Why does msinfo32.exe tell lies?

[Guest]

My laptop has two sticks of 256Kb ddr ram.
Windows task manager identifies RAM as 490 Kb ish.
System information insists there is 1GB on board, even when I remove one of
the sticks.
Why does this happen?
And would it have any practical effect on software e.g. how does software
check for maximum ram and what happens if it receives a message from msinfo
saying there is a gig, only to find out there's only half of this available?
Crash?

 

[Bob Willard]

My laptop has two sticks of 256Kb ddr ram.
Windows task manager identifies RAM as 490 Kb ish.
System information insists there is 1GB on board, even when I remove one of
the sticks.
Why does this happen?
And would it have any practical effect on software e.g. how does software
check for maximum ram and what happens if it receives a message from msinfo
saying there is a gig, only to find out there's only half of this available?
Crash?

Probably your VGA is using memory, and the CPU gets -- and reports -- whatever
is left over after the VGA takes what it needs. That is normal behaviour for
budget VGAs.

 

[Guest]

I understand the bit about VGA grabbing some memory. It as a laptop after all
with an ATI graphics capability built into the motherboard, I think.
What puzzles me is why msinfo32 keeps insisting there's a gig on ram on
board when there isn't!
Any clues?

 

[Bob Willard]

I understand the bit about VGA grabbing some memory. It as a laptop after all
with an ATI graphics capability built into the motherboard, I think.
What puzzles me is why msinfo32 keeps insisting there's a gig on ram on
board when there isn't!
Any clues?

msinfo doesn't list RAM per se. What is the exact line in the msinfo report
that you are interpreting as a gig of ram?

You should be seeing a line that says: "Total Physical Memory 512.00 MB";
if that line says "... 1,024 MB" then you, inded, have a problem.

 

[Guest]

Exactly right
<Physical memory 1024 MB >
Even when I take out one of the memory cards, lobotomising it to 256kb, it
still insists there's 1 GB of memory.
I've used an online memory checker, it too claims 1 GB but then it probably
uses msinfo to dig out the stats.
The reason I'm asking is because I can't finish a Virus scan using Mcafee,
computer freezes up solid, not even the three finger salute can get it going
again. Now put Avast in - no problem. Also freezes up when running some
games, I had put this down to lack of graphics capability though, now I'm not
so sure!

 

[Bob Willard]

Exactly right
<Physical memory 1024 MB >
Even when I take out one of the memory cards, lobotomising it to 256kb, it
still insists there's 1 GB of memory.
I've used an online memory checker, it too claims 1 GB but then it probably
uses msinfo to dig out the stats.
The reason I'm asking is because I can't finish a Virus scan using Mcafee,
computer freezes up solid, not even the three finger salute can get it going
again. Now put Avast in - no problem. Also freezes up when running some
games, I had put this down to lack of graphics capability though, now I'm not
so sure!

Sounds like a bad DIMM. Take out the other DIMM, and see if it sill reports
1024 MB or the correct value of 256 MB.

And, for grins, when you do Start -> Settings -> ControlPanel -> System, how
much memory does that report?