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Gene007

21 Posts

20037

November 20th, 2006 13:00

Precision M60 Installed memory incorrectly reported in XP

I have searched high and low for an answer to this, but to no avail.
 
I have installed 2 properly matched 1GB memory modules in my Precision M60, but XP will report only 760MB. I have tried all of the standard recommendations (remove and replace the chips, etc.) This appears to be unique, since most other threads on this issue involve installations of 4GB only being reported as 3GB. Despite days of searching, I have found no one with a similar complaint.
 
I would appreciate any advice on this. If there is not a way to fix this, is there a way to confirm how much memory is actually available to XP? (I have FreeRAMXP installed and it also reports only 760MB of RAM available.
 
Thanks in advance.

Gene007

21 Posts

November 20th, 2006 20:00

Under the Performance tab, the total physical memory is reported as "777776".
 
Thanks.

rickmktg

11.9K Posts

November 20th, 2006 22:00


Gene007 wrote:
Under the Performance tab, the total physical memory is reported as "777776".
 
Thanks.
 
Freaky!

Hydralisk00222

2.4K Posts

November 20th, 2006 22:00

hey, i actually had good results with PNY ram, don't be dissin :smileyvery-happy:

Gene007

21 Posts

November 21st, 2006 00:00

Freaky is an understatement, Rick.
 
In my experience, I have never run into a computer problem that was not the subject of many discussions on forums, newsgroups, etc., but this appears to be the first.
 
Indeed, 777776k = 760 MB. That is the max that Windows XP will show in the Performance tab no matter what combination of chips I have in the computer (1G, 1G+1G, 1G+512MB, 1G+256MB, 512MB+256MB).
 
That seems to take the "PNY" issue off the table, although I will certainly keep your advice in mind when purchasing memory in the future. (Actually, I have usually ordered from Crucial, but these PNY chips were an incredible deal, or so I thought, at a major electronics store.)
 
Anyway, Rick, I'm going to bed. It's been a long day. I did want to say thank you again. Your service to the Dell community has been above and beyond the call of duty. If you ever stumble on the answer, please post it here and I will be certain to find it.

rickmktg

11.9K Posts

November 21st, 2006 00:00


Gene007 wrote:
Freaky is an understatement, Rick.
 
In my experience, I have never run into a computer problem that was not the subject of many discussions on forums, newsgroups, etc., but this appears to be the first.
 
Indeed, 777776k = 760 MB. That is the max that Windows XP will show in the Performance tab no matter what combination of chips I have in the computer (1G, 1G+1G, 1G+512MB, 1G+256MB, 512MB+256MB).
 
That seems to take the "PNY" issue off the table, although I will certainly keep your advice in mind when purchasing memory in the future. (Actually, I have usually ordered from Crucial, but these PNY chips were an incredible deal, or so I thought, at a major electronics store.)
 
Anyway, Rick, I'm going to bed. It's been a long day. I did want to say thank you again. Your service to the Dell community has been above and beyond the call of duty. If you ever stumble on the answer, please post it here and I will be certain to find it.

Sometimes faulty memory damages a computer, but I can't comprehend how bios sees it fine and nothing else does.

Gene007

21 Posts

November 22nd, 2006 10:00

Rick:
 
Here's an interesting twist:
 
I tried a Safe Mode start up. The boot menu says:
 
"Please select the operating system to start:
Microsoft Windows XP Professional (Memory: NT=760 MB, MIL=8.0 MB")
 
The BIOS still shows 2048 MB.
 
This probably eliminates Windows as the problem. It's looking more and more like a hardware issue, although I can't imagine that all 4 memory modules I have are bad.
 
I just bought an extended warranty from Dell. Do you think they will assist me on this or will I get the backhand because these are not the original memory modules?
 
Thanks, Rick.

Gene007

21 Posts

November 24th, 2006 13:00

Ricky:
 
I thought you might be interested. I found the problem/solution.
 
Somehow (don't ask how 'cause I don't know), my boot.ini file had a line for the XP operating system with the following entry at the end of the OS name: "maxmem:760".
 
This is an entry that can be made with msconfig. (Go to the boot.ini tab, Advanced Options, enter a check mark for "MAXMEM" and then enter the amount of memory to allow as maximum.)
 
How it got there, I haven't a clue.
 
Anyway, I'm showing 2 G of RAM and the world is pretty again.

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