Help! I'm having HUGE issues adding memory to my desktop computer?

Question

I know it's almost Christmas and you may be too busy to comment but any help would be greatly appreciated! I'm having issues adding RAM to my desktop computer (Dell OptiPlex GX110) and I use a Windows XP Platform. I have checked numerous help websites including crucial.com and howitworks.com but to no avail.
My problem is: I inserted the memory (256MB card) into the slot in my computer beside the old memory...no problem. Then I turned my computer on and went into Setup-->BIOS. In blue writing the memory was listed as 5_6MB (I think it was 556 or 536). Then I started Windows and went into My Computer and clicked on "Properties" in the C:/ Drive. It was listed as 1.06GB; same as before I installed the memory. How do I get my system to recoginze the memory and use it?
I need help ASAP as I'm trying to create a dvd for my dad for Christmas by transferring a video from when I was younger onto my computer via USB Streaming and need more memory to complete it.
Thanks for your help :-)

Answer 1

Greetings,

By installing the memory, your computer is automatically already using it. You have no reason to go into the BIOS.

The memory you are checking is the free space on your hard drive, not the amount of RAM.

To check your RAM, do the following:

Go to the Control Panel

Switch to Classic View (Where there are lots of icons on the screen, and the background is white, not blue)

Click on the icon that says "System"

In the window that pops up, it will show the amount of RAM you are using.


If you needed more memory than 1.06 GB, you need to get a bigger hard drive, or delete some stuff off of your current hard drive in order to free up space. The memory stick you installed is RAM, and the 1.06 GB reading is your hard drive... they are two completely separate components.

Answer 2

Well, for starters, when you click on the C:\ drive in My Computer you are looking at your disk properties not RAM. In order to check your RAM while in Windows, Right Click My Computer and then Click Properties and then look at the very bottom above the buttons. It should tell you the processor information and also the amount of memory installed/recognized. Now, when it booted into BIOS (Setup) and showed the memory configuration, I would think that it showed 512MB, this assuming that there was only 256MB installed to begin with. Now, when you check it in Windows, it may not show all 512MB, depends on if you have onboard video and it is sharing System Memory (RAM). As far as rendering a DVD, 512MB will be better than 256MB, but you really should think about getting more, as well as if your C:\ drive shows 1.06GB (Free?) then you really should try to clean that off some by deleting unused files and clearing Temp and Temporary Internet Files, any non-needed documents and stuff like that. To create a DVD your system will need plenty of RAM as well as Free Disk Space. Considering that a DVD will hold 4.7GB of data/video and to render that much video you can use up to 6GB disk space to encode the video as it is converting it to DVD Format. Hope this helps...

Answer 3

a heap of dumbasses they can't read except 2.

the problem is not the ram, it's the hard disk - period.
you simply cannot burn a DVD with a remaining disk capacity on the C: drive of only 1.06GB.
the issue can have 2 reasons. either you partioned the C: drive too small (a frequently made mistake) or if it's only one partition on the disk, it's simply full.

as already mentioned, you have to free up disk space in order to burn a DVD.

Answer 4

It could be a few things making this problem. First of all, you could have released static electricity on to your memory while installing it and ruined it. That is the worst case scenario. Static electricity is a major cause of component malfunctioning. It only takes 30 Volts of electricity to damage computer parts. In perspective, it takes 30,000 Volts for you to feel a shock.

Second problem, the memory is not compatible with your computer. There are two main types of RAM:
DDR
DDR2
If your motherboard takes DDR2 RAM and you install DDR, it will not recognize it. And vice versa.

The third thing it could be is that your computer may only be able to take a certain amount of memory. Some motherboards can only handle 1GB and some can handle 4GB or more.

Locate your motherboard manual to find out how much memory your computer can take and what kind it is.
And always remember to at least touch the outside of the case before touching anything computerish to give off that infamous static electricity.

If all else fails, you have been given a bad stick of RAM. Return it or replace it with the manufacturer.

Also, to easily check how much memory you have on your computer, go to
Start
Run then type:
"dxdiag"
press enter then it should be on the screen that appears.

Hope this helps

Answer 5

Argile556 is right. It cannot be DDR or DDR2, it won't fit. SDRAM, DDR and DDR2 are physically different. They will not even fit in the same type of slot. The link is for the Optiplex support site for installing memory.

Answer 6

Right click on "my computer"
scroll down and click on properties
where it says
Computer: It lists the specs of your computer
for example mine says
AMD yada yada yada
3000+
1.81 GHz 704MB of RAM
yada yada yada


you want to confirm where it says xxxMB of RAM

Answer 7

several problems here
one check your computer spec how much can the computer hold in memory
mordern pc usually can have max of 4 gig of ram
second you use wrong type of ram?
there's ddr ddr2 sdram etcs.. each of them have different speed too
third is make sure your ram is install in place
some motherboard like mine takes some pressure to snap it in snuggly to fit

Answer 8

there are Lords reasons to this ..but just for if your system is fast forget about just for now and go ashed and make your DVD ....

i have the same prob cos i have installed 512MB ram and my old ram was 512 so it shoud be 1024MB but it show me 970MB