so im running a 32 bit vista and i recently installed 2 2gb ram chips for 4 gb..but it only shows as 3.5 gb i know not to expect all of it to be detected but i also left in my two 520 mb ones cuz i have nowhere else to put them at the moment..isnt there a way to squeeze in a bit more? :]

Did you check the model to make sure it could Evan support all that ram? cause that could be a problem

so im running a 32 bit vista and i recently installed 2 2gb ram chips for 4 gb..but it only shows as 3.5 gb i know not to expect all of it to be detected but i also left in my two 520 mb ones cuz i have nowhere else to put them at the moment..isnt there a way to squeeze in a bit more? :]

Your problem is in bold. You should also remove those two 512 sticks you have.

http://www.vistaclues.com/reader-question-32-bit-vista-memory-limits/

ahh thanks guys i was just curious cuz when i had 2 gb it was like 1.99 gb okay i understand :D
lol actually turns out i get more RAM than most ppl..but anyways i heard microsoft will send you a 64 bit version of vista if you bought the 32 bit here..
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-vista/compare-editions/64-bit.aspx
for the cost of shipping!
so im gonna go ahead and get that and ill leave in my extra 1 gb for 5 gb's of ram :D