need help with ram please

hi there i have just installed 2x2gb memory cards to go with my other 2x2gb cards making a total of 8gb of ram as that is what my mother board can take
i have checked bios start up menu and the ram is in as it is saying i have 8196mb of ram but when i go onto base index score to check for hardware the extra ram is not showing as the new hardware is not being detected ?????why is this
does any body know how i get it to show
os is vista home prem 32 bit
many thanks

32-bit OS can only see 4GB of RAM. You need a 64-bit OS to see above 4GB.

what is the difference between the 2 systems and is it worth me going for a 64bit just so i can use my and see my 8gb of ram
cheers for help

I run 16GB of RAM because my workstation is used for A/V and CAD. I also have a pair of quad cores Xeons and SAS RAID. It was built for pure performance. I run Adobe Photoshop CS2, Sony Vegas Movie Studio and 10 other A/V apps at the same time across the 8 cores.

What do you do with your computer?

64-bit does have some benefits over 32-bit. You can access 128GB of RAM in Vista x64 Ultimate. 8GB would allow you to open more applications at one time and keep data in RAM. 32-bit applications and games can use 2GB of RAM each. Since most applications don't use over 200 MB, you can load more applications. Adobe Photoshop CS2 can use 6GB of RAM.

If you don't push on your computer, return the RAM. Save your money. Upgrading to 64-bit will require a clean install to get it to work properly. You will need to replace hardware, if you can't get drivers for 64-bit. You might replace anti-virus and other utilities. No 16-bit application will work in 64-bit. Even, if its installer is 16-bit it won't work.

i do the normal stuff play games surf the net watch movies bits and bobs nothing like what you do its just my household toy so what you are saying is save my money and stick with what i have ?
thanks for your advice and help

They are trying to force everyone to 64-bit. I bet it will take 10+ years to finally get everything 64-bit. Save your money. Upgrade your CPU instead of going above 4GB of RAM.