could it be the ram

I have a HP a450n 3ghz processor 1.5 gig ram (512mb showing) win xp home. I installed 1 gig of ram in Dec. + the 512 I already had. All was working fine, I thought, until I noticed a slow down in my system. I checked the system info and it no longer showed 1.5 ram it only showed 512mb I thought maybe the ram had gone bad or it had become unseated (i hoped for the latter) I switched the ram location, started it back up and still 512. I truned it off went to work came home, unleashed compressed can air inside of it, fired it up and got 1.5 gig ram I thought the problem was solved until I put the computer back together and again 512mb. My question can ram have some kind of short which causes it to come on and off. I don't think it's the board because when I switched slots the 512 always worked and not the 1 gig. Or could it be the board going bad causing the computer not to recognize anything over 512 mb.

Any thoughts system info below
Buggabear


OS Name Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
Version 5.1.2600 Service Pack 2 Build 2600
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
System Name
System Manufacturer HP Pavilion 061
System Model DQ177A-ABA A450N
System Type X86-based PC
Processor x86 Family 15 Model 3 Stepping 3 GenuineIntel ~3000 Mhz
Processor x86 Family 15 Model 3 Stepping 3 GenuineIntel ~3000 Mhz
BIOS Version/Date American Megatrends Inc. 3.20, 1/28/2004
SMBIOS Version 2.3
Windows Directory C:\WINDOWS
System Directory C:\WINDOWS\system32
Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume2
Locale United States
Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "5.1.2600.2180 (xpsp_sp2_rtm.040803-2158)"
User Name
Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Total Physical Memory 512.00 MB
Available Physical Memory 35.35 MB
Total Virtual Memory 2.00 GB
Available Virtual Memory 1.96 GB
Page File Space 1.22 GB
Page File C:\pagefile.sys

 

Try booting with each stick of RAM individually. That would be an easy way to eliminate a problem.

E

 

that was the easiest solution wish i thought of it. when i booted with the 1 gig i got a series of long beeps. I guess I need to contact crucial and get another 1 gig ram.

Thanks Fred

 

Sometimes the simple solutions are the best. Hope all goes well with the RMA. I had a RMA storm a while back with Crucial. It eventually got sorted out. You know, picts and forums seem to make companies get in gear a bit quicker...:-D

Good luck.

E