# [SOLVED] windows xp not showing correct amount of ram



## teddyastuffed (Jun 6, 2010)

hello, i just got my mom a used toshiba a105 s2061 and was having a problem upgrading the memory, or i think i am. she had a 256 ddr2 pc4200 and 512 ddr2 pc4200 stick in her computer. i replaced the 256 chip with a 1gb ddr2 pc5300 stick and all booted fine and well. BUT when i went to msinfo32 it states that the total physical memory is 1024mb. so i opened up cpu-z and it states that there is 1536mb with both sticks appearing as normal. being confused, i then attempted to take the 1gb stick out and see the listed memory. it showed 512mb, as expected. then i took the 512mb chip out and put ONLY the 1gb chip, and the computer would not boot. again, i was not surprised by this because this laptop is not capable of running the faster clock speed. so my goal from the beginning was to have the 1gb stick match the 512mb stick's speed. i hope this wasnt too confusing, but i am wondering if windows is only running on half the memory from the 1gb stick, or is it actually running at 1536mb but just not listing the total amount. the computer seems very stable with both chips in and i have not experienced any slowdown (honestly, the jump from the 768mb to what i thought was 1.5gb seemed accurate because everything was running so incredibly smoothly). this isnt a HUGE issue in the sense that the computer is running well, but i would definitely like to use all of the memory if possible. again, i hope this wasnt confusing, but any help would be greatly appreciated. thanks guys!!

oh and also the bios is upgraded to its latest firmware, so that is not the issue. forgot to mention that. thanks again


----------



## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

*Re: windows xp not showing correct amount of ram*

the rest is most likely assigned to the video


----------



## teddyastuffed (Jun 6, 2010)

*Re: windows xp not showing correct amount of ram*

mmm no that is not the case, i was giving the information from the system information (cmd line: "msinfo32") which is different than right clicking my computer and seeing the memory listed. the integrated card is only 64mb, thus when i right click on my computer and see the amount of memory, it lists 960mb. this still does not account for the 512mb that im not getting, or at least that windows xp is not telling me i have it -_-. 

i just cant find a good answer to my dilemma and buying lower clocked memory to test all this out is not what im trying to do right now. as i said, the computer works and works well at that, i just dont like it when things dont function the way they should, ESPECIALLY from one of my computers ;O


----------



## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

*Re: windows xp not showing correct amount of ram*

What brand and model ram stick did you install?

I suspect it's only reading 1 side of the stick like it's a high density rather then a low density stick, even if you installed DDR2 800 by itself it would slow down to the speed of the board, so that 1 stick not booting by itself tells me there's a compatibility issue with the stick, CPUz will report what the microcode on the stick says it is, it does not test it for size, windows gets the size info passed from the bios which does count up the ram.


----------



## teddyastuffed (Jun 6, 2010)

*Re: windows xp not showing correct amount of ram*

ahhh sorry for the late response, but u see, i took this 1gb stick out of an acer netbook ao532h-2588 and it is kingston, but all the other numbers do not resemble a model number. the main one which is a sticker on one side of it says KN1GB07003948003D11601. thats all i have aside from other part numbers and random stuff. that is a very good point tho that i slightly considered, but i didnt know the details so much -_-. i dont know wat else to say, is there any other number i can give u? the part number from cpu-z doesnt give any search results in google so... im at a loss!! thanks for the response btw


----------



## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

*Re: windows xp not showing correct amount of ram*

That looks like someones OEM part number, Just had another thread where the OP installed 2 Crucial 667 sticks and it would only read 1 stick, Crucial says on his model it 1 stick at 667 or 2 sticks @ 533 or it won't work, I would suggest getting a pair of PC4200 533 as it appears yours is the same, Crucial and Kingston do not list compatible ram for it , and Corsair is listing 1gig sticks of PC4200 only > http://www.corsair.com/configurator/system_results.aspx?id=500005


----------



## GZ (Jan 31, 2010)

*Re: windows xp not showing correct amount of ram*

Kingston is known to label half of a dual-channel kit with the full size of both DIMMS. I have a set of Kingston DIMMS at home that state "512" on the label, but in fact it is only "256". This may be the same as the laptop SODIMM. Was the DIMM reading a full 1Gb in the other laptop?


----------



## teddyastuffed (Jun 6, 2010)

*Re: windows xp not showing correct amount of ram*

ya it was, i took it out of an acer ao532h, one of the netbooks that only has 1 memory slot period, and it was definitely showing 1024mb. i was hoping there was a solution that didnt involve getting different memory as this was just kinda lying around since i upgraded my netbook, but oh well i guess. she has a gig on her laptop as is, so thats good for now i suppose. thanks for all ur help guys


----------

