Hi folks,Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a great Christmas.I'm having a problem I can't seem to figure out. I have 256M SDRAM which came with my system. I recently added 256M more for Total of 512M. When I have to shut down for any reason, I have to leave the computer off for at least 30mins to an hour or I only get the 256M Ram on startup. In other words, I have only 256M of RAM. It doesn't seem to hurt anything to run the computer with only the 256 but I am used to the extra RAM when simian', so I only do emails and other stuff when it is like this. It doesn't seem to be a voltage thing, or a heating problem. One clue might be that on startup RAM test the computer only reports 256M not 512M. Then after it finishes startup, I can go to "System Information" and it says I have the 512M total back.My system:PIII-800, 512MSDRam PC133, FX5600XT/256MVRam, 61.76 Drivers, Win 98SE, Asus P3B-F MB, SBPC512 sound card, 40G HD 7200 w2.8G free.I know, I know... some of you will say my antique system isn't worth trying to fix. I would like a new system but it ain't in the cards right now. Besides, when it has the use of all my 512M, I usually get high teens to high 30s FPS depending upon the scene. I see worse reports than that in the forums from P4 with WinXP.Thanks for your help guys.Good night,Earl

Hi Earl,When was the last time you updated the BIOS for your motherboard? Also, is your new stick of RAM the exact same brand and type as the original? Good luck,Greg

Hi Greg,Thanks for the reply. I have never updated the BIOS. I wouldn't have a clue how to start. I read about it a year or so ago and decided it would be too dangerous for me to try. I don't want to break it! :).The original RAM doesn't have a name on it that I can find, but I would swear the two aren't the same. In fact, now that you bring that up, I had a whale of a time finding RAM that my machine would recognize. I tried about 10 different sticks and/or pairs of RAM sticks before I found this one.Thanks,Earl

Have you tried swapping the positions of the two memory modules? R-

Hi Ron,No, I haven't tried that. The original 256 is in the form of 2 sticks. the added 256 is a single 256 module. Also, I guess I have felt that I should not touch the original mem stcks fearing that might make something go wrong with them. My machine is old (bought in Dec 99). Messing with the RAM sticks could trigger contact problems due to dust or corrosion (however unlikely).The problem I'm having seems to be software related to me. It may well be that I need to update the BIOS. I just hate to try that. I have read many horror stories about people ruining their machines trying that. My machine works great for FS9 and FLYII as is. I just have to put up with this memory problem every now and then.Thanks,Earl

>>The original 256 is in the form of 2 sticks. the added 256 is a single 256 module.<< Hi Earl, the 3 sticks could be part of the problem? Many chipsets had relatively low max amounts a while ago; i.e. 512MB max with i440BX and i815 chipsets. Or a max amount of allowed modules (or so called RAM banks). I'ld suggest plugging two modules instead of 3 and see what happens. Case those two are properly recognized, you'll likely have that limitation. Hope this helps, good luck and kind regards Jaap