Xp pro memory

#1 Ian F

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Posted 04 April 2009 - 07:44 AM

My computer has a Asus P5QL mobo with 2 x 1Gb Kingston 1066 DDR2 Ram, a 3.2 Gig Intel p4 cpu, a Powercolor HD4650 Graphics card with 512 ram, 2 SATA Hard drives and 2 IDE DVD drives. When the computer boots up the POST shows 2 Gig of Ram, the Bios also shows 2 Gig of Ram all usable. Windows XP pro shows only 1 Gig under system properties, whereas Windows 7 beta shows the full 2 Gig. Why does this occur? I would appreciate any help thanks. By the way Sisoft Sandra shows 2 x 1 gig sticks of Ram. Ian F

#2 hamluis

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Posted 04 April 2009 - 10:08 AM

Right-click on My Computer/Properties...what does it show for RAM?

Are you using onboard video? If so, how much RAM is allocated to such (in the BIOS)?

Louis

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#3 Ian F

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Posted 04 April 2009 - 11:59 AM

My computer/properties shows 1 Gig Ram and the words Physical Address Extension. I do not believe the board has on board video!

#4 hamluis

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Posted 04 April 2009 - 12:48 PM

Hmmm...I think I'd try reseating the RAM modules...I can't think of any other reason the module would not show up in Windows...other than a bad slot on the motherboard or some interference on the motherboard.

Since you have 4 slots for RAM...I would try moving the RAM. The motherboard slot may have a problem.

Louis

Edit: I would run Memtest on the RAM modules if nothing appears to be successful in resolving the situation.

Memtest86.com - Memory Diagnostic - http://www.memtest86.com/

This post has been edited by hamluis: 04 April 2009 - 12:50 PM

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#5 Ian F

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Posted 06 April 2009 - 04:23 PM

Still trying to sort out this memory problem, I decided to look at the BOOT.INI file. Low and behold the max memory was stated to be 1024 kilobytes. I changed maxmem to 4096 saved the file and rebooted. The system properties show I have 2 Gig of Ram in my computer. It has not speeded it up but I am pleased that it shows the real thing. :flowers:

#6 hamluis

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Posted 06 April 2009 - 04:40 PM

The boot.ini file contains no data re RAM. The only data reflected in that file relates to drives/partitions/Windows.

How to Use and Edit Boot.ini in Windows XP - http://vlaurie.com/computers2/Articles/bootini.htm

Louis

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#7 Platypus

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Posted 06 April 2009 - 06:02 PM

BOOT.INI has an optional switch /MAXMEM= which can be used to limit memory utilization for fault finding etc.

The option can be found in msconfig on the Advanced Options dialog of the BOOT.INI tab.

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