RAM not being used?

[danhodge]

I'm sure i remember seeing a thread about this, but when it try to search the forums, i get a database error.

I have 8GB of RAM in my computer right now. It is 2 sticks of 4GB RAM, which is why i know this problem isn't very likely to be a problem with my installation:

I was playing Minecraft today (very bored, i have been through all my games several times already, since its my half term - this is my last resort) and i got an error about not having enough RAM space, basically (they dumb it down a bit), and i though 'Well thats odd, i doubt Minecraft uses 8GB of RAM', so i looked at Task Manager, and i realized that it seems my computer is only using 3GB of RAM:

Now, i know we aren't supposed to discuss torrents/cracks on here, but i can't really explain this without it - until i get the money to buy an SSD and Windows 7, i have a crack on my computer to let me keep using Vista. I bought it once already, so i'm not robbing Microsoft of their money at all (and buying Vista again would be them robbing me of mine).

I am guessing that the problem is that my computer has kept the same system settings, as my old computer had 3GB of RAM, which is what this appears to be saying.

If so, how would i go about making my computer realize i have 8GB instead? My guess is with the BIOS, however i would rather know what i was doing than just play around with my computers settings and hope for the best.

Or, am i just reading that wrong, and i am using all 8GB anyway?

Thanks a lot,
Danny

 

[C0RR0SIVE]

You are using a 32bit OS. To address more than ~3.5GB of ram you must have a 64bit OS.

 

[danhodge]

Well that's simple enough to fix - i was gonna buy a new OS at some point in the future anyway! Not sure how i never noticed this before. No wonder my games kept failing when i had loads of stuff open...

64bit OS's cost the same as 32bit right?

 

[C0RR0SIVE]

Yes, they usually do for consumers.