Windows XP SP2 RAM recognition

[ChugokuOtaku]

my friend gives me two identical HP z5000 laptops, asking me to reinstall a Chinese version of WinXP Pro SP2 on both.
The systems are pretty decent, 1.8Ghz Turion64 with 1gig of RAM(single chip)

So I installed, went through fine, until I checked the system specs, and found it only recognized 256megs of RAM. I popped open the RAM compartment to find that it does indeed have 1gig of PC2700 DDR installed. Verified that the BIOS is picking up the full gig. Both system properties panel and DXDiag are reading 256megs. Msinfo32 is picking up 1gig though.

the original WinXP MCE the laptops came preloaded with recognized the full gig on both. I've tried swapping the RAM chips, same thing.

Chatted with an HP tech person for a while, she had me reinstalled the chipset driver, didn't help. Then I remembered that AMD chips use on-die memory controllers, so tried reinstalling the CPU driver, but came up with an error about c:/boot.ini can't be read/opened. Device manager said all devices had proper drivers. So the tech said I should reinstall.

If I had only one laptop, yes, that would make sense, but I'm working with two, identical system, specs and all. Installed the exact same way, and both systems only pick up quarter gig. Which leads me to believe that, yes, it's something in the OS, and no, reinstalling will probably not help at all.

I downloaded 2 different versions of Chinese WinXP and another Chinese WinXP MCE. Tried all 3, and same thing! all recognized only 256megs. So then I reinstalled the English version of WinXP Pro, and it picked up the full gig right away. This happened exactly the same way on both system. I've also tried enabling the memory limit in the boot.ini and setting it to 1024 manually, but that didn't do anything either.

Any suggestions?

 

[skulkingghost]

I dont know what memroy files ar ein the english version but try copying them over the system files for the chinese. Perhaps make a hybrid install disk.

 

[dclive]

Originally posted by: ChugokuOtaku
my friend gives me two identical HP z5000 laptops, asking me to reinstall a Chinese version of WinXP Pro SP2 on both.
The systems are pretty decent, 1.8Ghz Turion64 with 1gig of RAM(single chip)

So I installed, went through fine, until I checked the system specs, and found it only recognized 256megs of RAM. I popped open the RAM compartment to find that it does indeed have 1gig of PC2700 DDR installed. Verified that the BIOS is picking up the full gig. Both system properties panel and DXDiag are reading 256megs. Msinfo32 is picking up 1gig though.

the original WinXP MCE the laptops came preloaded with recognized the full gig on both. I've tried swapping the RAM chips, same thing.

Chatted with an HP tech person for a while, she had me reinstalled the chipset driver, didn't help. Then I remembered that AMD chips use on-die memory controllers, so tried reinstalling the CPU driver, but came up with an error about c:/boot.ini can't be read/opened. Device manager said all devices had proper drivers. So the tech said I should reinstall.

If I had only one laptop, yes, that would make sense, but I'm working with two, identical system, specs and all. Installed the exact same way, and both systems only pick up quarter gig. Which leads me to believe that, yes, it's something in the OS, and no, reinstalling will probably not help at all.

I downloaded 2 different versions of Chinese WinXP and another Chinese WinXP MCE. Tried all 3, and same thing! all recognized only 256megs. So then I reinstalled the English version of WinXP Pro, and it picked up the full gig right away. This happened exactly the same way on both system. I've also tried enabling the memory limit in the boot.ini and setting it to 1024 manually, but that didn't do anything either.

Any suggestions?

How did you download Chinese Win XP and MCE?

Piracy can lead to all kinds of different problems with hacked XP builds.

Buy the system at retail and Microsoft will support it.

 

[ChugokuOtaku]

Originally posted by: dclive
How did you download Chinese Win XP and MCE?

Piracy can lead to all kinds of different problems with hacked XP builds.

Buy the system at retail and Microsoft will support it.

I got it off of BT
I understand Piracy leads to all kinds of problems, yet of all English versions of pirateXP I've obtain, none have yet to give me this kind of a problem. I understand the "right" thing to do is to purchase the Chinese XP legally, however, the friend I'm doing this for is obviously not willing to do so, otherwise they'd be contacting MS to help them install instead of tossing the laptops to me.

it's unusual that all the Chinese versions are giving me crap... which is why I'm asking for help here. I have a good feeling that even if I do have a legal Chinese version, I'm likely to encounter the very same problem....

 

[dclive]

If he's not willing to buy software, why is he using it, and why are you helping him to so?

C'mon - ethics matter. This place is crawling with Microsoft and Ex-Microsoft people. Be honest. Spend $100 and buy the darned thing.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

I doubt you'll get much help or sympathy here trying to fix a problem with pirated Chinese versions of XP and MCE. Either get legal or, go someplace else and, tell your friends. 🙂

 

[ChugokuOtaku]

lol... well, I'm sure if you've been to China, you'd understand why it's harder to buy a legal copy than a pirated version

 

[RebateMonger]

Originally posted by: ChugokuOtaku
lol... well, I'm sure if you've been to China, you'd understand why it's harder to buy a legal copy than a pirated version

Good thing your friend doesn't have to pay for your time trying to fix the pirated copies.

Microsoft's China Site
HP's China Site

If there's a known problem with more than 256MB of RAM, it'll probably be mentioned there in the support areas.