Help regarding PC(Laptop) RAM / DVD Drive

[Saket]

Hello Friends,

My Acer laptop runs on Genuine Win XP - Home SP2. I am old fashioned! Thrash me later for this but for now, please solve my problem:

1. I installed a stick of 2 GB RAM in one slot, other had 512 MB. So in all, now I have 2.5 GB of RAM. This is shown correctly in Start> Accessories> System tools> System Information. This place shows 2560 MB of RAM which is correct.
But when I right click on my Computer, it shows only 1.99 GB of RAM. I do not have any special gfx cards installed & the max it can take away is 8mb! I have read that WIN XP 32 bit can see a max of 4 GB of RAM. I am wondering, why I am not seeing other 500 MB of my RAM. BIOS does not have any setting regarding limiting the RAM. So experts Please help on this.

2. Another issue, my Philips DVD ROM Drive is not showing up in the drive list, disk management, any where?? It would show up occasionally though! Once it come up, it will be there (& working fine) until next re-boot. What is lying here?

Thanks PC Gurus in anticipation of help!

Regards.

 

[hemantwaghe]

Desi Upaay!!!

1) Remove your ram -- interchange -- and try
2) Remove your DVD Rom - see of any issue at connector - and re insert
3) Take HDD backup
4) If you have win xp cd ( or live partition ) reinstall XP
then reinstall antivirus andall programmes

see if it helps

 

[goyal.sanchit]

Can your motherboard support more than 2 gb ram? If it is an old laptop the motherboard might not support more than 2 gb ram. Also are specifications of both the ram same?

 

[Shivam]

4 GB limit includes 'all the memory' on your system. That includes graphics card or onboard graphics, CPU memory, any other cards. Almost everything that has any kind of memory is first included in this limit and then comes the RAM.
My suggestion - sell the 512MB RAM.

Your DVD drive is showing aging signs in my opinion.

 

[Saket]

Hello Friends,

Thanks for coming in!

I have already tried interchanging slots & re-installing XP. I think I will have to live with 'dis-appeared RAM' forever! I will live!
But the disappeared drive has become a major cause of concern for me. This is because the screw holding the DVD drive has its head flattened and hence it has become really difficult to unscrew it as screw drivers are slipping. This is also a matter of concern because if my windows go kaput, it will be a challenge to re-install without a DVD drive!
I will replace the drive, but only if I am able to unscrew it. Any suggestions how to unscrew a screw with a damaged head?

Regards.

 

[goyal.sanchit]

Any mechanic shall be able to do it. I guess they use some chemical so that the screwdriver sticks to the screw and then it is unscrewed.

 

[ontherocks]

Any mechanic shall be able to do it. I guess they use some chemical so that the screwdriver sticks to the screw and then it is unscrewed.

That's not what they do.
They just use brute force to somehow dislodge it. Mostly hammering it using a flat head screwdriver and a hammer in anticlockwise direction. This may loosen it a bit, then they use a pair of pliers, screwdriver, etc to unscrew the rest of it.
If you see how they do (mishandle) it, you would never take anything dear to you anywhere near them.

Any suggestions how to unscrew a screw with a damaged head?

What you would normally need is called a Screw Extractor. But then, this may not be something that is easy to find.
You could try the brute force way mentioned above.

 

[Saket]

You could try the brute force way mentioned above.

WHOA!! That is something I won't like even my 6-7 years old laptop to undergo! I will try to unscrew it today evening or may be tomorrow, I really hope I do it as the above method would surely be the last nail in my lappy's coffin! (it is still my primary system!)

Thanks.

 

[goyal.sanchit]

That's not what they do.
They just use brute force to somehow dislodge it. Mostly hammering it using a flat head screwdriver and a hammer in anticlockwise direction. This may loosen it a bit, then they use a pair of pliers, screwdriver, etc to unscrew the rest of it.
If you see how they do (mishandle) it, you would never take anything dear to you anywhere near them.

I got my laptop serviced about 1 year back. (Thats a different matter that they made it worse.)

It had 2 screws which could not be opened because the grooves had flattened. The person opened them in front of me and certainly didnt use any brute force.