After upgrading ram to 512 from 224 on a p3 450 dell and installing xp on it the pc is slow to post, before upgrading the ram it would post within secs of turning it on, now it takes about 10 secs. I have installed 256 of pc133(crucial) memory and 128 (unsure of the speed, doesnt say on stick), from my p3 1gig dell. There was already a 128 pc133 (crucial) stick in the pc. The bios shows 512 installed, is there any settings that could be changed in the bios or any other ideas??
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pc slow to post
- Thread starter rnickel44
- Start date
Older PCs used to take time to check every byte of RAM, and you could watch the BIOS count up byte by byte. Maxing out my NT 4.0 server with 512MB RAM made it much slower to POST as it was counting up 4X the RAM.
As long as it works fine past POST, I would not worry about it. The fact that the RAM is counted and the machine boots means all is good, just go get a cup of coffee while the machine is POSTing. If it makes you feel better, you could reset the BIOS to default "Optimal Settings" to see if that makes a difference, but we're talking 10 seconds here![[smile]](/data/assets/smilies/smile.gif "[smile] [smile]")
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Tony
Users helping Users...
As long as it works fine past POST, I would not worry about it. The fact that the RAM is counted and the machine boots means all is good, just go get a cup of coffee while the machine is POSTing. If it makes you feel better, you could reset the BIOS to default "Optimal Settings" to see if that makes a difference, but we're talking 10 seconds here
.Tony
Users helping Users...
goombawaho
MIS
See if there are any self tests or memory tests that can be disabled in the BIOS or a Quick Boot feature that can be enabled.
Do a memory test just for the heck of it too maybe.
Do a memory test just for the heck of it too maybe.
I agree with Tony. 10 secs is not all that bad. Like it's been mentioned, look for a QuickBoot option in the BIOS and make sure it's enabled.
If you really want to take the time, you can test each memory stick individually in the first DIMM slot to see if there is one in particular causing the slowdown.
~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Einstein
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If you really want to take the time, you can test each memory stick individually in the first DIMM slot to see if there is one in particular causing the slowdown.
~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Einstein
[tab][navy]For posting policies, click [/navy]here.
I dont mean to be rude but that system is a bit of a dinasaur. You can not expect that system to be to fast. Maybe for a PIII 450 it is fast. I have a Celeron 1.2 gig with is a Tulatin Core and it does pretty well, but a 450mhz processor is kind of slow.
You can try the obvious like not turning it off. Faster Hard Drive maybe. Take all the programs out of the start up folder. You might also try some programs to defragment the hard drive to speed things up a bit. Registry Cleaner. Deleting old programs you dont use.
Buy a new computer would be on the top of my list.
If you do not like my post feel free to point out your opinion or my errors.
You can try the obvious like not turning it off. Faster Hard Drive maybe. Take all the programs out of the start up folder. You might also try some programs to defragment the hard drive to speed things up a bit. Registry Cleaner. Deleting old programs you dont use.
Buy a new computer would be on the top of my list.
If you do not like my post feel free to point out your opinion or my errors.
![[rofl]](/data/assets/smilies/rofl.gif "[rofl] [rofl]")
Oh well it's Monday.
acewarlock
Technical User
It may be a mismatch is the memory speeds thats slowing it down. But i wouldn't buy a new PC just because of a slow Bootup if the rest is fine.
This is a Signature and not part of the answer, it appears on every reply.
This is an Analogy so don't take it personally as some have.
Why change the engine if all you need is to change the spark plugs.
This is a Signature and not part of the answer, it appears on every reply.
This is an Analogy so don't take it personally as some have.
Why change the engine if all you need is to change the spark plugs.
Nah, I wouldn't bet on the amount of RAM as being the problem.
Of all the PIII boards I worked with in the past (810 and 815 chipsets especially), I rarely had any issues maxing out the RAM. Of course, I usually upgraded them using identical 256MB sticks. So if anything, the order in which the memory sticks are installed or a conflict between different "types" could be the issue instead.
There is a note on Intel's site regarding 256MB PC100/PC133:
~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Einstein
[tab][navy]For posting policies, click [/navy]here.
Of all the PIII boards I worked with in the past (810 and 815 chipsets especially), I rarely had any issues maxing out the RAM. Of course, I usually upgraded them using identical 256MB sticks. So if anything, the order in which the memory sticks are installed or a conflict between different "types" could be the issue instead.
There is a note on Intel's site regarding 256MB PC100/PC133:
~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Einstein
[tab][navy]For posting policies, click [/navy]here.
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