A couple of questions about memory (zv6000 Laptop)

[pous]

Hi guys, I've received great help at this forum in the past, so when I came up with this most recent set of questions I decided to stop in here.

First question is this.. My laptop (HP Pavilion zv6000) is about two years old. In CPU-z it shows that I have two 256MB modules of DDR 2700 RAM. (So far no question, but I'm getting to that.) I'd been considering upgrading my ram for a while, and so today I opened up the bottom and took a look. I was a bit surprised to find that there was only one module of ram plugged in... in the only apparent spot for it... wouldn't normally be a problem, except the ram identifies itself as 256MB 2700 etc etc, with no evidence or anything of another 256, I'm just confused about what's going on... maybe someone could offer some insight (please?)

Next question, isn't necessarily memory related... but I need help with it anyway. Lately (last week or two) I've been having random CPU usage spikes... up to 100% and whatnot, for no reason whatsoever. I'll go and check my task manager and it'll show either one program using 99% of the cpu, or 2-3 using an amount equaling 100. (Usually jet audio (or winamp) and trillian, along with whatever game I'm playing... usually starcraft or a gba emulator... so no reason it should be so high). I read around on a few sites that said maybe it was because the system was dirty... so while I was looking around at the ram today I blew out the inside with a bunch of compressed air... not sure yet if that solved the problem, because it's only been back together and powered on now for about 20 minutes.

So I guess my questions are (simplified):

1. Why did I only find one stick of ram in my laptop when I opened it up?

2. Is it possible that 256 of my memory is built into the motherboard (in the same style as on-board video perhaps)?

3. Why would a computer (laptop) have random CPU spikes like that, and what can I do to try and fix the problem?

 

[piratepast40]

I have a Compaq R4000 which is the equivelant of the zv6000. There is a second memory slot below the keyboard - you'll find your other module in there. If you don't have it allready, download the users manual or maintenance manual from HP.

My guess is that people were refering to "dirty" as broken and shared dll's, exteraneous programs running in the background, and possible adware or spyware. The recommendation would be to "clean out" your computer by doing a fresh OS install .

Actually, I just did that with mine yesterday. Kind of a pain getting all the windows updates as well as all of the HP service packs and bios updates but worth the effort. Just so you know, the HP recovery disk does NOT contain all of the drivers. You'll need to reload all of those from the HP site either before your reinstall or while connected via a cable to your ISP - the wireless adapter does not come preloaded. You'll also need to call Microsoft to re-register your copy of XP. Luckily that call only takes a few minutes. It's up to you but you don't necessarily need to format your hard drive if you want to try to save all your old files.

Good luck.

 

[pous]

Interesting, thanks (=

I'll be looking into both things for sure.

 

[pous]

I have a Compaq R4000 which is the equivelant of the zv6000. There is a second memory slot below the keyboard - you'll find your other module in there. If you don't have it allready, download the users manual or maintenance manual from HP.

My guess is that people were refering to "dirty" as broken and shared dll's, exteraneous programs running in the background, and possible adware or spyware. The recommendation would be to "clean out" your computer by doing a fresh OS install .

Actually, I just did that with mine yesterday. Kind of a pain getting all the windows updates as well as all of the HP service packs and bios updates but worth the effort. Just so you know, the HP recovery disk does NOT contain all of the drivers. You'll need to reload all of those from the HP site either before your reinstall or while connected via a cable to your ISP - the wireless adapter does not come preloaded. You'll also need to call Microsoft to re-register your copy of XP. Luckily that call only takes a few minutes. It's up to you but you don't necessarily need to format your hard drive if you want to try to save all your old files.

Good luck.

Hi again, I've been trying to find the slot below the keyboard but I'm having trouble... maybe I'm just not going about it the right way... can you help me find it, or to find the manual? I couldn't find it on the HP website.

Thanks either way for letting me know what was going on

 

[Mondoman]

http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c00364919.pdf
Section 5.13

 

[pous]

http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c00364919.pdf
Section 5.13

That just made my day ^_^ thank you sir.

 

[patriotsrn1]

For those who are looking to Upgrade Ram Modules on a Pavilion zv6000 Laptop, here is a Video on how to access the Ram that is under the keyboard:

Upgrading Memory on your Pavilion Laptop
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLah6i-FKsc

TechtalkRadio demonstration on replacing Memory under the keyboard on the HP6201 Pavilion Notebook

Hope this helps?

 

[feis69]

The zv6000's second memory slot is located under the keyboard. You can upgrade to 1 or 2 gig however the system will only recognize about 1.7 gigs according to most memory suppliers, whom say the system may become unstable with 2gig opposed to 1gig upgrade. It does have a 64bit processor and you can make changes to the bios for RAM size. I have the same computer and i am A+ certified, i upgraded mine to 2gigs of RAM and had no problems, computer sped up nicely..... however, its no comparison to the newer 6 and 8gig RAM systems, but it will speed up the old beast from the 512k.

There are a many reasons your CPU would spike, yes some programs can cause it(if there using up your RAM to run) but more then likely your battery or power supply is wearing out from age. Find both on ebay. Would need a lot more info to correctly diagnosis. You can go in to bios if you know what your doing and disable CPU speed stepping, which is a setting on laptops to help conserve battery by allowing the computer to adjust CPU power, disabling it keeps CPU at full processing power, which in my opinion works more efficiently, especially for games.