Ram upgrade troubleshooting on an older PC

Y

ymsbrocks

New Member
Boy if anyone can help me id be forever grateful. i have been all over the web with no luck. First off here is the computer:

Dell Dimension L1100R
1.1ghz
shipped with 128M ram (added 1x128 stick a year ago)
Windows XP pro.

so i decided to upgrade my memory again, went to crucial.com and its tester says i could upgrade to 512 (2 X 256). Bought a couple of Mushkin 256 sticks, pop them in and reboot. BIOS detects 512M, the posst screen detects 512M, but "system properties" only shows 256. I have tried it with one stick in (everything shows 256), swapping sticks etc. If i revert back and put in the 128's X 2 - same thing - BIOS 256, Post screen 256, Sys props = 128!!! i am going crazy here - where is 1/2 my memory going???? thanks in advance for any help. oh yeah i even re-ran crucial.com mem tester and it says i have 512 installed.:mad: :mad: :mad:
 
Hmm, that is strange, Do you notice a boost in performace? How much does your motherboard take, becasue it could or reached it's RAM limit.
 
it seems like performance is about the same as it was with 128 X 2. My motherboard should be able to take 512 according to everything i have read, so i think the problem lies with the OS - but how to fix it, i haven't a clue...
 
It's a bit drastic but trying re-installing the OS, you have to do it sometimes for it to recognize new hardware.
 
ok i know that both the sticks are ok since i can use either in slot A. I tried re-installing windows with ine stick in and then added the other one. No luck. i don't know what else to try....any other options?
 
Try to see if you can watch how much RAM gets tested by the BIOS during your POST. One of your BIOS screens should say how much the system is actually seeing, too.
Tom
PS Oops. Missed this in the original post. Sorry :P
 
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Did you try stick A in slot A and B? Then try stick B in slot A and B?

It could be possibly a ram slot on your motherboard not work correctly. Just a thought.
 
Luke. said:
Did you try stick A in slot A and B? Then try stick B in slot A and B?

It could be possibly a ram slot on your motherboard not work correctly. Just a thought.
Click to expand...

yep i have tried both sticks in both slots. Of course you cant use slot B alone. its too bad b/c that would help test if the slot is bad. Also someone asked about the POST screen. it does read 512, BIOS reads 512, crucial.com's tester reads 512. System properties read 256, task manager reads 256, memtest program i downloaded from somewhere reads 256. thanks for your help!!!
 
ShowImage.aspx


In the image above, the memory slots are colored yellow and red. For dual channel to work properly, you have to put both sticks in the same color slot. If one stick is in yellow, the other stick has to go to the other yellow slot. You can use the red one too, but both sticks have to be in the red slot in this case. Other motherboard may have different color for the memory slot.

So basically, if you plug one stick into one color slot, the other stick have to go to the other slot of the same color.

Hope this clarifies some doubt. :D
 
Kornowski said:
Hmm, that is strange, Do you notice a boost in performace? How much does your motherboard take, becasue it could or reached it's RAM limit.
Click to expand...

his motherboard prob takes 512 meg, since only 256 meg would be a bit cheap and werid, maybe his did he get low density ram or high, that does make a difference:D
 
ymsbrocks said:
yep i have tried both sticks in both slots. Of course you cant use slot B alone. its too bad b/c that would help test if the slot is bad. Also someone asked about the POST screen. it does read 512, BIOS reads 512, crucial.com's tester reads 512. System properties read 256, task manager reads 256, memtest program i downloaded from somewhere reads 256. thanks for your help!!!
Click to expand...

that is werid, since if the bios reads 512, it should read 512 in windows :confused:
 
ymsbrocks said:
it seems like performance is about the same as it was with 128 X 2. My motherboard should be able to take 512 according to everything i have read, so i think the problem lies with the OS - but how to fix it, i haven't a clue...
Click to expand...

do a "repair" it you won;t loose any but all the updates, it will take you back to what ever came with your disc :)
 
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