Hi folks.
I recently installed an extra 512meg of 2100 DDR to my system. According to the 'general properties' tab in 'My Computer' I now have 768meg of Ram.
BUT!! according to your online hardware scan my system is not using both chips.-------------------------------------------------------

OS Information:
PropertyValue
OS Name Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition|C:\WINDOWS|\Device\Harddisk0\Partition1
Service Pack 2.0
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
Windows Directory C:\WINDOWS


Processor:
PropertyValue
Current Clock Speed 1471
Description x86 Family 6 Model 6 Stepping 2
Manufacturer AuthenticAMD
Name AMD Athlon(tm) XP 1700+


Memory (RAM):
PropertyValue
Bank Label Bank0/1
Capacity 536870912

Total Memory Deteced in Hardware: ~512 MB
Memory Reported to Operating System: 767MB

Disk Drives:
PropertyValue
Description Disk drive
Manufacturer (Standard disk drives)
Model Maxtor 6Y080L0
Media Type Fixed hard disk media
Size 81956689920 (~76 GB)
Number of Partitions 1


Installed Printers:
PropertyValue
Name hp psc 900 series fax
Port Name DOT4_001
Default False
Driver Name hp psc 900 series fax

Name hp psc 900 series
Port Name DOT4_001
Default True
Driver Name hp psc 900 series


Motherboard:
PropertyValue
Manufacturer
Model
Name Base Board
Part Number
Product VT8366-8233
Serial Number
Version


BIOS:
PropertyValue
Manufacturer Award Software International, Inc.
Name Award Modular BIOS v6.00PGN
Release Date 20011109000000.000000+000
Version VIA694 - 30302e32


Monitor:
PropertyValue
Description Philips 170W (17inch LCD MONITOR 170W4)
Name Philips 170W (17inch LCD MONITOR 170W4)
Screen Height 768
Screen Width 1024


Keyboard:
PropertyValue
Description Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/2 Keyboard


Pointing Device:
PropertyValue
Manufacturer Microsoft
Name PS/2 Compatible Mouse


Sound Card:
PropertyValue
Manufacturer Microsoft
Description Unimodem Half-Duplex Audio Device
Device ID MODEMWAVE\0\{F54EFEE9-AB46-4355-8DE3-45C18AB695BA}

Manufacturer Realtek
Description Realtek AC'97 Audio for VIA (R) Audio Controller
Device ID PCI\VEN_1106&DEV_3059&SUBSYS_34DC4005&REV_10\3&61A AA01&0&8D


Video Card:
PropertyValue
Adapter Compatibility NVIDIA
Adapter RAM 67108864
Description NVIDIA GeForce2 MX 200
Installed Display Drivers nv4_disp.dll
Driver Version 6.14.10.5216
Driver Date 10/06/2003 14:16:00
Video Mode Description 1024 x 768 x 4294967296 colors


DirectX Installation:
PropertyValue
Version 6.03.01.0146


Modem:
PropertyValue
Model Intel HaM Data Fax Voice
Name Intel HaM Data Fax Voice


Network Adapters:
PropertyValue
Description WAN (PPP/SLIP) Interface
Description Packet Scheduler Miniport
Description WAN (PPP/SLIP) Interface
Description Packet Scheduler Miniport
Description WAN (PPP/SLIP) Interface
Description BT Voyager ADSL Modem

External Ports:
PropertyValue
External Reference Designator
External Reference Designator
External Reference Designator
External Reference Designator
External Reference Designator
External Reference Designator
External Reference Designator
External Reference Designator Detected
External Reference Designator

Expansion Slots:
PropertyValue
Slot Designation PCI
Slot Designation PCI
Slot Designation PCI
Slot Designation PCI
Slot Designation AGP
Slot Designation
-------------------------------------------------------

I have tried swapping the chips about the available 3 slots, but my comp will only use the chip in the first slot although it does seem to detect both chips on bootup. Can anyone shed some light?

Have you tried just the 512mb in slot 0 the first slot and see what that shows up?

I think they like the larger memory bank in the first slot .........does your BIOS accept that amount of memory?

Whichever size module I put in the first slot is the amount of memory that shows up in the scan. At the moment it is the 512 meg module. If I swap it over and put the 256 meg in the first slot, the scan will say
Total Memory Deteced in Hardware: ~256 MB
Memory Reported to Operating System: 767MB

The only thing I haven't tried is just using slot 2 or 3 on their own.
How do I find out how much memory my BIOS will accept.

System info says this:

OS Name Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
Version 5.1.2600 Service Pack 2 Build 2600
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
System Name DEFAULT
System Manufacturer VIA694
System Model AWRDACPI
System Type X86-based PC
Processor x86 Family 6 Model 6 Stepping 2 AuthenticAMD ~1471 Mhz
BIOS Version/Date Award Software International, Inc. 6.00 PG, 09/11/2001
SMBIOS Version 2.3
Windows Directory C:\WINDOWS
System Directory C:\WINDOWS\system32
Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume1
Locale United States
Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "5.1.2600.2180 (xpsp_sp2_rtm.040803-2158)"
User Name DEFAULT\Default User
Time Zone GMT Standard Time
Total Physical Memory 512.00 MB
Available Physical Memory 513.50 MB
Total Virtual Memory 2.00 GB
Available Virtual Memory 1.96 GB
Page File Space 1.83 GB
Page File C:\pagefile.sys

VIA694

Max RAM 1 GB

What shows up when you rt.click My Computer then properties at the bottom of the list is RAM

you could always use another hardware scanner...is the machine running any better than before?

I use this http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html it good never had any problems with it

Originally Posted by jephree

VIA694

Max RAM 1 GB

What shows up when you rt.click My Computer then properties at the bottom of the list is RAM

768 mg of RAM

Thats gives a very detailed report Jeff. Unfortunately it says

768 Megabytes Installed Memory

Slot 'A0' has 512 MB

Where's my other 256MB :-(

You might want to try this Diagnostic Tool:


Windows Memory Diagnostic

Ok! Tried that one Jephree and it seems I have no errors.
I looked at the advanced menus and it gave a description of my installed memory.

Slot A0....512MB
Slot A1....256MB
Slot A2....256MB SDRAM DIMM
Slot A3....Unpopulated

Very confused now as I only have 3 slots.
I removed the 512MB module from slot 1 and rebooted, ran memory checks etc and all appear fine. The 256MB module ran fine (but slow) in slot 2. so I replaced the 512MB in slot one and now my system info says,
total physical memory..........256MB
available physical memory.....277MB

Whats that all about?