ASUS A7N8X-e & Vista Memory Challenge

[DrScott22]

Have the A7N8X-E MB with Athlon XP 2500+ (Barton). Was running Win XP SP2 with 3 identical 1-gig memory sticks installed. XP recognized all 3 gigs of memory and system worked fine. Upgraded to Vista Home Premium 32 bit. System failed to boot with 3 sticks installed. Removed one and system works fine. Installed Vista SP 1 but no help.

I can install any 2 of the 3 sticks in any 2 of the 3 slots and the system boots to Windows. Installing the 3rd stick prevents booting. It completes the POST and reboots when starting Vista.

Any thoughts on getting the 3 gigs to work in this system? Thanks

 

[ilovebarny]

try a bios update and reinstall vista. also try running memtest.

 

[Mondoman]

Sadly, my guess is that your real-world choices are to either run Vista with 2GB or run XP with 3GB. Vista isn't really designed for systems as old as yours. However, you might as well try calling/emailing Microsoft for their free Vista install helpline support.

 

[rsetter1]

I dont know why it would matter but could it be possible that Vista does not like 3GB in single channel?

 

[CSWScrooge]

hello,

last post is a bit old by now, but I have the same issue, so I would ask: have you given up or found a solution?

Some Info:
A7N8X Deluxe 2.0
AthlonXP 3000+
Sapphire Radeon HD3850 512MB
3 x G.SKILL 1GBNS

Memory Sticks are ok
Powersupply is sufficient

tried
Updates (should both be installed with SP1 and failed to install manually)
KB925528
KB929777

Verifier /standard
Verifier /all

I checked the BCDEdit parameter reference and found no kernel switch that would make sense (at least to me) except the /removememory 1024 which makes Vista boot with all 3 sticks installed but using only 2 GB (Crappy workaround!).

Since the setup works great in XP and Linux, it must be, as Mondoman suggested, lacking support for the old hardware in Windows Vista. But as we say in germany 'Hope dies last'...

Someone got an idea?