Performance degrades in Probook 4540s after memory upgrade

[mspm]

I edited my post to make it more clear that this is a workaround that might work and that you should use it on your own risk.

If i needed supported solution with 16 GB RAM, i would have probably replaced the laptop.

That being said, i haven't noticed any issues after extensive usage.

I shared the workaround after following this thread for more than a year, waiting for a solution.

I'm not sure why it works (maybe some issues with graphics memory location) and whether it works with other configuration.

It might depend on various factors.

256 was smallest number that worked in my case, with 16 GB RAM.

In my case i had same issues with any configuration above 8G (10, 12, 16).

I haven't tested the workaround in other configurations besides 16 GB.

EasyBCD is not a requirement.

It was the first program that worked for me.

Built-in bcdedit or msconfig are supposed to do the same thing (change boot configuration) and they should also probably work, but i didn't had luck with them so far.

[shak3800]

I guess you can do with msconfig by setting maximum memory value .

Anyone tested the workaround with 12gb ram?

[Flenger]

Me. It's works to me at 12gb.

[shak3800]

I've tried to use msconfig but the problem is that you have to boot with 12gb of ram into windows , and doing that will just freeze me pc on boot . After that i guess you must put in advanced settings in maximum memory 12032 . But It takes ages for the spinning circle to end and get to desktop . I wish i could do it without using easybcd .

Has anyone managed to do it with the built-in configuration of windows ? Without the use of 3-rd part applications?

[mspm]

I edited the "solution" post with instructions for bcdedit (builtin tool in Windows). I hope that helps.

[shak3800]

Ok i will give this a shot .

Do i have to have installed 12gb to run this command ? Or i can i run it and install the ram later ?

Lastly how to i restore the previous settings (all ram being used) ?

[shak3800]

Has anyone managed to get it work with bcdedit ?

[Kwilk6]

Anything new to report on this issue Auric?  Need to upgrade to 16GB for VM work and I'd rather not buy another laptop if I can help it.

[Kwilk6]

Ok, got msconfig to work with 16GB of RAM on a ProBook i5 4540s.  Thanks to MSPM for this workaround!

Warning!  Updating the memory the OS will see at boot using this method is painfully slow, taking around 2 hours to complete.  I tried to use EasyBCD and the option under Advanced Settings/Developer set 256 under "MiB deducted from physical memory", was greyed out.  Maybe because I am using Windows 8.1 (x64)?

Here are the steps:

1) Install the 16GB of RAM

2) Allow to boot and login

3) Press the Windows key

4) Enter msconfig in the search window and press enter

5) Once it loads navigate to the System Configuration window (ALt-Tab).  You may have to use the keyboard since the mouse pointer does not appear on the screen.  At least it didn't in my case.

6) Navigate to the Boot tab (Ctrl-Tab)

7) Navigate to the Advanced options tab (Tab), press enter and the Boot Advanced Options window will open

😎 Navigate to the Maximum memory: check box (Tab) and press the space bar to check it

9) Navigate to the Memory window and enter 16128

10) Navigate to the Ok button (Tab) and press enter

11) Navigate to the Ok button (Tab), press enter and the System Configuration window will open

12) Navigate to the Restart button (Tab) and press enter

13) Wait for the computer to restart and when it does you will once again have normal functionality

Things to note:

-  If you run msconfig again after the reboot it will display 3840 under Maximum memory in the Boot Advanced Options window

- If you view the amount of Installed memory (RAM) under System in the Control panel it will indicate 16.0 GB (14.4 GB usable)

Hope this helps anyone wanting to use more RAM in the i5 4540s.  It should work as well on the i7 version.  Again do this when you are Not in a hurry as it takes what seems like an eternity to complete.

[OleksiyD]

Thanks to Kwilk6's post I have updated RAM on my HP 4540s laptop (C5D52EA model with core i5 processor) from 4 GB to 12GB.

And looks like I figured out how to avoid painfull waiting in proposed approach.

1) Insert one 8GB memory unit.
2) Go to msconfig->Boot->Advanced. Set Maximum memory to 8192 MB
3) Reboot (load Windows), then power off, insert second unit (4 GB or 8GB). Power on the laptop. Windows will be loaded fast, because it uses only 8GB yet.
4) Go to msconfig->Boot->Advanced. And now set memory to 12032 (8GB+4GB) or 16128 (if You use 8+8 configuration).
In my case it works perfectly.

Tell me please if this approach helps for other HP 4540s laptops.