RAM Troubleshooting?

[Rizune]

So I've got this old Toshiba laptop, pretty bad, want to get rid of it. Upgraded it from Windows 7 to Windows 10 and for some reason, it no longer has 8GB of RAM - it only has 4GB now. This confuses me a bit. I looked up the model number, and it's apparently only got 4GB of RAM. But Windows 7 and UserBenchmark both read 8GB of RAM before I upgraded to Win10. Any idea why Win7 read 8GB?

[Jurrunio]

Maybe because one of the 4GB stick came loose?

[Rizune]

I wish there was an easy way to check without opening up my laptop. I just know the specs say 4GB of RAM even though Windows told me 8GB before I upgraded from Win7 to Win10.

[tufpistol]

It's entirely possible you had a page file allocation of 4GB plus 4GB of RAM equaling 8GB.

[Rizune]

1 minute ago, tufpistol said:

It's entirely possible you had a page file allocation.

Can you explain what that is?

[tufpistol]

6 minutes ago, Rizune said:

Can you explain what that is?

Systems with a low amount of system RAM can be extended performance by the Windows Page File application. Page File allows the system to allocate other, slower system memory devices such as M.2 Flash, SATA Flash, SATA Hard Drives, or USB Flash for System Memory use in case you go over the 4GB hardware maximum to prevent hard wall bottlenecks. In other words, the system will dramatically slow down if you run out of system RAM.

[Rizune]

3 minutes ago, tufpistol said:

Page File allows the system to allocate other, slower system memory devices such as M.2 Flash, SATA Flash, SATA Hard Drives, or USB Flash for System Memory use in case you go over the 4GB hardware maximum to prevent hard wall bottlenecks. In other words, the system will dramatically slow down if you run out of system RAM.

Assuming this is why Win7 showed an extra 4GB of RAM, was this process stopped in Windows 10? I've definitely noticed a significant slowdown in some tasks after upgrading and I'm not quite sure why.

[tufpistol]

This is absolutely possible. To verify if this happened, type in the word System in the Windows Search bar from your desktop. Press enter or select the app System Information with your mouse. You should see "Page File" listed. If enabled, it will show you an amount.

[Rizune]

5 minutes ago, tufpistol said:

This is absolutely possible. To verify if this happened, type in the word System in the Windows Search bar from your desktop. Press enter or select the app System Information with your mouse. You should see "Page File" listed. If enabled, it will show you an amount.

That seems to be it. 4GB of hardware memory and another 4GB of page file space. Total, about 8GB of virtual memory (what I assume Win7 was reading) but only 4GB of hardware memory.

Thanks for the help!

[tufpistol]

If you truly only have one 4GB module of RAM adding another 4GB module would be a serious upgrade. One module only allows your system to run at Single Data Rate(SDR). Two modules will allow you to run Double Data Rate (DDR). It's also a major bottleneck for modern PCs.

[Rizune]

8 minutes ago, tufpistol said:

If you truly only have one 4GB module of RAM adding another 4GB module would be a serious upgrade. One module only allows your system to run at Single Data Rate(SDR). Two modules will allow you to run Double Data Rate (DDR). It's also a major bottleneck for modern PCs.

At this point, everything in this laptop is outdated and I don't want to invest any money into it. The CPU, hard drive, integrated graphics, it's all an outdated mess. Additional RAM would help, but that's only solving one of the many issues with my laptop (my battery lasts only  <30 minutes unless connected to power, a new battery would probably be #1 on my priority list, with RAM being #2). It's fast approaching ten years old at this point, and I'm working to save for a gaming laptop that I can use for both gaming and college (when I get there). Or I get lucky and win ROG Rig Reboot (unlikely, but one can dream). 

 

Here's the UserBenchmark results because why not.