How to determine RAM in XP?

[viper_larry]

Not as easy as it sounds! Without driving down to my sisters place, I want to find out exactly what RAM she has installed i.e. 128Mb PC133 168pin etc.

Is this info available in XP anywhere? I've tried My Computer, System Info, dxdiag, etc., but all give me the total, but not the specifics.

Will try Crucials tool, but it didn't work on mine!

Thanks

[Plotloss]

XP wont tell you, the Crucial tool is about as close as you will get with software.

What sort of age is the machine and what processor does it have?

That will lead to a fairly educated guess.

[viper_larry]

It's an HP something about 4 years old. Running XP Home with 128Mb SDRAM (states that on the case) although it shares this with video so only 96Mb reported in XP. No wonder it's so damn slow!

Want to upgrade it with 2 x 256Mb. I assume PC133 168pin, but want to be sure without here taking the casing apart.

Edit: Pentium 1.4GHz from memory

Edited by viper_larry on Tuesday 15th August 16:17

[pdV6]

My Computer (right click) Properties will tell you how much but not what type.

Get her to download, install and run the Belarc Advisor tool and post up the relevant portion of the results. That will give the bods here enough ammo to work out the answer for you.

[Plotloss]

Yeah I'd *guess* at PC133 168pin DDR SDRAM

Could be PC100

[viper_larry]

I have 2 x 128Mb PC100 spare chips here. She only has one spare slot. Do you think that would make a huge difference? That's the free option, the cost one is to buy 2 x 256Mb

[Plotloss]

To be sure I'd try that Belarc Advisor that pdv6 posted and the Crucial Tool

[Zod]

SiSoft Sandra will tell you everything.

[sp60]

Think sisoft is the only thing that will get you the answer without going to her house.
From the age and installed ram, I'd agree it is likely PC133, however although it is most likely to be unbuffered, there is a chance it uses synch Ram which is harder to come by and may not be compatible with the existing ram or the board.
Can get all types on ebay for very little cash once you have determined the correct type.

[viper_larry]

Yep, the Crucial tool revealed PC133 SDRAM Non-parity. Getting a 512Mb chip off eBay as I write

[Firefoot]

Goto control panel, performance and maintenance, click on system. Have a look at the general tab, bottom right hand side. It will show you the Cpu and system memory data.

[Wildfire]

Zod said:

SiSoft Sandra will tell you everything.

That's what I would reccomend. Lite is free.

[slinky]

Search for aida32... that does quite a good job as well..

slinky

[thepassenger]

viper_larry said:

Yep, the Crucial tool revealed PC133 SDRAM Non-parity. Getting a 512Mb chip off eBay as I write

Not wishing to sound preachy, but check the manual or the manufacturers website to make sure it will take a single 512Mb simm. It *should* have not issues with it and 99% of computers will be fine; but you don't want to buy it and find out that the crufty cheapo parts in the box only allow for 2x256mb for some reason.

[sp60]

thepassenger said:

viper_larry said:

Yep, the Crucial tool revealed PC133 SDRAM Non-parity. Getting a 512Mb chip off eBay as I write

Not wishing to sound preachy, but check the manual or the manufacturers website to make sure it will take a single 512Mb simm. It *should* have not issues with it and 99% of computers will be fine; but you don't want to buy it and find out that the crufty cheapo parts in the box only allow for 2x256mb for some reason.

on the other hand, you can always peddle it back on on ebay, should get about the same you buy it for!
That's the beauty of ebay!

[road2ruin]

All seems like a lot of hardwork for a four year old HP, which even with 1GB of ram will still be as slow as a dog with three legs if its left with too much rubbish on it. The easiest way would have been to get the motherboard type from sysinfo do a search for it on the internet and find out what type of RAM you can put in it. As you have 2 x 128MB pc100 they will work in a machine that takes PC133 and the speed differnce will not be noticeable to the human eye. 256MB is perfectly adeqaute for a 4 year old machine as the many other bottle necks you will get from other components will outweigh any possible benefit from sticking large amounts of RAM in.

[size13]

best bit of software I've found is PC Wizard, it'll tell you exactly what it is