Answer:
Windows provides a lot of information about hardware, and the General tab of the System Properties dialog box is where it lists details about the CPU and memory. (In Windows XP, open the Control Panel, click Performance And Maintenance, and select System.) Ideally, Windows should report the same amount of RAM that you saw during the initial BIOS memory count (in those few moments when the system starts and before the OS [operating system] loads). If Windows reports significantly less RAM than the BIOS does, chances are your system's integrated video adapter is setting aside 32MB to 64MB for the video buffer (older PCs may take only 8MB to 16MB). When you install a separate AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port) video card, it won't use any of the primary system RAM because its video memory resides on the video card itself. Therefore, you'll recover that "missing" RAM if you install an AGP video card. |