Incorrect amount of RAM detected?

[Longevity]

I have 2 sticks of Crucial 256MB PC2100 memory in my system for a total of 512MB of RAM. They worked fine for the 2 years that I had them. Strangely, the BIOS and WinXp now reported that I have 384MB of RAM. I am absolutely sure that the RAM is seated correctly because they worked fine for 2 years until now.

What do you think the problem might be? Could it be that a stick of RAM has now become defective?

Here are system spec if they are needed to troubleshoot:
AMD Athlon XP 1800+
Abit KR7A-RAID
GeForce 3 Ti200
SB Audigy
80GB Hard drive

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks a lot.

Edit: Forgot to mention that this system has not been overclock.


<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Longevity on 02/07/04 10:23 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[Crashman]

Pop them out, pop them back in. If it now reads 512MB, it was a simple corrosion problem. If it still reads 384MB, figure out which module is being read at half size by using 1 at a time, then return it to Crucial for free replacement.

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[Longevity]

It was indeed a defective stick of RAM. Now, I have to see how good the customer service is at Crucial.

Thanks a lot for your help, Crashman.