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Why is usable RAM less than total RAM?

I just bought a new laptop with 2GB of DDR3 ram, however in my system properties for Windows 7, it lists only 1.85GB as usable. Consequently when trying to install something that needs 2GB ram it fails, as it only detects 1.85GB available.

Is there anything I can do to force Windows to recognize all the ram in my laptop?

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    You cannot trick the OS into thinking it has more ram- it would cause serious issues, and even if you could it would make it slow as heck. Usually the program you are trying to install has some sort of install.ini file with setting,like minimum ram, windows os, defautl directories etc- try to search for that.
    – Piotr Kula
    Dec 18, 2011 at 22:43

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The integrated graphics most likely uses a shared memory architecture and reserves 128MB of RAM for that purpose leaving you with 1.85GB.

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  • Is there any way to trick an application into installing anyway, or am I stuck with not being able to use applications that check for 2gb of ram?
    – Jimbo Jones
    Dec 18, 2011 at 22:36
  • @jimbo hack the installer? One trick that I can think of , install on a computer that does have the memory, trace the registry changes made and all files stored. Then Manually copy the files to the lappy, and import the registry changes. There is a program I (just happened to) be looking at called RegFromApp v1.22 Nirsoft, that claims to do the registry part of that function. total installer or resco or any full tracing installer could trace all the files and where they are supposed to go. that just leaves some of the Secure install things that would complicate it way more.
    – Psycogeek
    Dec 19, 2011 at 0:46
  • Upgrading the RAM, which is usually cheaper with stand alone RAM vs configuration options when purchasing a laptop, is probably your best bet. If you look around can get it for as little as $5/GB, so $20-30 and you would fine.
    – Brian
    Dec 19, 2011 at 1:31

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