Only 1gb RAM detected when I have 2gb?


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BOTH my Dell Studio 1737 laptops which came with 2gb RAM has been running perfectly for four/five years.

Today, after it seems Windows Update automatically installed updates when I told it not to do so, my system only detects 1gb RAM now. The lag is ****ing me off so badly, as my system usually requires around 900mb of memory to run, without any extra processes. This means I can barely do anything.

If it was ONE of my laptops i'd blame it on being old. But both?

They run Windows Vista Home Premium, 32-bit.

Help guys! :no:

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Usually I would suggests to run memtest. Sound like one of the ram sticks went bad, coincidentally around the time of a windows update. Although both machines at the same time, thats quite odd.

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Damn, 2GB on Windows Vista. Man thats going to run slow!!! Let alone 1GB.

Anyway, back on topic, I'd remove both Memory Modules and insert one at a time to verify both sticks are 'bootable' following that I'd boot an Ubuntu LiveCD and confirm that detects both modules at the same time.

If Ubuntu detects 2GB and Windows detects 1GB then we can safely asume this is a Windows issue and not a Hardware issue.

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Damn, 2GB on Windows Vista. Man thats going to run slow!!! Let alone 1GB. Anyway, back on topic, I'd remove both Memory Modules and insert one at a time to verify both sticks are 'bootable' following that I'd boot an Ubuntu LiveCD and confirm that detects both modules at the same time. If Ubuntu detects 2GB and Windows detects 1GB then we can safely asume this is a Windows issue and not a Hardware issue.

I doubt BOTH screwing up at the same time is a hardware issue. Remember, it happened on BOTH after installing Windows Updates when I specifically disabled the entire thing.

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Well, like I said, better to confirm via a LiveCD. But of course I am inclined to agree this seams highly unlikely.

I'm guessing the BIOS still shows both DIMMs?

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Well, like I said, better to confirm via a LiveCD. But of course I am inclined to agree this seams highly unlikely.

I'm guessing the BIOS still shows both DIMMs?

I forgot my BIOS password.

Diagnostics show 1gb.

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Remove and test each stick as suggested and I would also reset your BIOS back to defaults.

Could also be worth seeing if there is an update to your BIOS from Dells website, but only if all else fails cause if this goes wrong then its bye, bye laptops although I have only had 1 BIOS fail on me out of dozens.

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I had a similar problem a while ago.

First, try reseating the RAM chips. Open the case, remove each stick, and simply put it back.

If that fails, move the chips to alternate channels. Most motherboards have four DIMM slots, take out each stick and move it to the empty slot. See if that helps.

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If the BIOS (or whatever you mean by "diagnostics", say what is BEFORE Windows launching) shows only 1 Gb, then there's absolutely no way it can be a Windows problem. Windows has no effect on the BIOS, neither have Windows updates.

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If the BIOS (or whatever you mean by "diagnostics", say what is BEFORE Windows launching) shows only 1 Gb, then there's absolutely no way it can be a Windows problem. Windows has no effect on the BIOS, neither have Windows updates.

I suspect he's referring to the POST output.

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Just so you know, for these laptops, I have never needed or had the curiosity to open them up. I have no idea where everything is. xD

Couldn't it be something to do with a Windows Update? Since both updated and both had the problem. It was normal before the update. :L

Lets try this:

If it WASN'T a hardware issue, what would the problem be, and how would it be fixed?

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Try rolling back Vista before the update. Use Vista's built in recovery if you think it's a bad update.

I'm assuming you've checked to see if it shows as 2GB in the BIOS first.

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I would Upgrade to Windows 7 -- I think it is more savvy in configuring your hardware.

I would Install the 64-bit and go to 4 gigs of RAM, if you can.

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Oh, I forgot to mention.

At the same time the RAM basically halved itself, I found that my firewall seems to have reset to default settings, with all my exceptions and ports but back to default.

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Like others have already said, it seems very unlikely that this is a software problem. You should confirm that another OS can detect both sticks of RAM by downloading Ubuntu, opening a terminal, and running 'sudo lshw -c memory'. You should see your processor's cache listed in the output under 'cache' and your system memory listed under 'memory'. Underneath the 'memory' heading, you should see the total amount of RAM installed in your system and the specs of each installed memory module listed under the '*-bank:0' and '*-bank:1' headings.

If you confirm that you do have a hardware problem, try reseating your RAM modules. If that doesn't solve your problem, you can either remove the faulty module or buy more RAM to replace the failed module (or better yet, both).

Otherwise, if you confirm that this is a software problem, you can try restoring Windows to the last system restore point before it started installing the last batch of Windows updates using System Restore. If that doesn't solve your problem, try running a SFC scan to check for system corruption. Finally, you may want to try running a chkdsk scan on your Windows partition (normally drive C) to rule out a file system problem. Either of the latter two solutions may also fix your firewall problem, although it is likely unrelated.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Use CPU-Z to see how many sticks are detected, if only one is detected then as already suggested re-seat them.

A bit late, but only detects one. Laptop, and never opened before, never needed to. :/

Was wondering, is it possible to upgrade to 7 using a Virtual Drive?

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