailable even though the physical memory is there.

Devices have to map their memory below 4 GB for compatibility with non-PAE-aware

Windows releases. Therefore, if the system has 4GB of RAM, some of it is either disabled or is remapped above 4GB by the BIOS. If the memory is remapped, X64 Windows can use this memory. X86 client versions of Windows don’t support physical memory above the 4GB mark, so they can’t access these remapped regions. Any X64 Windows or X86 Server release can.

X86 client versions with PAE enabled do have a usable 37-bit (128 GB) physical address space. The limit that these versions impose is the highest permitted physical RAM address, not the size of the IO space. That means PAE-aware drivers can actually use physical space above 4 GB if they want. For example, drivers could map the "lost" memory regions located above 4 GB and expose this memory as a RAM disk.

--  https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa366778%28v=vs.85%29.aspx#how_graphics_cards_and_other_devices_affect_memory_limits

There's probably not a lot you can do short of disabling some hardware device, but you can see what's using the memory this way (you'll need to do some hexadecimal arithmetic; in Calculator, built into Windows, select View > Programmer):

Open Device Manager (click Start Orb, type devmgmt.msc and press Enter)

Click View and select "Resources by connection"

Expand the Memory node

Alternatively, click Start, type msinfo32.exe.  Then select Hardware Resources > Memory

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LemP
Volunteer Moderator
MS MVP (Windows Desktop Experience) 2006-2009
Microsoft Community Contributor (MCC) 2011-2012

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So what does that mean bc i want to add more ram to mine but if what i understand is right.   It dont matter, bc its not going to use the extra Ram? 

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That is correct.  A 32 bit system can only "see" about 3.75G of memory.  Installing more than that is useless.  To use more memory than that you need a 64 bit operating system.  

If you are a typical computer owner, you bought your computer from Dell or the like and it came with Windows installed.  That computer carries a licence from Microsoft for the particular Windows edition that was installed.  Edition means Home, Pro, etc, and 32 or 64 bit.  That licence is perpetual, but ONLY for that specific computer.  It is not transferrable.

So, the only way you can upgrade your system (assuming the above description is correct) is to buy another licence.  There are no licences for Windows7 sold any longer, Only Windows 10.  

It is quite possible your current computer will not even run Windows 10, or if it will, will run poorly.

Your problem is not memory, it is performance.  Memory is but one way to improve performance.  Yours is limited to that 4 G, but can likely perform much better if you followed my advice.  Otherwise, you will need to buy a NEW PC.

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That's correct. You can't use any extra RAM, because 32-bit Windows can't use more than 4GB. Don't waste your money.

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you are correct. but my question is not about installing additional memory. i know that 32 bit windows 7 not support more than 4 GB. Even if we install 4 GB RAM it give around 3 GB as usable. but in my case hardware occupies more. i have only 2 GB usable(check attached photo). Is there any way to free up those hardware occupied memory. ?

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Even though you have a  4GB address space, most people can only use *around* 3.1GB of RAM. That's because some of that space is used by hardware and is not available to the operating system and applications. The amount you can use varies, depending on what hardware you have installed, but can range from as little as 2GB to as much as 3.5GB. It's usually around 3.1GB.

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 Is there any way to free up those hardware occupied memory. ?

Yes.  Remove or disable the hardware that uses that address space.  I already explained how to determine what that hardware is.

You ought to check -- almost 2 GB is quite high for hardware reserved RAM.

Of course, the whole issue of "not enough RAM" is a wild goose chase.  As you can see in the Resource Monitor screenshot, you have 741 MB of available RAM (that's about 18% of your installed memory).  Although it may make you nervous to see a small amount of "free" RAM, Windows is designed to use as much memory as is available -- unused RAM is wasted RAM.

If you really want to get down in the weeds and investigate memory usage, read this article:  https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/ask-the-performance-team/mystery-memory-leak-where-did-my-memory-go/ba-p/1675369

In your original question, you said that you were"facing lot of lag recent days."  I suspect that a lack of RAM isn't the cause; it's more likely to be Google Chrome thrashing your hard drive.

-----
LemP
Volunteer Moderator
MS MVP (Windows Desktop Experience) 2006-2009
Microsoft Community Contributor (MCC) 2011-2012

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That is correct.  A 32 bit system can only "see" about 3.75G of memory.  Installing more than that is useless.  To use more memory than that you need a 64 bit operating system.  

If you are a typical computer owner, you bought your computer from Dell or the like and it came with Windows installed.  That computer carries a licence from Microsoft for the particular Windows edition that was installed.  Edition means Home, Pro, etc, and 32 or 64 bit.  That licence is perpetual, but ONLY for that specific computer.  It is not transferrable.

So, the only way you can upgrade your system (assuming the above description is correct) is to buy another licence.  There are no licences for Windows7 sold any longer, Only Windows 10.  

It is quite possible your current computer will not even run Windows 10, or if it will, will run poorly.

Your problem is not memory, it is performance.  Memory is but one way to improve performance.  Yours is limited to that 4 G, but can likely perform much better if you followed my advice.  Otherwise, you will need to buy a NEW PC.

Thanks, ive thought it over and did some research.   I think ill stick to windows 7 until i buy a new computer in the three months hopefully. Lol.   I do have a problem.   If i wanted to reinstall windows 7 on my labtop.  Where could i possible get a copy of windows 7.   Someone had access about 7 months ago to my  old labtop witch is what im forced to use at the moment and they somehow did some things that i cant fix.   

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Last updated March 22, 2024 Views 3,315 Applies to: