27 replies to this topic

[coopedup1980]

Hey All.


I recently increased the RAM in my home PC after installing Wondows 7 (32 BIT). Went from two 512Mb DIMM's to two 2Gb DIMMS.

I knew that because it being 32bit OS not all 4Gb would used. But I have been getting blue screens...its obviously the additional memory. This is why I want to update the BIOS.

Question is. Is there a place to down load a BIOS upgrade without having to go via some 3rd party website and pay £30?

Cheers,
Neil

[Youngowner93]

Should be able to download it through the manfufactures website if you know which one it is, i do this on a regular basis with customers computers.

[miniQ]

DL from manafactues website indeed

for free

If you are having trouble give me the motherboard specs & i'll find the suitable bios for you.

& if you want give reflashing instructions.

Also there is a chance that even with the latest bios if the board is old it may not be able to support 4gb :| How much memory is showing at the moment? (right hand click "computer" and click properties) around 3gb should be showing.

Edited by miniQ, 11 June 2011 - 07:15 PM.

[mini77]

You will need either the motherboard make and model number and or the PC make and model then go to the motherboard or PC website and hunt it down. Be very carefull you have the right bios as flashing the motherboard with the wrong one can do a lot of damage if your not sure do ask! Then agian you may know all this already

Edited by mini77, 11 June 2011 - 08:12 PM.

[mini77]

Also do you know how much RAM your motherboard can take, as every motherboard has its limit...?

Edited by mini77, 11 June 2011 - 08:15 PM.

[minilester]

..erm, correct me if im wrong but dont you get the 64 bit and the 32bit in one package?

and im really not so sure IMO that a bios upgrade is really gonna help...

a few things..

1. how many dimms slots do you have?
2. what ram did you buy? branded/unbranded?
3. have you made any other "upgrades" since the ram got done?
4. is the ram upgrade in conjuntion with the old ram or a replace ment?

.. ive been pulling pc apart/building/upgrading/repairing them since i was knee high to a grass hopper, there are a billion things that could have caused this BSOD but more often then not its "over ramming".. sound silly? ive been curing this problem since the introdution of the 64bit systems and the fact people want to chock out the pc's with as much ram as possible..

so give us some more info please and i'll cure it for you.

[Cerberus]

Also what's the bluescreen say (code etc)?

And, something better to check before you flash the BIOS, check your memory using something like memtest.

[coopedup1980]

Also what's the bluescreen say (code etc)?

And, something better to check before you flash the BIOS, check your memory using something like memtest.

I ran an extended memory test from boot up and it gave no errors found..though doesn't link it to OS at that point.

BSOD - This flashes up and goes too quickly to see any details. Can I retrieve this later or extend the time outperiod?


I'll log on to the home PC later. Using the work laptop at the moment. Will post motherboard details then.

Cheers all.

[Cerberus]

You can turn off the 'auto restart on BSOD' from within windows.

IIRC its in control panel > system > advanced system settings > startup/recovery settings.


Memory tests don't usually run in the OS anyway, infact I can't think of one that does, apart from Prime95 etc, but they aren't directly memory testing applications.

[Deathrow]

Unless you already owned it why did you opt for 32 bit Windows over 64 bit?

In order to diagnose your problem we need a bit more information about your setup:

• CPU (Model, Brand, Clock Speed)
• RAM (Speed, Brand, Type)
• Motherboard (Model, Brand)

Any even remotely recent system should easily be able to accept 4GB of RAM so don't think that you've "over rammed" it. A BIOS update could solve the problem, but even if it doesn't it won't do any harm as long as you do it correctly. As mini77 warns though, do it wrong and your motherboard is scrap unless it has a removable BIOS chip which you can get as a replacement from the manufacturer.

To answer something in your original post; I would never under any circumstances, pay to download drivers. Even if the driver claims to be for a piece of hardware that can replicate gold. The people that run those sites just try to take advantage of users who are new to tinkering with PCs which is very wrong in my opinion.

Whenever Windows gives you a BSOD, a crash dump is created which you can read with a special tool to see what the problem is. However, reading them is a little more involved.

[minilester]

Unless you already owned it why did you opt for 32 bit Windows over 64 bit?

In order to diagnose your problem we need a bit more information about your setup:

• CPU (Model, Brand, Clock Speed)
• RAM (Speed, Brand, Type)
• Motherboard (Model, Brand)

Any even remotely recent system should easily be able to accept 4GB of RAM so don't think that you've "over rammed" it. A BIOS update could solve the problem, but even if it doesn't it won't do any harm as long as you do it correctly. As mini77 warns though, do it wrong and your motherboard is scrap unless it has a removable BIOS chip which you can get as a replacement from the manufacturer.

To answer something in your original post; I would never under any circumstances, pay to download drivers. Even if the driver claims to be for a piece of hardware that can replicate gold. The people that run those sites just try to take advantage of users who are new to tinkering with PCs which is very wrong in my opinion.

Whenever Windows gives you a BSOD, a crash dump is created which you can read with a special tool to see what the problem is. However, reading them is a little more involved.

the 32bit version of pretty much any windows based system.. really really hates anyone going over the 3.5gig "microsoft programmers" limit.
ive seen it so many times its unreal. throw all the quifications at it you like, its just the way they make'um... dont know why, they just do..
remove one of the stick of ram and go down to 2gig.. run windows for a while and i do mean a couple of hours doing a whole bunch of stuff.. games if you can as they love memory the most..

report back and we'll go from there, but 98% of the time...im rite.

im not being big headed, iv just fixed soooo many computer of all sorts over the years im just use to seeing the same thing over and over again.

.. if you want you theres a file you can rerite to only accept the 3.5gig limit and the pc will run smooth as.. but ive only done it a few times with win7.. but it does work and the system goes back to being stable again.

Edited by minilester, 12 June 2011 - 07:06 PM.

[Deathrow]

the 32bit version of pretty much any windows based system.. really really hates anyone going over the 3.5gig "microsoft programmers" limit.
ive seen it so many times its unreal. throw all the quifications at it you like, its just the way they make'um... dont know why, they just do..
remove one of the stick of ram and go down to 2gig.. run windows for a while and i do mean a couple of hours doing a whole bunch of stuff.. games if you can as they love memory the most..

report back and we'll go from there, but 98% of the time...im rite.

im not being big headed, iv just fixed soooo many computer of all sorts over the years im just use to seeing the same thing over and over again.

.. if you want you theres a file you can rerite to only accept the 3.5gig limit and the pc will run smooth as.. but ive only done it a few times with win7.. but it does work and the system goes back to being stable again.

Try any 32 bit operating system. It's got nothing to do with a "microsoft programmers limit". It's limited because of the number of memory addresses which can be represented using a 32 bit address. Plus, it doesn't "hate" it, it's just incapable of addressing the whole 4GB, that doesn't mean it won't work. At the end of the day 32 bit operating systems should have been put to bed a long time ago, Microsoft could have pushed the change by not providing a 32 bit version of Windows 7, this would have forced people on to the better 64 bit platform and meant that more software developers would develop for 64 bit pushing the technology forwards rather than hindering its progress.

It'd be daft to hardcode a limit in to the system to only support 3.5GB since the amount that will be utilised in total depends entirely on how many other addresses are used throughout the system. For example, assuming two almost identicle machines both running 32 bit OSs and both with 4GB of RAM fitted, the only difference is one has a 256MB 7800 GT fitted and the other has a 896MB 275 GTX fitted. The latter machine will use alot less of the 4GB of RAM than the other machine because there is less address space left over from the rest of the system.

[minilester]

look... i dont make this stuff up, wen im rite im rite.. M$ put a limit on it on purpose trust me...

M$ trying to prevent your pc from being "unstable"

now, as i was saying.. you can change this limit but its more of a trial and error affair and takes me a while to find on different pc's but it can be done..

what is it you like doin on your pc that you need so much ram fella?

[Deathrow]

look... i dont make this stuff up, wen im rite im rite.. M$ put a limit on it on purpose trust me...

M$ trying to prevent your pc from being "unstable"

now, as i was saying.. you can change this limit but its more of a trial and error affair and takes me a while to find on different pc's but it can be done..

what is it you like doin on your pc that you need so much ram fella?

That article pretty much proves us both right.

The first few paragraphs explain the mathmatical limitations of the 32 bit addressing and later on it explains about Microsoft limiting it further in Vista. Apologies as I didn't know about that. Although seems like a bodge to me. But then again, we are talking about Vista .

My argument was that putting 4GB in his system shouldn't cause instability as the OS just won't use it. As far as it is concerned, the additional memory beyond its limitations just doesn't exist. I'd reccomend upgrading to a 64 bit OS if your PC isn't too old.

[minilester]

look... i dont make this stuff up, wen im rite im rite.. M$ put a limit on it on purpose trust me...

M$ trying to prevent your pc from being "unstable"

now, as i was saying.. you can change this limit but its more of a trial and error affair and takes me a while to find on different pc's but it can be done..

what is it you like doin on your pc that you need so much ram fella?

That article pretty much proves us both right.

The first few paragraphs explain the mathmatical limitations of the 32 bit addressing and later on it explains about Microsoft limiting it further in Vista. Apologies as I didn't know about that. Although seems like a bodge to me. But then again, we are talking about Vista .

My argument was that putting 4GB in his system shouldn't cause instability as the OS just won't use it. As far as it is concerned, the additional memory beyond its limitations just doesn't exist. I'd reccomend upgrading to a 64 bit OS if your PC isn't too old.

see... now i fully agree with you
i know you should be able to use all 4gig.. its just his OS wont let him...

so 2 options fella... 64bit or down grade to less then 3.5 gig of ram! not really anything else that will cure it, sorry

..deathrow, nice to see some one else on here who knows their stuff on pc's

Edited by minilester, 13 June 2011 - 12:41 AM.