# Is HP RAM proprietary?



## TheChodja (Mar 29, 2011)

Can laptop, DDR2 HP RAM work on a non-HP system?

I have an HP laptop who's hard drive derped on me. Figuring it'll be a long while before I get another hard drive for it, I decided to cannibalize the RAM from the HP and put it into my most used, Gateway laptop. When I booted it, nothing happened. None of the fans came on, nothing. I put the old RAM back into it and it booted up like normal (two sticks, one original stick and the other a 3rd party brand).

The HP, however, still booted (as far as it can without a hard drive) with the non-HP sticks. Could this be Gateway denying HP innards or HP's stick denying other brands?


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

Some mobo's don't like some RAM and mixing RAM brands/specs commonly results in problems.


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## TheChodja (Mar 29, 2011)

I'm just curious because I know HP has done some crazy stuff with their hardware in the past. Really sucks, though. My main laptop only has 1GB and 512MB in it while the HP has a 4GB stick.


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## mcorton (Apr 16, 2009)

New HP computers normally come with generic RAM made in Taiwan. It seems odd that it cam with mismatched sticks. The 4 GB sticks still have a lot of bugs and are causing problems in some computers.


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## TheChodja (Mar 29, 2011)

My main laptop is a Gateway. It originally came with two 512s. The guy I bought it from, however, took out one of the 512s and replaced it with a 1GB. Hence the mismatch. Also, hence my desire for more RAM. 

The HP laptop has one, single RAM slot with the 4GB in it. I was excited when I remembered that and decided to cannibalize, lol.


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

mcorton said:


> New HP computers normally come with generic RAM made in Taiwan. It seems odd that it cam with mismatched sticks. The 4 GB sticks still have a lot of bugs and are causing problems in some computers.


Many brands of RAM as well as other hardware is made in Taiwan. One single stick is cheaper making the OEM profit's higher.


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