)
There are some key points that has to be taken care while upgrading the memory of a Laptop. Some laptops even stop working the moment you change its memory(RAM). I have a Dell Inspiron 6400 which I bought in Feb-2006. I went to a shop last week to upgrade my memory from 1 GB to 2 GB. I removed the original memory 1GB (2 x 512 MB) and installed 2 GB (2 x 1 GB). The laptop stopped working. Since the shopkeeper was an authorized retailer of Dell, he sought help from Dell customer care. Many laptop makers like Dell, HP have memory testing feature enabled on their system’s BIOS. Once you install a new memory, it must pass certain tests before system will accept the changes.
Steps to Upgrade Memory
- Make sure your laptop is switched off.
- Open the memory protection cover with the help of a screw driver.
- If both memory slots are full , then remove memory from any one slot.
- Install the new memory in the vaccant slot.
- Switch on the Laptop.
- A blank screen (blue/black) comes up instead of the normal Boot screen. It will ask you to press a particular key (generally F5) to start the system test.
- Be patient while the test is running and follow the onscreen procedures.
- Once the test is over and you new memory is accepted, the system boots itself normally.
- Switch off the laptop and remove the original memory.
Example
Upgrading the memory of a laptop from ’1 GB’ to ’2 GB’
Original Configurations: Two ’512 MB’ RAM installed.
Desired Configuration: Two ’1 GB’ RAM to be installed
- Remove one ’512 MB’ RAM from the slot and install one ’1 GB’ RAM in its place
- Follow the steps from 5 to 8
- Remove the other ’512 MB’ RAM from the other slot and install ’1 GB’ RAM in its place
- Follow the steps from 5 to 8
- You system is upgraded to ’2 GB’ RAM.
Note: Never remove the memory while the Laptop is switched on’
For any query please send email to saurabh(at)techwhiz(dot)in