Vista may be programmed to run the original amount of ram that was in the machine, also a suggestion is to down grade vista to xp, vista is nothing but aggravation and windows 7 is even worse, there are way to many bugs that haven't been solved.
If it's x32 it will recognize about 3.7Gbs (maximum), if you have x64 it will recognize 4Gbs and more.
Windows Vista will run on a computer with a minimum of 512 MB of RAM
If your computer does not meet the minimum RAM requirement for Vista, an upgrade will increase speed.
A Windows computer will recognize more ram if you throw it out your window and buy a mac instead (really it's a good choice) many computers will actually recognize the new ram instantly and if it hasn't you can try reinstalling it. If that doesn't work you can hunt through settings to look for something to do with RAM and it might have a setting you can change.
The maximum RAM that Windows Vista Ultimate can recognise is 4GB, as long as you have the 32-bit edition. If a 64-bit edition is being run then up to 12 GB RAM can be supported.
The minimum configuration to run Vista in your computer is specified. One GB RAM is the minimum and two GB RAM is desired.
There is nothing you need to do. All modern computers automatically determine how much RAM is installed.
256 should do it.
You can download a tool from Microsoft which will test your computer for capability with running Vista. The link is: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-vista/get/upgrade-advisor.aspx You may also want to check any peripherals; for example, check you can get drivers for your printer/scanner/video. um is my computer fast or a very good computer if it has 2 cores and 3 gig of ram
RAM speed is how fast your computer goes. The more RAM, the faster your computer.
Readyboost a a program wich may be used to speed-up your computer. Plug in a USB stick, and press readyboost. (Like if you have a 1GB USB stick , your PC will get 1gb more RAM) More about it : http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/speed-up-your-windows-vista-computer-with-readyboost/
You simply cannot gain more ram without purchasing it. You could overclock your ram, but that's risking your whole computer without the right knowledge. As of 2010, a computer with less than 2GB ram is sub-standard, 3-4gb is optimal. *If your running/ or want to run windows vista / 7. It requires 1GB just for the OS to load.