[FIX] Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2 Reports Incorrect RAM on Computers with Integrated GPU

Finally Microsoft has acknowledged an irritating issue which exists since long time in Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2.

Many times Windows 7 shows incorrect RAM on computers which have a chipset with integrated GPU. Now Microsoft has released a hotfix to fix this problem.

SYMPTOM:

Assume that you have a computer that is running Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2. The computer is running on a chipset that reserves memory for an integrated Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) that does not support Aperture memory-mapped I/O (MMIO) range. For example, the computer has an Intel GMA 3600 GPU installed.

In this situation, Windows reports that less memory is installed on the computer than is actually installed on the computer.

CAUSE:

This issue occurs because Windows locks the primary surface, and then uses the CpuTranslatedAddress address to shadow the primary surface. Therefore, the primary surface is exclusively allocated from a segment of memory that is visible to the CPU.

Most Integrated GPUs have an Aperture MMIO range. In this situation, Windows must reserve memory at startup, and expose the reserved memory as a dedicated memory segment. By default, a primary surface must be located in a segment of memory that is visible to the CPU. This is a segment of linear memory space that the GPU has exposed by using a CpuTranslatedAddress address.

SOLUTION:

A supported hotfix is available from Microsoft. However, this hotfix is intended to correct only the problem that is described in this article. Apply this hotfix only to systems that are experiencing the problem described in this article.

After you install this hotfix, Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 support primary surfaces for GPUs that do not have an Aperture MMIO range.

You can download the hotfix using following link:

Download Hotfix

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This article was posted by VG in following section: Windows 7.

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