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RAM recognized in bios not Win XP
I am trying to install more RAM on users PC's. I usually go to crucial.com and select brand, model and it tells you what types of RAM to use and the max. I have never had an issue before.
Now I am trying to upgrade a Dell optiplex gcx260 and 270. We bought the ram and the bios reads the new amount but windows xp does not recognize the added memory. It still displays the old amount. Bios is update and windows updates are up to date. Any insight on this?
Now I am trying to upgrade a Dell optiplex gcx260 and 270. We bought the ram and the bios reads the new amount but windows xp does not recognize the added memory. It still displays the old amount. Bios is update and windows updates are up to date. Any insight on this?
Are you making sure to not go over the 4gb limit on a 32 bit system? I have to ask.
32bit xp will see 4gb but show only 3.5gb or so in windows. Check the BIOS and see how much is deticated to video (256, 128, 64) etc.
ASKER
I am installing enough ram to make it 2GB. I know the rules of 32 and 64 bit that is why im a little confused on how the bios sees the ram but not the OS
ASKER
usecomp i dont think it is the video memory. Reason why the user had 512ram and I removed the 512mb and install two 1gb sticks to give him 2gb. The system still showed 512mb. This was on the gx 260 and the same on the gx270
Make sure that the share RAM (for video memory) is not enabled in BIOS or not large memory is shared for Video.
ASKER
Ohhh ok so what will happen any cons of disabling that option?
If Video Memory sharing is enabled, a portion of RAM (user defined size) will be assigned to the video processing. It will add up to the video memory of existing card. For eg, if the dedicated video memory of video controller is 512MB and you have 2GB of RAM of which you share 512MB with video controller, the total video memory will become 1024. The total RAM in BIOS will show 2GB and total RAM in OS (computer properties) will show 1536MB. (~1.5gb)
Cons: If you use any application that extensively use video memory, the application may not perform little good due to lack of sufficient memory required.
Cons: If you use any application that extensively use video memory, the application may not perform little good due to lack of sufficient memory required.
This is NOT likely to be any of the above. It's almost certainly either a /maxmem setting in the BOOT.INI, or Install Mode setting in the BIOS.
Check your BOOT.INI file to see if there's a /maxmem setting => if so, just delete this switch and it will use all available memory. You can easily see and edit the BOOT.INI file by just right-clicking on My Computer; selecting Properties; clicking the Advanced tab; clicking on Startup & Recovery; then clicking on Edit.
This issue could also be an "install mode" in the BIOS ... a holdover from NT days that will limit the amount of RAM exposed to the OS.
Check your BOOT.INI file to see if there's a /maxmem setting => if so, just delete this switch and it will use all available memory. You can easily see and edit the BOOT.INI file by just right-clicking on My Computer; selecting Properties; clicking the Advanced tab; clicking on Startup & Recovery; then clicking on Edit.
This issue could also be an "install mode" in the BIOS ... a holdover from NT days that will limit the amount of RAM exposed to the OS.
ASKER
Ok so once I hit edit on the boot INi just select delete? Also what do I do in the install mode? I don't know where to start as I have never heard of install mode
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Did you hit [F2] at boot time?
I remeber some Dell systems that needed to go into BIOS setup before they pass the changes to the OS.
I remeber some Dell systems that needed to go into BIOS setup before they pass the changes to the OS.
ASKER
This fixed it. The boot ini file had the ram set to a certain size. Once I removed the line with the ram info I rebooted the machine and all the ram was recognized by the OS. Thanks for the help.