OS not changing RAM installed

[nessers]

Hello, hopefully someone can help me.

I have a Dell Dimension Dim 3000 computer, with OS: Microsoft Windows XP,
Home Edition, Version 2002, SP3 (32-bit). When I got the computer in 2005,
the original RAM was 256 mb. My dad had installed 1 GB, which I forgot about.
Lately my computer has been horribly slow. Did virus check, disk defrag, and
deleted programs.

System is showing only 256 mb, but my BIOS recognizes any change right away.
Right now it read 1024 mb, but Windows is not changing at all. I'm not even
close to the maximum this computer can hold.

Anyone have any ideas as to why it's not reading it?
(This seems to happen to a lot of Dells).

 

[Daave]

nessers wrote:
> Hello, hopefully someone can help me.
>
> I have a Dell Dimension Dim 3000 computer, with OS: Microsoft Windows
> XP, Home Edition, Version 2002, SP3 (32-bit). When I got the computer
> in 2005, the original RAM was 256 mb. My dad had installed 1 GB,
> which I forgot about. Lately my computer has been horribly slow. Did
> virus check, disk defrag, and deleted programs.
>
> System is showing only 256 mb, but my BIOS recognizes any change
> right away. Right now it read 1024 mb, but Windows is not changing at
> all. I'm not even close to the maximum this computer can hold.
>
> Anyone have any ideas as to why it's not reading it?
> (This seems to happen to a lot of Dells).

This can happen if the RAM modules are not in the correct slots. Another
possibility is defective RAM or incorrect RAM or mismatched RAM.

Please inventory and identify these modules for further assistance. Also
report which slots they are in.

Finally, with certain Dells, you need to enter the BIOS and set OS
Install to Off (which is the normal default) in order for more than
256MB to be recognized. You might as well try this first.

More info:

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/dim3000/en/sm/syssetup.htm