Old Computer Ram Problem

Question

(I don't know if this is the place to ask but)

For some context: I bought an old Windows laptop that had a ram stick in it already which was a DDR2 2GB (possibly DIMM) ram stick that I wanted to upgrade. So I bought an A-Tech 4GB DDR2 800 PC2-6400 SO-DIMM ram stick for the computer. So I put it in the laptop, and it turns on but it doesn't boot into Windows 7. But when I put the original stick of ram in the laptop it turns on just fine. I then saw that the computer only takes DIMM DDR2 ram, so I saw that DIMM ram is different from SO-DIMM so I looked for a DIMM stick but all of them were twice the size of the ram I had. The original 2 GB ram didn't say if it was SO-DIMM or DIMM. So I'm confused why it doesn't work.

What should I do, or what do you think the problem is?

Answer 1

You can't install any type of RAM you wish to and you are governed by the Motherboards maximum capacity for installing RAM.

In other words, you may want to install 8GBS but your Motherboard's max. RAM capacity may be 4GBs, or it may be at the max now.

Either go to your Computer/Laptop Manufacturer's website > Support/Downloads Section > look up the exact details there.

Or it may be easier for you to download the Crucial Scanner which will tell you what is the matching RAM for your Motherboard and the max. amount of RAM your Motherboard can accommodate.

Crucial System Scanner

http://www.crucial.com/usa/en/systemscanner

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And remember if you are using a 32bit operating system, installing more than 4GBs of RAM is a waste of time, as Windows can't use it.

It will use only about 3.25GBs out of the 4GBs anyway and the rest is reserved for hardware, etc

Microsoft explains that here why it only shows 3.25GB out of 4GB:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-au/help/978610/the-usable-memory-may-be-less-than-the-installed-memory-on-windows-7-b

To use 8GBs of RAM, IF you can install 8GBs of RAM on that Motherboard, you will have to install a 64bit operating system.

Answer 2

You are welcome.

Answer 3

Thank you for your response