I have a Dell Dimension 8300 with Windows XP that was running 512MB RAM (2 X 256mb) I bought 2 sticks of 1 GB RAM and installed them. The new ram is the correct ram for the motherboard and matches the already installed ram. The bios on the computer correctly reads the amount of ram and the speed. However Windows only shows 504MB of Ram total no matter what configuration of RAM we install in the computer. I have updated the BIOS (even though it always read the amount correctly) and updated windows and the drivers on the computer as much as I can. But nothing seems to work. Windows will only show 504MB of RAM. I've tried putting different amounts of RAM each of the 4 slots. I've tried running it in Single and Dual mode. No matter waht it's 504MB of RAM showing on XP. And always the BIOs has it right. Any ideas people? I'm at a loss.
2007-05-15 01:34:25 · 8 answers · asked by Anonymous in Computers & Internet ➔ Hardware ➔ Desktops
Yes I've tried just one stick at a time, so it's not the voltage. And I've tried one stick at a time in every slot. Always just 504MB. Yeah I'm only lookinng in windows properties I'll try looking the other way. BTW the RAM came brand new from Staples so it's good.
2007-05-15 01:47:10 · update #1
the voltage on the ram may be slightly different between the two purchases. If you install a single stick of the 1 gb does it show correctly? if you install just the two 1 gb sticks does it show correctly? sometimes windows may not show all the ram when you look at system properties but when u access task manager will show full amount. Hope this helps
2007-05-15 01:39:48 · answer #1 · answered by hardirish 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'm not sure this will help you in Windows, but when I've tried booting from Linux live CDs (which load themselves without copying anything to the hard drive), I was able to go to places similar to My Computer and Control Panel to see how much RAM the computer was detecting.
The versions I tried used GUIs similar to Windows, though, so I'm not sure what command I would type at a prompt in a minimalist version. It also seems as though the OSes didn't always see as much RAM as was installed or that different OSes would see different amounts. The versions I've tried are a Linspire evaluation, a SUSE evaluation, PC Linux, Ubuntu, and Dynebolic.
I'd encourage you to visit http://www.linux.org/dist/ when you can; you'll probably want to choose English, Live CD, and Intel compatible in the drop-down boxes, but there may be other distributions that are optimized for system diagnostics.
Good luck.
2007-05-15 02:21:25 · answer #2 · answered by night_train_to_memphis 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Buddy! its not a problem at all......lol
well its normal cos few chunk of RAM is been used by Windows Bootlog.Sys (used for booting &logical partion) and if you running versions of windows then this sorta experience is very prominent. i have noticedseveral times Exactly 8 Mb of ram been used for Booting process+ logical partion
which is been used before Windows get loaded.So...Gal is right no matter what you OS says Stick to BIOS.
hope this will help you out
cheers :)
2007-05-15 01:42:19 · answer #3 · answered by Neeraj Yadav♥ 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Have you tried it with ONLY the 2x1G sticks ? Maybe the 2 sets of RAM ain't as compatable as you think.
Also WHERE are you getting the RAM cound from in XP ? My Computer Properties, or did you right click desktop, select properties and read off the VIDEO MEMORY size ?
2007-05-15 01:41:21 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
32 bit OS's can only see up to a total of 4GB (combined.. if your running 2 512MB cards in SLI or crossfire, those count toward the 4GB threshold).. and if your using an onboard video card (and that onboard is using system memory), it'll report less memory.. its also remotely possible that 3 GB is the max your motherboard supports (depending on how old your board is) if you had a 64-bit OS (XP home and pro i believe come in 64-bit as well.. plus 64-bit versions of vista), the OS would be able to address more than 4GB
2016-05-18 06:27:14 · answer #5 · answered by valeria 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
it's quite possible the motherboard will only be able to use 512 Mb of ram, with 8Mb being used for the on board video solution.
when in the bios, is there any way to change any of the memory settings?
2007-05-15 01:40:57 · answer #6 · answered by medic391 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Scan your motherboard and ram with the free tool @ link below... also you might consider a free belarc advisor pc audit at link #2
2007-05-15 01:42:52 · answer #7 · answered by The Thinker 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
does it really matter what xp shows? your bios shows the correct amount. as long as your computer runs like it has the right amount of ram, does it really matter?
2007-05-15 01:38:52 · answer #8 · answered by rchilly2000 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋