Hello, I have installed my first sicks of RAM. I have 2 128MB sticks of RAM. My PC had 32MB RAM installed, and I have 4 slots. Here is the thing. 1. Does the PC recognize and update the RAM data automically once installed? Because I have installed the two sticks of RAM, and my PC is still showing 32MB. 2. I took the 32MB RAM stick out, replaced that slot with the new 128MB RAM, and put the other new 128MB RAM in the second slot. I then put the 32MB RAM stick at the end. However, my PC is still showing 32MB of RAM total. If I take both 128MB RAM sticks out, my PC beeps, and won't display anything on the monitor. 3. Is my 256RAM installed? And the PC just isn't showing it up? Or is it just not detecting the new RAM. Also, if I have to install it manually, how would I go about doing so? Thank you. I have a Dell optiplex 200MHZ capable of 512MB RAM max. with Windows 2000. I want to know if I am doing it right, not that I need a new PC =) Thank you.

Some RAM setups are different for multiple sticks. Try installing a single stick where the 32MB was. If that doesn't work, the RAM may not be compatible with your computer. If it does show 128k, try adding the second stick to the other slots, or you may have to omit the original slot and use two others. Also, you may not want to use the 32MB with the others if they are different speeds. RAM will only be as fast as the slowest one in the memory bank. Your motherboard manual should cover all this (if you have one). Cheers, Mac

Ok, I will try installing one by one. I do not own the manual for my PC, I wish I did, save a lot of trouble. Anyway, I tried installing both 128MB RAM sticks, and I got beeps sounds from my PC. Common sense tells me that they are not compatiable. But I went to about 8 different sites, and they all had the same spec sheet for my PC. They all said it uses PC 133 SDRAM 168pin. Do I have bad RAM? Or am I installing it wrong? Thank you.

If neither 128MB stick will work where the 32MB currently does work, then probably either you have two bad sticks of RAM (which is not very likely), or it's the wrong RAM. This is the first thing you should try, otherwise we're just guessing. Cheers, Mac

Thank you, I have figured out that it is the wrong type of RAM. I always thought it was simple to pick the right stick. Everyone said just make sure it's either PC100 or PC133, # of pins, and there you go. I found out there is ALOT more to it then that =P I had to have the RAM specifically made for my PC right down to every spec! Thanks.