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November 24th, 2010 07:00

Memory size on Inspiron 8500

This is odd.....an old Inspiron 8500 (7 years old) is used for light work, and is now running Windows7 Professional. I tried to ugrade the memory to the declared maximum of 2GB (2 x 1GB) but even though using good Kingston memory, it will only recognise and work with 1GB in total.  My original 2 x 512MB work OK,....if I take them out and put in 1 x 1GB Kingston unit, it works OK, but if I try to use either a second 1GB unit, or even one of my old 512MB units, it hangs on the Windows loading icon. It is as if it will only work with up to 1 GB total.

I can't seem to upgrade the BIOS from A06 to A08 (that may be a Windows 7 ything, the Dell techies think).

Anyone else had a similar problem?

 

CliffyB

 

 

November 24th, 2010 11:00

Does BIOS recognize the memory change?

Enter BIOS setup and check the memory modules . Check if it detects the two 1GB chips

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5.2K Posts

November 24th, 2010 12:00

Where did you purchase the memory?

You should always buy from someone who will guarantee it will work, like Crucial. Return yours if you can abd try a legit seller.

Some older computers will only recognize a maximum number of memory "banks". If the limit is 2 or 3, and each memory chip has two banks, then you will get what you got. Many sellers supply cheap RAM which may not work. Ebay is a problem source.

3 Posts

November 27th, 2010 23:00

Yes, the bios shows the memory that I put in, but the startup hangs at the splach screen unless I only have 1GB total on board. (Either 1GB in one slot only, or 2 x 512MB .)

 

 

 

 

3 Posts

November 27th, 2010 23:00

I bought from a reputable shop, and they even swapped to try different manufacturers.  The best was a Kingston, and that worked if only 1 x 1gb unit was used.  As soon as I put 2 in the machine would hang on startup.  I got all my money back as thy couldn't get the memory to work in my 8500.

 

 

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