Laptop Ram issue

wallgood358 · 06-13-2008, 05:47 PM

I own an Averatec 3150Hs laptop running Xp Home Sp2, that i upgraded from the factory 128mb ram stick to a Kingston 512mb stick. It has 128mb internal memory as well as the removable. Bios recognizes that i have 640mb ram installed but when i boot into windows it only recognizes 380mb. I used the crucial online memory advisor as well as Belarc and both only recognize my installed stick as 256mb. Averatec manual says my system supports up to 512mb pc2100 or pc2700 ram. My stick is a Kingston pc2100 512mb stick. Is there anyway to force my system to recognize the installed memory. Or any explanation as to why it would only recognize the ram as half of its true value

craigwatanabe · 06-13-2008, 06:29 PM

Is it possible in a far stretch that maybe your RAM module was mislabeled as a 512 stick instead of a 256? That happened to me once. I suggest installing that RAM module in another laptop and see if it sees it as 512 or 256.

wallgood358 · 06-13-2008, 09:34 PM

I am pretty sure that it is labeled correctly. Bios recognizes all 690mb installed, the 128 internal and the 512 removable. But windows does not recognize that much. Recognizes only 256 of the 512 installed. I am curious as the why this is. I am using Pc2100 ram and i know that it can also support pc2700 as it is backwards compatible. I also know that though kingston is a name brand for ram, that it is still on the budget side. Would upgrading to a better brand and maybe to the pc2700 speed help me at all?

**TriggerFinger** · 06-13-2008, 10:03 PM

hi wallgood358,

correct me here if needed..
1. your Averatec model only supports 512MB max.
2. you checked your model hardware it has an internal/integrated 128MB RAM.
3. you plugged in 512MB on top of the 128MB.
4. BIOS recognizes 512MB plus the 128MB but Windows does not.

obviously i think you went over the supported 512MB max limit here. since your hardware does not support more than the limit even though it recognizes the module, i think (and i may be wrong) it does not pass that information well to Windows.

try a 256MB module instead and see if BIOS and Windows will have equal readings.

wallgood358 · 06-20-2008, 07:47 PM

i will attempt that. But from what i read in the averatec manuals, it says it supports up to a 512mb "upgrade" meaning as far as i can tell that a 512 module should be supported

**TriggerFinger** · 06-21-2008, 10:02 AM

contact Averatec directly and ask them to be sure. that way you save in getting a 256MB ram

06-13-2008, 05:47 PM	#1 (permalink)
wallgood358 Registered User Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Tucson, AZ Posts: 172 OS: Win xp	Laptop Ram issue I own an Averatec 3150Hs laptop running Xp Home Sp2, that i upgraded from the factory 128mb ram stick to a Kingston 512mb stick. It has 128mb internal memory as well as the removable. Bios recognizes that i have 640mb ram installed but when i boot into windows it only recognizes 380mb. I used the crucial online memory advisor as well as Belarc and both only recognize my installed stick as 256mb. Averatec manual says my system supports up to 512mb pc2100 or pc2700 ram. My stick is a Kingston pc2100 512mb stick. Is there anyway to force my system to recognize the installed memory. Or any explanation as to why it would only recognize the ram as half of its true value

06-13-2008, 06:29 PM	#2 (permalink)
craigwatanabe Registered User Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 299 OS: xp	Re: Laptop Ram issue Is it possible in a far stretch that maybe your RAM module was mislabeled as a 512 stick instead of a 256? That happened to me once. I suggest installing that RAM module in another laptop and see if it sees it as 512 or 256. __________________ A computer is only as powerful as it's user so build wisely.

06-13-2008, 09:34 PM	#3 (permalink)
wallgood358 Registered User Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Tucson, AZ Posts: 172 OS: Win xp	Re: Laptop Ram issue I am pretty sure that it is labeled correctly. Bios recognizes all 690mb installed, the 128 internal and the 512 removable. But windows does not recognize that much. Recognizes only 256 of the 512 installed. I am curious as the why this is. I am using Pc2100 ram and i know that it can also support pc2700 as it is backwards compatible. I also know that though kingston is a name brand for ram, that it is still on the budget side. Would upgrading to a better brand and maybe to the pc2700 speed help me at all?

06-13-2008, 10:03 PM	#4 (permalink)
TriggerFinger Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: USA Posts: 11,853 OS: Vista SP1, XP SP3, PCLinuxOS2007	Re: Laptop Ram issue hi wallgood358, correct me here if needed.. 1. your Averatec model only supports 512MB max. 2. you checked your model hardware it has an internal/integrated 128MB RAM. 3. you plugged in 512MB on top of the 128MB. 4. BIOS recognizes 512MB plus the 128MB but Windows does not. obviously i think you went over the supported 512MB max limit here. since your hardware does not support more than the limit even though it recognizes the module, i think (and i may be wrong) it does not pass that information well to Windows. try a 256MB module instead and see if BIOS and Windows will have equal readings. __________________ DBAN - Memtest86+ - BartPE - Linux LiveCD - ImgBurn - HDD Diags - Disk Copy HOW TO BURN AN ISO FILE

06-20-2008, 07:47 PM	#5 (permalink)
wallgood358 Registered User Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Tucson, AZ Posts: 172 OS: Win xp	Re: Laptop Ram issue i will attempt that. But from what i read in the averatec manuals, it says it supports up to a 512mb "upgrade" meaning as far as i can tell that a 512 module should be supported

06-21-2008, 10:02 AM	#6 (permalink)
TriggerFinger Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: USA Posts: 11,853 OS: Vista SP1, XP SP3, PCLinuxOS2007	Re: Laptop Ram issue contact Averatec directly and ask them to be sure. that way you save in getting a 256MB ram __________________ DBAN - Memtest86+ - BartPE - Linux LiveCD - ImgBurn - HDD Diags - Disk Copy HOW TO BURN AN ISO FILE