Win 7 64 bit doesnt read 4 gig ram

[Steve_28]

Hello, I have a HP DV2000 RM669AV I have upgraded fro vista 32bit to Win 7 64 bit. All documentation I read on HP regarding this laptop states I can install up to 16 gigs of ram once I am running 64 bit. I have been running 2 1gig PC2-5300S in this machine without a problem. After the upgrade I attempted to install a 4 gig card and the machine wont even boot at all. It seems to go through the disc read commands but within seconds the HDD stops running and I get a black screen.

I can put the old memory in and get it up and running without incident.

The problem I have is that Ultimate 64bit requires 2 gigs to run. Therefore I don't have the correct ram combination to install the card along with a 2 gig card and boot up to see why it doesn't run. I find it stupid to have to go and buy a 2 gig card just to make it work with a 4 gig card.

I have read forums about both resetting and updating the bios. The first attempt I did was resetting the bios buy unplugging the machine, removing the battery and removing the internal battery. This did not help. All it did was reset the clock to 2006 and caused my windows and virus software to tweak out until I reset the clock.

When I go to HP's website for support I see a bios update for Vista 64 bit but not Win 7 64 bit. I am afraid to install a bios update that is not necessarily the correct one. Therefore I have not attempted to update the Bios.

Can anyone help me?

 

[Ironsounds]

Hello... a couple things here...

1) there can be a BIO's setting change for operating with 2 sticks and 1 stick of memory... this is the dual channel mode setting, with 1 stick shut off dual channel mode.

2) the BIO's doesn't care about the operating system... it is just a hardware communications program... and there are options that need 64 bit operation enabled for 64 bit operating systems.

Look at these setting before trying a BIO's update.

 

[Steve_28]

One more Question. Which ram bay on a HP Laptop is the #1 ram bay? The one closest to the Motherboard?

 

[Steve_28]

Hello... a couple things here...

1) there can be a BIO's setting change for operating with 2 sticks and 1 stick of memory... this the the dual channel mode setting, with 1 stick shut off dual channel mode.

2) the BIO's doesn't care about the operating system... it is just a hardware communications program... and there are options that need 64 bit operation enabled for 64 bit operating systems.

Look at these setting before trying a BIO's update.

I will check these out. I am using this machine at the same time I'm working on it so responses will be extremely slow. I post results later

 

[Steve_28]

I scoured through the Bios settings and could not find the setting for either of your suggested points. Does anyone have more suggestions?

 

[Chimb]

1) Make sure the type of RAM is what is supported. (Speeds/make)
2) What the issue sounds like is that you need to either use 2 sticks, or 4 sticks, not 3. I would personally suggest 2 or 4 sticks of 2GB, or 4 sticks of 1GB.

 

[Steve_28]

1) Make sure the type of RAM is what is supported. (Speeds/make)
2) What the issue sounds like is that you need to either use 2 sticks, or 4 sticks, not 3. I would personally suggest 2 or 4 sticks of 2GB, or 4 sticks of 1GB.

Thanks for the reply, this is a laptop it only has two bays. I don't understand how I can use a higher ram number if I can only use 1 or 2 gig sticks. I assume if this computer and mother board is capable of running up to 16 gig of ram I should obviously be able to run higher than 4 gig total.

The stick I bought is the same speed ram as what works fine in the machine just has more ram.
If I put in one 1 gig stick and the 4 gig stick it doesn't start no matter which bay I put them in.
If I put in the 4 gig only stick, it doesn't start no matter which bay I put it in.
Since Win 7 64 bit has a minimum requirement of 2 gigs If I put in the two 1 gig sticks it runs fine.

This is PC2-5300 ram. my whole idea was so upgrade to a higher ram number to accommodate running a virtual machine (XP Mode) for some software. I can do that with 2 gigs but it gets pretty bogged down. Currently running Win 7 with office it runs at about 65% ram use. That is pretty high and works the snot out of the hard drive.

I guess I am stuck buying a 2 gig stick and hopefully it reads that fine to boot up, then hopefully I can add the 4 gig stick and see if it works or why it doesn't.

I cannot believe I am the only person having this problem .

 

[Steve_28]

I thought I'd add to this incase somebody has a revelation. Today I bought a 2 gig stick and it runs perfect with a 2 gig and a 1 gig configuration. So now I'm up to three gigs. Not as good as the 5 gig I wanted to run but better.

If I install the 4 gig with the new 2 gig, it does not boot. I am to the point where I think the RAM is bad. Is new ram ever bad?

 

[T_T]

Yes. Anything you buy can be bad, or what we like to refer to as Dead on Arival. There is also the possibiliy of static electricity, which causes seemingly good RAM to be inoperative when installed. Static electricty is one of the leading causes of hardware failure, and what's more is that you'll likely never know that the part got fried from static electricity because it takes far more joules of static electricity to be seen/felt by you, than it would take to zap your RAM.