Upgraded from XP to Win7

[Oz1956]

I finally bit the bullet and upgraded yesterday. Before installing the new OS, I installed 4g of ram ( 2 2gb sticks). Got thru all the installation BS, my goodness Microsoft eats up a lot to memory with all those updates. Any way, I was checking out the specs on my systems on the My Computer page and it only shows that I have 2g of Ram. The other problem is I have a 500gb, but it's only showing that I have 127gb total. I know you want my system info so I'll do the best I can. AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 6000+ 3.00 Ghz 32 bit. I'm going to check out my memory sticks. Maybe one of them isn't seated properly. I have them side by side, as it was shown in my MB book, but was wondering if I should skip a slot. Also, is there something I need to do about my drivers. I'm really worried about my HD space. I know before, the guy who built my system had a partition put in. That got wiped out when I tried to to a repair on my Windows XP and had to do a clean install. When I got the system back up and running it showed all my HD space, now I'm barely showing a third of the space that should be there. I'm really at a lost.

 

[Oz1956]

Well since no one is answering, I'll get you up to date. I found my lost HD memory and got it all back, so I'm at full capacity there. As for my sticks of RAM, I just don't know. I removed one, but the system wouldn't boot. Then I put the other one in and the system still wouldn't boot. So I put them both back in and the system booted right up. I'm getting the feeling that I bought 2 2gb or ram and ended up with 2 1gb sticks. Also, I thought the system was suppose to recognize when you put new ram in. Mine didn't.

 

[RobFM]

It should say the ram amount on the stick itself.

 

[Oz1956]

It does. It claims to be 2gb and it was factory sealed. I believe I've got my problem figured out, but I will need to post in a different area. Thanks for your post.

 

[mailpup]

Please do not post the same problem multiple times. Continue with this thread. Thanks.

 

[Oz1956]

As you wish. The problem I'm having is that I upgraded my Ram from the 5300 to the 6400 DDR2 DIMM and my system won't recognize it. I have installed 2-2GB sticks, but my system is still only recognizing 2 GB of ram. I took a stick out, to troubleshoot, but my machine would even boot up. Just the beeping sound when your ram is bad. Changed out the sticks and still nothing. Put both sticks back in and the system booted up, but I had a warning about "the previous overclocking had failed" and the system would restore to default settings. Which takes me back to have 4gb installed, but only 2gb being recognized. I'm assuming it's the Ram because I didn't get the message until I removed and installed the Ram again.

 

[mailpup]

There is a possibility your RAM isn't compatible with your motherboard. Does the RAM voltage shown in the BIOS match with the voltage standard of the RAM? Are you running a 32 bit or 64 bit OS? Also, what is the full model number of your motherboard? I tried looking up what you had written in the other thread but it seemed incomplete.

 

[Oz1956]

I am running the 32 bit OS. My MB is a MSI K9A2GM. Don't know what you mean by RAM voltage in BIOS matching the standard voltage standard of the Ram. I went to my BIOS and couldn't find anything on the RAM. Also, on my MB box, it says I have Dual-Channel DDR2 and will take 4 DIMM for dual-channel DDR2-1066/800/667/533 up to 8GB addressability. This RAM is 800. Was told on the Crucial website that I could upgrade to this RAM. Now I'm wondering. Hope this helps. Thanks for your help.

 

[mailpup]

A 32 bit OS will only address up to 4GB of RAM and actually will usually only show about 3.25GB of RAM or so. A 64 bit OS will allow use of the full 4GB up to the maximum your motherboard will support (8GB in this case).

When I look up your motherboard, I get more than one choice. There are three different suffixes: K9A2GM-FD / FIH / FIH-S. I suppose for our purposes it doesn't make any difference. There are actually two other motherboards with the first part of this model number but they only have two DIMMS.

When I look at the manual I downloaded for your motherboard, page 1-2 shows the RAM voltage as 1.8V. In the BIOS, under Cell Menu you should find DRAM voltage. The RAM you bought should have a recommended voltage. If you look at Newegg's website (for example), one of the specifications for your RAM is voltage. What is it?

I'm just taking a stab in the dark here. In the end this might not lead to a fix for your problem but hopefully it will narrow it down.

 

[Oz1956]

Sorry, I didn't give you the complete number on my mb. It's an FIH. The stats on my RAM is:

• DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)
• Timing 5-5-5-18
• Cas Latency 5
• Voltage 1.8V

 

[SNGX1275]

What video card do you have? 32bit OS and a 2GB video card with 4 GB system RAM installed will probably get you your reported 2GB of RAM.

 

[Oz1956]

My video card is an NVIDIA GeForce 8400GS. It's not even a 1gb card. This will be my next upgrade on my system. Probably not until August, though.

A 32 bit OS will only address up to 4GB of RAM and actually will usually only show about 3.25GB of RAM or so. A 64 bit OS will allow use of the full 4GB up to the maximum your motherboard will support (8GB in this case).

When I look up your motherboard, I get more than one choice. There are three different suffixes: K9A2GM-FD / FIH / FIH-S. I suppose for our purposes it doesn't make any difference. There are actually two other motherboards with the first part of this model number but they only have two DIMMS.

When I look at the manual I downloaded for your motherboard, page 1-2 shows the RAM voltage as 1.8V. In the BIOS, under Cell Menu you should find DRAM voltage. The RAM you bought should have a recommended voltage. If you look at Newegg's website (for example), one of the specifications for your RAM is voltage. What is it?

I'm just taking a stab in the dark here. In the end this might not lead to a fix for your problem but hopefully it will narrow it down.

When I went into my BIOS, all the voltage settings were set to Auto and in gray, causing my system to be unstable. I paged up to reset all the voltage. Got the RAM voltage to 1.8, left the others on the first numbers that popped up, since I'm not sure what they should be anyways. It at least got my system stabilized, but still just showing 2GB of RAM installed.

That's a good call about the video card. Haven't thought about that yet. I will be getting a new one soon.

 

[misor]

Some video cards can use system memory as part of available graphics memory.

my old, still working NVidia 9800gt show the following details under NVidia control panel:

Memory interface: 256-bit
Total available graphics memory: 3002 MB
Dedicated video memory: 1024 MB GDDR3
System video memory: 0 MB
Shared system memory: 1978 MB
Video BIOS version: 62.92.84.00.06

if you are comfortable enough, you can try to clear CMOS (reset BIOS), then add your two 2gb ddr2-800 memory modules one at a time.

 

[Oz1956]

Yeah, I've seen that in my research. I'll have a look at my mb. I'm hoping for just the little red button I have to push. Don't know if I want to mess with taking out the battery. If it comes to that, I guess I'll just have to bite the bullet and go for it. If I clear my BIOS, how do I get them back?

 

[misor]

Clearing BIOS will reset the motherboard BIOS to its default settings (when it was brand new).

no need to get it back since the BIOS is already there (minus any settings changed/saved after the motherboard was first used).

BIOS can be flashed to newer ROMs but motherboard manufacturers advice against it unless the newer firmware will resolve a previous problem or the newer firmware will add more features.

 

[Oz1956]

Its been a busy morning. Well I went and actually reset my CMOS. Not to bad, after pulling the MB manual. Pictures are wonderful things. I then tried putting my sticks in one at a time, but the system wouldn't boot with just one stick in. It boots up fine once I have both sticks in. I have contacted the company that sold me the sticks. I still believe, altho, the sticks are labeled 2GB, that they are only 1GB sticks. Waiting to hear back from them. Also, my system is still stating that I only have 2GB of RAM installed. I know it won't show the whole 4GB, but it should show more than just 2.

 

[bazz2004]

I'd say that you needed to carefully match up the spec of the original ram and the newer sticks. Adding to the amount of ram was a good idea but trying to go for a speed increase too was risky. "I upgraded my Ram from the 5300 to the 6400 DDR2 DIMM and my system won't recognize it." Even with carefully matched sticks I had a problem when the original ram had chips on both sides and the new ones had the chips on just the one side. Ram can be very temperamental.