Weird. Wish I was more of a techie person. I know basic stuff but not that. Sorry. Come to think of it, I should get to know excel and powerpoint better... >.o
They are running a 32 Bit operating system (OS) that only address 3.5GB or ram while a 64 bit OS will address something like 128GB of ram!
^ What he said that he said. Keep in mind that under a 32-bit OS, the amount of available RAM also goes down depending on your video card's memory. For example, if you had a 256MB or 512MB video card, you'd show up with about 3.25GB of RAM, but if you had something like a 2GB video card, you'd end up with like.. 2.8GB of available RAM. DX But yes, if you want to use all 4GB of your RAM, go 64-bit. Also, 64-bit operating systems actually get to use your processor's full power, and with programs written in 64-bit, they can perform up to 2x faster under a 64-bit operating system.
Oh shit, didn't read the 64-bit part LOL. What graphics card do you have? If it is shared with your RAM it'll do that.
Load CPU-Z and see what it tells you. You can download it at cpuid.com. Task manager probably did not update itself or something like that. If the properties of Vista sees 8 gb, there should be no problem. If that shows 4GB then do this: Run msconfig (Go to run) and go to the tab labeled "boot". Go to "Advanced options" and make sure the "Maximum memory" checkbox is unchecked.
That seems to have solved it. Funny, I checked it on purpose thinking it would speed up the boot. But thanks!