I have a notebook that I bought in 2001, a Fujitsu-Siemens PIII-700 Mhz. It has 64 MB RAM integrated and another 64 MB in the expansion port. Now I have installed Windows XP, and I guess 128 MB is a little too little, since it is accessing the HD almost constantly (using the swap file I guess).
The manual and the manufacturer's web site say that the notebook is supposed to accept up to 256 MB in the expansion slot but offer no details regarding the memory apart from the fact that you are supposed to use PC100 SO-DIMMs. Well, PC100 SO-DIMMs were a bit hard to come by here in Sweden, so I ordered a 256 MB PC133 SO-DIMM instead, thinking that they would be backwards compatible.
When I installed the memory it didn't work though. The BIOS reports 256 MB in the expansion slot but only 64 MB available RAM (the integrated RAM, obviously). I went to a store and tried out their PC133 SO-DIMMs, but it didn't work either. They said something about the cause being that the memory was double-sided and that the notebook only accepted single-sided memory. They did not have any PC100 SO-DIMMs.
Now I have found an online store that carries PC100 SO-DIMMs, but I am afraid of ordering and again ending up with stuff that doesn't work. No local store carries this kind of memory where I live.
So, my questions are:
If I find a 256 MB PC100 SO-DIMM, is it "guaranteed" (i.e. supposed to) work? Or has the problem I experienced nothing to do with the memory standard? Is trial and error the only way to be reasonably sure?
If anyone understands notebook memory standards better than I do I would greatly appreciate some help.
/Jan
The manual and the manufacturer's web site say that the notebook is supposed to accept up to 256 MB in the expansion slot but offer no details regarding the memory apart from the fact that you are supposed to use PC100 SO-DIMMs. Well, PC100 SO-DIMMs were a bit hard to come by here in Sweden, so I ordered a 256 MB PC133 SO-DIMM instead, thinking that they would be backwards compatible.
When I installed the memory it didn't work though. The BIOS reports 256 MB in the expansion slot but only 64 MB available RAM (the integrated RAM, obviously). I went to a store and tried out their PC133 SO-DIMMs, but it didn't work either. They said something about the cause being that the memory was double-sided and that the notebook only accepted single-sided memory. They did not have any PC100 SO-DIMMs.
Now I have found an online store that carries PC100 SO-DIMMs, but I am afraid of ordering and again ending up with stuff that doesn't work. No local store carries this kind of memory where I live.
So, my questions are:
If I find a 256 MB PC100 SO-DIMM, is it "guaranteed" (i.e. supposed to) work? Or has the problem I experienced nothing to do with the memory standard? Is trial and error the only way to be reasonably sure?
If anyone understands notebook memory standards better than I do I would greatly appreciate some help.
/Jan
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