Re: u/g W2K to W3KE - W3KE recognizes half the RAM

aevans1108_at_yahoo.com
Date: 12/12/04 

Date: 12 Dec 2004 11:57:18 -0800

Thank you Pavel & Leonard for your responses.

Pavel:

Sony will read that off of their script if I try to run anything
besides Windows ME on this box, even though they shipped a nearly
identical box that ran W2K Pro. In my opinion, if I'm willing to pay
for support, they should work with me to solve my problem, regardless
of what it is.

I will consider installing Windows XP SP2 if I can find more
information on this problem. I am including
microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware in this post, per your
recommendation.

Leonard:

MSInfo32 reports 256MB of RAM.

The only node under Computer in Device Manager is "Advanced
Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI)". The properties *** of the
Computer node itself is blank. The properties *** of the ACPI node
contains nothing pertaining to RAM.

The contents of my boot.ini file are as follows:

[boot loader]
timeout=10
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="Windows Server 2003,
Enterprise" /fastdetect

Both MsInfo32 and My Computer properties report 256MB of physical
memory even when running in safe mode.

For those in microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware, here is my original
post:

Greetings

There doesn't seem to be an equivalent Windows 2003 Server hardware
group. If this in an inappropriate place to post with this question,
I'd appreciate it if someone would give me a shove in the right
direction.

I recently upgraded my laptop (Sony Vaio PCG-FX270, PIII 850MHz, 512MB
RAM) from W2KASSP4 to W3KE. After performing the upgrade, System
Properties only recognizes 256MB of the 512MB of RAM installed in the
system. (There are two DIMMS. They are 256MB each.)

I've tried swapping the slots that the chips are in to no avail. Also,
if either chip is placed in bank 0 by itself, the system still only
recognizes 256MB of RAM. (FYI: If either chip is placed in bank 1, the
system doesn't even POST.)

If I call Sony about this, an idiot with a script will read the
following words to me: "Windows 2003 Server Enterprise is not supported
on your model." All subsequent questions, no matter how cleverly they
are worded will be answered with the same sentence.

The likelihood that anyone on this group knows exactly what the problem
is given my particular hardware is slight. Nonetheless, I'm hoping
that someone out there might be able to theorize about the differences
between Windows 2000 Server and Windows 2003 Server. That is, why
would W3K fail to recognize RAM that W2K recognizes just fine? How is
RAM recognized? Does it use a standard kernel-mode driver or is it
some other facility? (Links to information on how RAM is recognized
under each OS are welcome.)

It appears to me that W3KE isn't recognizing bank 1 (ie: the second
bank). Where would I go in Device Manager to see an enumeration of
memory banks and what they contain? Or would I go somewhere else to
see this information?

In case its helpful, the details on my RAM are:

Two (2), 256MB PC133-compliant Non-ECC CL3 SODIMMs by Viking

Any and all responses, including guesses are certainly welcome. Thanks
in advance for you time.

Tony

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