Previously got help to load Windows XP from DOS after Fdisking & formating my HD. Now I get "This computer does not have enough memory to run Windows XP. This version......requires 64.00 MB....setup can not continue...." OK so I had 32 MB in my laptop. After reformating my HD I installed a 128 MB SIMM. It appears that the computer does not recognise the new RAM. I have another (identical) laptop that I upgraded to 160 MB using the same SIMM type 6 months ago. I removed this SIMM and swapped it with the newly installed 128k SIMM. Same result on the machine I'm trying to install Win XP. The other machine does recognise the SIMM I swapped. I also tried re-seating the SIMM-still not read. Conclusion: the memory is good but the laptop can not recognise the new SIMM. I thought this happened automatically during POST. Perhaps the machine requires an operating system to detect the change? Any ideas? This upgrade is killing me!!!

What Laptop do you have? It is possible that you have to get into the BIOS of the laptop and save the new configuration for it to work properly. Usually it's F1, F10 , F12 or DEL or some other at startup.

Good you asked about which laptop I have. My "identical" machines are not so identical. The one I'm trying to get upgraded is a Toshiba Sattelite 2510CDS. This is an Australian model and I beleive it's equivalent to the 2515CDS in the USA. It has a "Pentium(r)" processor. Not sure what speed it runs at. My other laptop is a Toshiba 1550CDS, again Australian, probably equivalent to a 1555CDS in the USA. It has a "AMD-K6(tm) 3D" processor. Not sure what speed. I'm trying to install a Sodium, 8x16 PC100/66 128 MB SIMM. I wonder if the processor speeds are the same? How do you tell what speed the laptop processor runs at? Perhaps the 2510 requires a "faster" chip? Looking for tech specs on both machines to confirm. Tell me more about resetting the BIOS. I didn't have to do this on the 1550. I detected automatically.

Search for Sisoft Sandra. Its a very goot utility and will tell you everything about your system. Theres a shareware ver thats good for a limited time, Youll like it.

Hello Wombat: I've not any time to research it but suspect your lappie has a Phoenix BIOS. A Phoenix BIOS is tailored to each individual series of machines, even if from the same manufacturer. Now, laptops generally have an STD (Save to Disk) utility that operates in tandem with hibernation and sleep modes. This requires a separate non-DOS partition, usually called the Save to Disk partition. What can happen is this: on older laptops like yours, the STD is generally twice the size of installed RAM, thus a lappie with 32MB will have an STD partition just a bit larger than 64 MB. Often the BIOS will not recognise the newly installed SODIMM until the STD has been changed to reflect the size of the new module(s) There is a utility for this called PHDISK. I'm not able to give you specific instructions on using it as the syntax varies from one laptop to the next. For example, on a SONY VAIO the syntax would be PHDISK/ Create/ Partition/ Ram nnn, where "n" is a number equalling twice the installed RAM. But on a Fujitsu, the syntax is PHDISK/ Create/ File/ Ram nnn. And if one uses Partition instead of File it wipes out the OS and all data. Manufacturers have finally gotten smarter and now ship laptops with an STD partition that is large enough to handle the max amopunt of installable RAM. I'd suggest going to the Toshiba website and dloading the user guide to see what it has to say about the STD and PHDISK procedures. Hope this helps.