Ram increase not recognised Hp550

[Willow777333]

I have inherited this old laptop and loaded windows 7 Pro OK, all working fine. Then tried to upgrade the Ram to the maximum allowed on this laptop (4gb). But it will only work up to 3 gb. Reading various articles it suggests an update to the Bios is needed but I can't find any updates on the hp site. The present Bios is HP version 68 MVU version F. 00 (23/05/2008). Any ideas where I can find a later update? Thanks

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

There are no BIOS updates that add support for 4 GB of memory to be recognized.

What you are seeing is usually normal on an older model notebook with 4 GB of memory.

Much of that 1 GB of memory goes to support the onboard graphics.

You can find the a newer and final release of the BIOS on your notebook's support page under the Vista operating system.

F.20   Dec 9, 2011

https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/selfservice/hp-550-notebook-pc/3764998

The problem is the update was written to be run on Windows Vista, so I don't know what will happen if you run it on W7.

[Willow777333]

Thanks for coming back so quickly, The 3gb I see is when I have a 2gb + 1gb module inserted. This I can get working fine, but as soon as I go to 2 x 2gb modules - windows will not start up. I have tested the modules by inserting them separately and they work ok, so it isn't the modules and they are both the same make/model. Both memory card positions are ok as it works when 2gb + 1gb inserted.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

The service manual indicates that 2 x 2 GB of memory is supported as the notebook was originally configured, so that shouldn't be happening to you.

http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c01627018

There was an older model HP consumer class notebook (dv6000 with the older Intel 945 chipset) where what you described happens, and there was a BIOS update that did resolve that problem, but the release notes also indicated that was the purpose for the BIOS update.

Something else is the problem in your situation, but what it could be, that I do not know.

You could risk running the BIOS update on W7 and see what happens, or install Vista if you can and run the update.

Is any of the memory you have original to the notebook?

What is the manufacturer and model number of the 2 GBG memory modules you are installing?