Hack #31. Recognize Memory Limitations
Sometimes your system board and BIOS are your biggest limitations when it comes to adding more RAM—either a BIOS upgrade or a new system board is the answer.
When is any amount of RAM too much? When your system's sockets, BIOS, or chipset cannot address more than 256 MB, 512 MB, 640 MB, or more of RAM chips. System boards with three or four 72-pin SIMM (Single Inline Memory Module) sockets ordinarily will not accommodate more than four 32 MB (4 32 = 128 MB) or four 64 MB (4 64 = 256 MB) sticks of RAM.
So stuff as much RAM in the system as you have available, and determine from startup if the system recognizes it or not. If you install more RAM than the system can handle, save the RAM for another system that can use the same type of RAM.
Your old 486, Pentium I, or Pentium II vintage system may present you with a chipset or BIOS limitation that does not support as much RAM as you can physically install. Check the manual for your system board or look it up on the Web to see how much RAM the board will support. These limitations may be imposed by chipset design assumptions that no one would ever get their hands on that much RAM, much less have an operating system or program that could use it. If the chipset on your system board is capable of handling more memory, the limitation may be in your BIOS.
If you think that a BIOS upgrade might help accommodate more RAM, first scour the Internet for tips and advice to see if anyone else has successfully ...