Ok, so I've got this old self-build as my backup computer, with an A7N8X-E, an Athlon XP 2500+, and 2GB DDR-400.
It's been working since forever, running dual boot with Windows XP and Server 2003. Reliable as a reliable thing.
So I drop an Athlon 2800+ in, and it works fine. I drop an extra 1GB of DDR-400 in, and it still works fine. XP recognises the memory, I torture it for a while with Prime95, all is well.
Then, I think... ok, I have a slightly faster processor, 50% more memory, why not rebuild with Windows 7.
So I boot off my Win7-x86 CD (which I've used before), and dammit, it blue-screens after the initial "Windows is loading files" bit, just as the little graphics start their flying about thing.
In all, I try 3 sticks of memory (as the final extra 1GB), and they're all the same.
Finally, I pull the 3rd GB of memory, leaving just 2GB in place, boot off the CD, and the installation proceeds without a hitch.
I put the 3rd GB back in at the end, after it's all working, and it won't boot.
So. What in &$&%&$%%$^£$^%$^£%$%$^ is going on?
Bottom line: XP happy as Larry with 3GB, Win7 grumpy as hell. As, I might say, am I.
Any clues people?
Update...
Thanks for the suggestions so far... just to clarify...
There's the original 2GB, that worked with the original XP, and the new Win7. Then there's 3 sticks of mem from another PC that was also perfectly Ok with XP. It's these 3 new ones that I've tried one at a time with the new install, and none of them works with Win7.
I'll try a couple of them as an alternative to the original 2, and update soon. Thanks for bearing with me on this..
Update... SOLVED!!
I'm most grateful for all the suggestions here. In the end, following the instructions in this forum post sorted it all out.
In case that link ever disappears, here are the steps:
- Find the "NVIDIA nForce2 AGP Host to PCI Bridge" in the device manager
- Right-click and choose "Update Driver..."
- Browse my computer etc.....
- Let me pick from a list etc....
- Select "PCI standard PCI-to-PCI bridge"
- You will now have 2 listings of "PCI standard PCI-to-PCI bridge" and no NVIDIA nForce 2 AGP Host etc....
- Click "Finish" and shutdown the computer.
- Now install your RAM upgrade and power on.
After the reboot, Win7 now recognises all 3GB of RAM.
Answer
There is no solution to this problem. It's a bug in Windows Vista and later and nForce 2 chipset. Workaround is to remove RAM until you have 2 GiB installed.
EDIT Looks like Microsoft finally provided solution for it. Take a look at this forum post.
As a fellow owner of A7N8X-E motherboard, I was quite angry when I found out that the problem isn't fixed in Windows 7.
John T's workaround worked for me when I didn't want to remove the third stick (I was dual booting Windows 7 and Fedora at the time and GNU/Linux didn't have any problems with RAM).
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