bought new 256mb ram, still reads 160mb in system

[boot|egcuh]

Hey, I bought some new ram 256mb pc100 for my somewhat old computer, and I'm running windows XP. Do I have to reinstall win XP in order for it to recognize that i have added more ram. I used to have 32mb + 128mb, now i have 128mb + 256mb and it still reads 160 in control panel and systems. Please help, any suggestions?

 

[gonaads]

What type of Mother Board is it?
What is the RAM limit on it?
Are both RAM sticks the same speed?
Remove the RAM stick and reinsert it into the slot.
Put the larger of the two in the first RAM slot and reboot.

And NO you don't have to reinstall XP.

Another suggestion:
Remove the new RAM stick and reboot. Does it only show the 128MB stick?
If so, then shut down and remove the 128 stick. Insert the 256MB stick and reboot.
Does it show the 256MB of memory? If so then shut down again and reinsert the 128MB stick but into the second slot leaving the 256MB stick in the first RAM slot and reboot.

 

[spikemic]

might not support chip format in sdram if it is the newer dense memory then the older board will probably definitely not read it.
check the book for your motherboard and see what types can be used. like 8x32 or 4x64, single or double sided, whatever if its alot older it might not even support 256meg sdrams