Memory confusion

Recently bought a Compaq that listed with only 512Mb so I wanted to add a stick.

According to Everest, the existing is
DIMM2: Micron Tech. 16VDDT6464AG-40BGB 512 MB PC3200 DDR SDRAM (3.0-3-3-8 @ 200 MHz) (2.5-3-3-7 @ 166 MHz) (2.0-2-2-6 @ 133 MHz) and while I dont' understand most of that, I at least see that it says 512Mb.

Got the information from Everest and also some other information that has me very confused. From the picture, it appears that quite a bit of it is not being recognized. Maybe. I think.

 

Programs running in the background, opened programs and onboard video all use up quite a bit of it. WinXP also demands alot of memory depending on the settings used. If you set WinXP for performance (it will look like Win2K) and install a PCI or AGP video card it will decrease the amount used. Check for programs that run at startup that are not necessary. I use Mike Lin's Startup Control Panel to maintain my startup programs plus the programs themselves may have options to stop them from running. Manually Disabling Startup Programs

Check here for what is necessary; Startup Programs Database

 

Thanks guys.

I have a good 3-D 128Mb video card at home that isn't in use. The PC has an open slot. If I simply put in the card and plug the video into there, will I automatically have the memory freed up? Not sure if the PC will allow disabling the onboard (not home now to try it) but pretty sure that if I just delete it from device mangler it will reload at next boot.

We have another 512 stick on order so it isn't a major crisis but I would like to free up the system RAM if possible.

Whiskeyman - thanks for the reminder about the Mike Lin utility. Forgot to load it on the wife's new PC.

 

Hi Newt,
In some BIOSes you need to disable the onboard graphics, others do it automatically when they see the new card. Suggest you look through the BIOS settings in the motherboard manual, there may also be an explanation of their purpose.

To remove the old drivers, check in Add/Remove programs for listings related to graphics, you need to remove any "control panels ", etc, as well. I would then boot into Safe Mode and remove/uninstall any listings for graphics in Device Mangler there. That should give you the best chance of installing the new drivers cleanly.

When you boot back to normal windows with the new card, if you find Windows has any problem finding the drivers for your model, cancel out of the drivers wizard, this will take you to the desktop using standard drivers. Run the drivers install program then reboot.

Matt