Windows Vista does not recognize new memory

[tapala]

I have Windows Vista Home Premium edition SP1 on my Gateway Notebook MT6704.
I just took out the old two 512MB ram and replaced with two 1 GB corsair RAM.
When I restarted the system, Windows System Info still shows only
1024 MB of RAM instead of 2GB. I tried to run MSCONFIG.EXE and
changed the memory manually, but it kept rejecting 2048 I tried, no matter
what I tried, it switched back to 1024.
Pls anyone have suggestions?

 

[dlsayremn]

You probably already done this.

Double check the tags on the sticks to make sure they are SODIMM DDR2 533 (PC2-4200) CL=4, Unbuffered, Non-ECC, 1.8v. or DDR2 667(PC2-5300).
I bought two sticks with packages marked DDR2 533 for my daughters laptop and when I got home the sticks in the packages were something else.

Check to make sure each stick is firmly seated in the slot and the clips on both sides have clicked into place.
Check each stick separatly in the same slot. One could be bad.
Slot could have gotten damaged. Should be able to check by using the same stick in each slot or put the 512's back in.

Outside of that I don't know what to suggest. Never had a problem like that before.

 

[dpayer]

Some machines have BIOS limits of the amount of memory they can take. Read the docs on your machine to see if it is limited to 1 gig of memory.

David P

 

[tapala]

Thanks for all the replies. this is my first time adding my own memory,
I was so extremely careful following all the instructions.

I reopened the laptop again, this time, I removed memory from
first slot and left the second one open. The PC couldn't reboot properly
and seemed to be in a circle attempting to reboot again and again, I couldn't turn it off so I just took out the battery. I tried again this time, just with a different memory in the first slot. This time, the PC didn't even want to start anymore. Have I committed a major blunder by taking out the battery, thus frying the laptop? I thought I was pretty carefull inserting the memory.
I can't believe it is so easy to screw it up.

 

[lawson_jl]

Are you sure that you bought the right type of RAM? Replacing RAM is pretty straight forward. If you only have two slots that's the only place it could go. I can't see a modern computer having a 1Gig RAM limit. You wouldn't "break" anything by pulling the battery out with the computer rebooting.

 

[tapala]

Thanks for your thoughtful reply. You are right, the laptop is ok. I put back
the original two 512MB memory. Window Vista was very confused and
asked if I could just restore again. So I did, I was very happy to get my
laptop back, so doing the restore was ok for me.
I am too nervous to try it again, because I really could not afford to
lose this laptop. So I am just going to put my 2 GB in the back burner
for now. I did researched a lot and also asked the store technician to
find out the right type of memory for me. I am sure I bought the
right one because the laptop was ok with it the first time I put it on.
It just didn't know it has 2 GB instead of 1 GB.
I am thinking the BIOS limit makes sense. I am not sure how to
check for the BIOS limit. I am not going to attempt anymore
till I have a budget to buy a new laptop in case I screw this one up badly.
I'll have to wait.

 

[dpayer]

Here is what I found (searching Google for just the model number)

http://support.gateway.com/s/Mobile/2007/Oasis/1014312R/1014312Rsp2.shtml

MT6704 Notebook Specifications
Part Number: 1014312RGateway MT6704 Notebook


[SIZE=-1]Feature[/SIZE][SIZE=-1]Description[/SIZE]ProcessorIntel® Pentium® Dual-Core Mobile Processor T2060
1MB L2 cache | 1.60 GHz | 533 MHz FSB System architectureIntel® 943GML chipset

• Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 950
• Dual Channel DDR2 memory

Display panel15.4-inch WXGA (1280 × 800)Memory

• 1024 MB DDR2 533MHz dual channel memory (2 × 512)
• 2 Total slots - 0 Slots available
• Expandable to 2 GB DDR2