» Mon May 28, 2012 1:19 am
First download CPU-Z and check in the Memory and "SPD" tab for what's in your RAM slots.
Right-click on "Computer" in the start menu and go to Properties. If you see something like Total Ram: 4GB (1.99 Usable) then indeed you have a RAM problem.
If you're using Windows 7 you can open up "resmon" using the Run dialog box, go to the Memory tab, and look at the Memory usage graph, specifically "Hardware Reserved". If Windows detects you have RAM in those slots but it can't use it, it'll show up under "Hardware Reserved".
Example: When reseating my huge CPU cooler I had to take out two of my memory sticks which are exactly the same make & model except for one being a newer revision, and accidentially swapped them when I installed them back in. This caused 4GB of RAM to disappear (Windows saying it's "Hardware Reserved"). Swapped them back so that the newer revision sticks were all in the same channel (like I had before) and it worked fine again, all 12GB usable.