I added 128 of SDRam to 64 MB and having a little problem

[thesithman]

I added 128 MB of memory to my Dads pc. At first the second Memory slot wouldnt read the new card. After restarting the Pc or 50 times it reads it now. But noqw it wont load windows and a warrning comes up and says that I need to get a driver called XMS 3.95
If I start it in safe mode A nother window comes up and says that im missing something called HIMEM.SYS
I did a search and found 3 HIMEM.SYS But I can open them.

DO I Need to kill my self now or let my Dad do me in?

I looked at www.windrivers.com But now It says I have to pay to look for the drivers. Can I be helped?

 

[Damascus]

You don't need any drivers if you add memory to your PC. Just for the record, what OS
are you using?

 

[corkyg]

The OS question is very important . . . also what motherboard/chipset. Not all mobos and chipsets can take 128 MB in a single slot.

 

[thesithman]

I have win 98 SE on the PC. I switched back to 64 MB and it starts up fine. But If i but the 64Mb card in the second slot. The second slot wont read it. Why is that?

 

[pukemon]

If you're using a PC circa 1996, with a Socket-7, ie Pentium classic, Pentium/MMX, many of those motherboards couldn't take more than 64MB or 128MB of RAM. the chipsets (with the except of the HX with the appropriate TAG RAM chip) couldn't cache more than 64MB anyway, so many motherboard designers (including Intel themselves) capped the memory limit to 64MB. Most old Dells, Gateways, and Microns all used OEM Intel boards that have this "issue." Your mileage may vary though.

If you're using a Pentium II or newer, then that 128MB should work regardless. It might just be a bad stick of RAM. In that case, get it replaced.

 

[thesithman]

Its an AMD k 6-2 500 Is what the cpu came with. We got the pc in 2000 and it was bran new.

 

[corkyg]

It is pretty much as Pukemon said . . . the AMD K6-2 500 is an MMX socket 7 series CPU, and chances are the chipset for the motherboard will only support 64 MB of RAM.

Test it this way. Remove the 64 MB DIMM and put in only the 128 MB DIMM. If it reads 64 MB, then you are max'd out. If it reads 128 MB, then that is the max. The year the computer was bought is not that significant. The K6-2 500 is an older vintage CPU and only runs on older socket 7 mobos. It is the mobo chipset that determines how much RAM you can put in the system and each slot.

Didn't it come with a manual for the motherboard? That is usually in there.

 

[thesithman]

It didnt come with a manual.
Ok i put the 128 Mb stick in and when i start the pc nothing happens. I mean the fan and power come on. but nothing on the monitor. I take the 128 out and but it in the other slot and it does the same thing.
I but the 64 MB in the 1st slot and it starts fine. I but the 64 Mb in the second slot and nothing happenes. I but the 64 Mb in the first slot and the 128 mb in the second slot and inter Com and change the Mb from 64 to 128( I even went to 256) and I restart the pc.
Every thing goes fine till windows trys to start And it does 1 of 2 things. 1 the pc auto restarts and does the same thing again.
2 every thing goes fine till windoes trys to start and it stoppes and a window pops up that says

EMM386 has detected error #a9 in an appliction at memory address 00b8:5e47. To minimize the chance
of data loss, EMM386 has halted your computer. For more info consult your documrntation.


I dont have any MANUAL or anything elce.

 

[Mitzi]

It sounds like the 128Mb memory stick is faulty - can you test it in any other machines?

Is it new? Perhaps you should get a replacement.

 

[thesithman]

Yeah i tested it on another pc it worked fine. It is new. But if i try to return it (its been over 14 days )i cant get a refund. Plus it would cost me $15.00 if i sent it back before 14 days where up.

 

[GregMal]

Try this....boot up with the 64 megs and enter the BIOS.
Somewhere in the BIOS it'll say "Stop on all errors" enabled.
Disable the "Stop on all errors".
Shut the machine down. Put the 128 meg stick in the 1st memory
slot.
Boot up.....Greg

 

[corkyg]

What it tells me is that your mobo DIMM slot will not accept anything larger than 64 MB. Why not swap that 128 MB DIMM for two 64s? Then put all three 64s in and see what happens.