Windows doesn't see RAM/bios does

  • Thread starter Thread starter Guest
  • Start date Start date
G

Guest

I'm ready to pull my hair out here... Any ideas why my bios shows 2 GB of
ram, but windows only sees 1? 2 sticks, DDR 400, 1GB each on an asus mobo w/
amd 4000. I tried on stick at a time, and it showed (correctly) 1GB each
time. But with both in, windows still shows only 1 gig.
 
Kevin said:
I'm ready to pull my hair out here... Any ideas why my bios shows 2 GB of
ram, but windows only sees 1? 2 sticks, DDR 400, 1GB each on an asus mobo w/
amd 4000. I tried on stick at a time, and it showed (correctly) 1GB each
time. But with both in, windows still shows only 1 gig.
Click to expand...

What version of windows are you using? Older versions are restricted
on how much ram they can use:

http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/system/platform/server/PAE/PAEmem.mspx

Also, did the ram ever work before? are you sure that you don't just
have a bad stick?

AR
 
version = XP Pro SP2
I have tried both sticks individually, and they work fine. BIOS sees the
RAM, nothing in windows does. I've also checked the boot.ini. No maxmem
value set, I tried setting one to see if that would make a difference, but it
didn't. Tried the 3GB switch, that didn't do it either (not that I expected
it too, but I don't know where else to look!).
 
Do you have the same brand of RAM? Sometimes if you try to "add" a stick of
RAM, windows can't deal with the two different types of RAM. If you ever ask
Gateway, Dell, etc -- they will tell you that you need to use their brand of
RAM because other brands may not read in your comp -- it is usually due to
mixing diff brands.

Ahh -- the good old days when you had to pair RAM, so you could put a pair
of a diff brand in the 2nd bay and it was no problem!!
 
Update - Tried putting the ram in the same channel. BIOS shows 2GBs, single
channel mode. Windows now shows 1.50 GB.
 
Update 2 - Ruled out problem with the OS. I booted up from a CD of "Damn
Small Linux" with the same results as XP - 1 gig with sticks in dual channel
config, 1.5 gigs in single channel slots.
 
Update 3 - Problem fixed. I reset the BIOS to its defaults, now everything
comes up just fine. No idea what setting was wrong. The only change I've
ever made was the video card search order it uses. So maybe somebody tweaked
it at the pc store when they set it up for me? Oh well, back to work.
Thanks for all the replies.
 
Back
Top