When I check my PC properties, it displays that I have 1GB of RAM however, when the PC boots, it only increments to 256k. Why is this?

A bug in the BIOS maybe? Might be worth checking to see if there's a later version if it's irritating you.

or maybe your mobo has a 256mb max memory?

Hey thanks. What is MOBO? Does this affect the performance of my PC? How do I get a lter version of BIOS? I presume I check the AMD Athalon site for my processor?

Thanks Simon.

Hey thanks. What is MOBO? Does this affect the performance of my PC?

Your mobo is your Motherboard. and older mother boards can only support so much memory, along with cpu speeds, and stuff.

Simon,

Would I be right in assuming that you're not an "expert user"? I presume that you aren't if you don't know what a "mobo" is or how to go about getting a BIOS update.

On the basis that you're a fairly novice user, I'm now wondering whether you do really have 1Gb RAM. That is a very large amount - twice as much as what I've got and I'm an "expert user" !!

Are you sure you don't mean that you've got 1Gb of hard disk space?

What screen did you go into to get the 1Gb figure? Was it Windows Explorer or did you right-click the My Computer icon on your desktop and go to the Properties option on the menu?

When the PC starts up and it checks the memory in that initial black screen, are you sure that it only reports 256Kb of memory? Or did it say 256Mb?

If you're now as confused as I am, then running the D-A-L.com Online Hardware Scan may give us ALL the answers that we are looking for. You can run the scan by clicking the link at the bottom of my message. When it runs, save the log file results and then copy and paste them into a reply here.

Thanks

Thanks. I built the PC myself:

PC spec:
2 x 160gb s.ATA 150 7200 8mb cache via RIAD
Corsair VS1GBKIT400 1024mb (2 x 512 matched) DDR400
AMD Athalon XP3000+ 333mhz
ASUS A7V600 motherboard

It says 256mb on boot up - perhaps I made a typo. I am a novice to some aspects but am a telecomms technician so not illiterate. I had assistance with my BIOS as I am running a RAID array and wouldn't have had a clue what to do to get it going.

-------------------------------------------------------

OS Information:
PropertyValue
OS Name Microsoft Windows XP Professional|D:\WINDOWS|\Device\Harddisk0\Partitio n1
Service Pack 2.0
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
Windows Directory D:\WINDOWS


Processor:
PropertyValue
Current Clock Speed 2166
Description x86 Family 6 Model 10 Stepping 0
Manufacturer AuthenticAMD
Name AMD Athlon(TM) XP 3000+


Memory (RAM):
PropertyValue
Bank Label
Capacity 536870912

Bank Label
Capacity 536870912

Total Memory Deteced in Hardware: ~1024 MB
Memory Reported to Operating System: 1024MB

Disk Drives:
PropertyValue
Description Disk drive
Manufacturer (Standard disk drives)
Model VIA SATA RAID 0 SCSI Disk Device
Media Type Fixed hard disk media
Size 327851435520 (~305 GB)
Number of Partitions 2


Installed Printers:
PropertyValue

Motherboard:
PropertyValue
Manufacturer ASUSTeK Computer INC.
Model
Name Base Board
Part Number
Product A7V600
Serial Number xxxxxxxxxxx
Version REV 1.xx


BIOS:
PropertyValue
Manufacturer Award Software, Inc.
Name Award Modular BIOS v6.0
Release Date 20031112000000.000000+000
Version ASUS - 42302e31


Monitor:
PropertyValue
Description S-18
Name S-18
Screen Height 1024
Screen Width 1280


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


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


Sound Card:
PropertyValue
Manufacturer Analog Devices, Inc.
Description SoundMAX Integrated Digital Audio
Device ID PCI\VEN_1106&DEV_3059&SUBSYS_80B01043&REV_60\3&61A AA01&0&8D


Video Card:
PropertyValue
Adapter Compatibility Leadtek Research Inc.
Adapter RAM 268435456
Description WinFast A310
Installed Display Drivers nv4_disp.dll
Driver Version 6.14.10.5664
Driver Date 03/03/2004 09:29:00
Video Mode Description 1280 x 1024 x 4294967296 colors


DirectX Installation:
PropertyValue
Version 6.03.01.0146


Modem:
PropertyValue

Network Adapters:
PropertyValue
Description 3Com Gigabit LOM (3C940) - Packet Scheduler Miniport
Description RAS Async Adapter
Description Packet Scheduler Miniport
Description WAN Miniport (L2TP)
Description WAN Miniport (PPTP)
Description WAN Miniport (PPPOE)
Description Direct Parallel
Description WAN Miniport (IP)
Description Packet Scheduler Miniport
Description Microsoft TV/Video Connection

External Ports:
PropertyValue
External Reference Designator
External Reference Designator
External Reference Designator
External Reference Designator USB1
External Reference Designator USB2
External Reference Designator USB3
External Reference Designator USB4
External Reference Designator USB5
External Reference Designator USB6
External Reference Designator USB7
External Reference Designator USB8
External Reference Designator PS/2 Keyboard
External Reference Designator PS/2 Mouse
External Reference Designator Parallel Port
External Reference Designator Serial Port 1
External Reference Designator Serial Port 2
External Reference Designator Joystick Port
External Reference Designator MIDI Port
External Reference Designator Line In Jack
External Reference Designator Lan
External Reference Designator Serial ATA

Expansion Slots:
PropertyValue
Slot Designation PCI 1
Slot Designation PCI 2
Slot Designation PCI 3
Slot Designation PCI 4
Slot Designation PCI 5
Slot Designation PCI 6
Slot Designation AGP
-------------------------------------------------------

1024 reported, so it must be ok. i have heard of other instances of the start-up screen only reporting a portion of the total RAM. conclusions were that the start-up display is simply a 'display string' and isnt a physical reading. sometimes this has been remedied by updating the BIOS. question is, if its working OK, and the pc/os can utilise the full RAM, is it really worth fixing what is fundamentally a 'cosmetic' thing??

Madslc,

My apologies if I sounded at all patronising - I didn't mean to

Jen is right - Windows seems to be quite happy that there is a full gigabyte of memory there. I wouldn't worry about what the BIOS says. But, if it does bother you, there does seem to be a later version of the BIOS for your motherboard - you can get it directly from the ASUS web site here:

http://www.asus.com.tw/support/downl...00&Type=Latest

You are all too kind. Thanks.

Simon