[rshaffer61]

W7 is more secure then XP regardless of what version you have. Also all drivers for newer components are being made for W7 now. Improved speed and useability are also better. XP support will be ending soon from Microsoft so there will be no more security support then where W7 has a long life of support available.

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Are you still having problems with your issue?
It has been 23 days since your last response and I was wondering if the issue has been resolved?
If so can you explain how it was resolved so others may be able to fix it if they have the same issue.
If not please let us know and we can continue with helping you to resolve the issue.

[rshaffer61]

Are you still having problems with your issue?
It has been 23 days since your last response and I was wondering if the issue has been resolved?
If so can you explain how it was resolved so others may be able to fix it if they have the same issue.
If not please let us know and we can continue with helping you to resolve the issue.

[jsaklas]

rshaffer61,

Thanks for maintaining the contact. Based on your previous reply, it is probably best to load Windows 7 in addition to my XP32. I have contacted the seller of my computer to get a price for 7. If his price is competitive I will get it and then contact you for assistance in loading it onto my HD. My only fear is that if I put the two extra RAM sticks into slots 2 and 4 (to take advantage of the 16 gig limit of Windows 7), I won't be able to boot up in XP. Any comment on this concern?

Lastly, please keep the topic open.


js

[rshaffer61]

My only fear is that if I put the two extra RAM sticks into slots 2 and 4 (to take advantage of the 16 gig limit of Windows 7

not sure where you got this info as Win7 32 bit will still have the 3.5 gig limitations. The 64 bit version is only limited by the motherboard and its capability in the amount of memory it can have.

Your XP will still only utilize 3.5 gigs if it is the 32 bit version.

[jsaklas]

rshaffer,

I fully understand that my WP32 can only use the 3.5 gig. I was considering adding Windows 7 64bit. If I were to do so, I should, as you pointed out, be able to utilize the full 16 gig RAM. However, when I loaded all four sticks with my current XP, the computer would not boot. I had to remove the sticks from A2 and B2 (i.e. have only a stick in A1 and B1) in order for it to boot.

This may not be too serious, because if I don't load A2 and B2 I would still be able to boot in XP (using 3.5 gig RAM) and, also, I would be able to boot in Windows 7 64bit and would use the full 8 gig.

This should be enough for what I do. I was just hoping to load all four 4 gig sticks to have 16 gig for 7 and still be able to boot XP.


js

[rshaffer61]

What are the two new memory modules size and have you tried installing them in the first slots to see if it will boot then?

[jsaklas]

rshaffer,

All four sticks are the same. They are two sided TEAM Group 4 GB, DDRIII1333MHz, Model TED34096M1333C9

I have not taken the two currently loaded in A1 and B1 out and replaced them with the extra two, but I assume that the extra two are both good. Should I do this, ie. test them?


I do know that when I put a third stick in A2 or a third and fourth (in A2 and B2), I can't boot up. Do you see anyway I can load more than two sticks and maintain the option of loading my 32bit XP, fully understanding the 3.5 GB limit of the XP? Bottom line is I would ideally like, if possible, to load all four sticks and have the option of running 3.5 GB XP 32 bit OR the 64bit Windows 7 using all 16 GB of RAM.

(Lastly, I now have a Windows7 64bit disc.)

js

[rshaffer61]

Replace the first two wuth the second two and see if it works with those two. If so then it may be a faulty memory slot.

[jsaklas]

rshaffer61,

I made several tests.

1. I removed the current two sticks from 1 and 3 (Again I am numbering the four slots 1 to 4, left to right.) and replaced them with the new sticks. I did this to insure the sticks are working OK. The machine booted up fine and I ran msinfo32 to check the memory and it was all OK. Thus I now know the 2 new sticks are OK.

2. I then removed the sticks from 1 and 3 put them in 2 and 4, obviously to check to see if the slots were OK. I again booted up successfully, ran msinfo32 and all was OK. Thus it seems that slots 2 and 4 are working properly.

3. I then, again, loaded all four slots, and, as before, I can't boot. The machine does not even get to the first step of a boot. If seems odd that a motherboard would have four slots but not permit more than two to be used.

Perhaps, there is something I can do to tell the machine to enable all four slots to be used simultaneously? If not, I will return to my seller all but two of the sticks and then, once I load 64bit Windows 7 I would run it using only the 8 gig.

However, I want to be able to pause the bootup so that I can tell which OS I want to use to continue the boot.


js

[rshaffer61]

You should get a screen if your OS's are both loaded on the same drive. This is the boot manager and will allow you to choose which OS to boot to. If they are loaded on different different drives then you would have to change the boot sequence in the bios to boot to the correct drive every time.
You can check the bios but I don't believe you will find anything to make the bios use all 4 memory slots there.
Has it ever worked with either OS and all 4 sticks installed at the same time?

[jsaklas]

rshaffer61,

You asked, "Has it ever worked with either OS and all 4 sticks installed at the same time?"

I have not yet loaded the Windows 7, so I can't answer your question. But since the boot does not even start when all 4 sticks are loaded, I don't think the OS has any affect at all, unless, there is some way to tell the process to "unblock" the slots.

I think I will need help to do so. My HD is partitioned into 3 drives. I was thinking of putting Windows 7 on a different drive. I have 340 gig on my C drive and about 500 on both the D and E drives, so I guess I could put it on any of them.

If I understand you correctly, if I put it on the C drive, then the boot-up will prompt me every time to choose an OS? Can I pick a default so that if I don't respond within some reasonable time, it will choose the default.

If I put it on the D drive, and then change the boot sequence how do I get to choose the OS, would it not simply boot on the first OS it encounters.

Lastly, I'm by no means an expert, so my questions may be demonstrating my lack of knowledge.


js

[rshaffer61]

In order to put it on the C drive you would need to setup a partition because it will want to format your existing OS that is installed.

[Troy]

Here is what I think you should do. I have set up a few of these for exactly the reason that my clients wanted to run old programs on their new computers.

Install Windows 7 x64, it must be Professional or Ultimate edition. Then you are able to install XP Mode, which is a virtual machine of XP running on the Windows 7 computer. Once programs are installed in the XP virtual machine they will show up in the Start Menu of Windows 7 - thus when you open the program it runs from the virtual machine but is presented as a Windows XP themed window amongst the normal Windows 7 windows. It is really good.

XP Mode link:
http://www.microsoft...c/download.aspx

Here is a screenshot I found:


The benefits of this are two-fold. First, you will be able to utilise all 8GB of your RAM (as Ron has previously found it will not run 4x of the DIMM RAM modules) within the Windows 7 x64 edition for more powerful programs that may require it. Second, you can run your old programs from within the XP Mode and have them presented to you on your Windows 7 desktop.

Regards,

Troy

Edited by Troy, 12 April 2012 - 06:09 PM.
Added link to Microsoft's XP Mode page

[rshaffer61]

The issue as I understand it Troy is the system will not boot when all 4 sticks are installed.

[Troy]

Yes you have already covered this information in Post #8. The system will not boot with 4x RAM modules with memory chips on each side. They would have to be RAM modules with chips on only one side for all 4 to be working. This looks to be a limitation of the motherboard and to get around it would necessitate a motherboard upgrade.