APCI-Compliant/Windows 7

Hello Everyone,

I have been struggling with an issue with my HP Pavilion m7457c Desktop since loading Windows 7 64-bit Enterprise. This was a fresh full load not an upgrade. The system performs excellent without any issue until I attempt to install additional memory.

Initially I had 2GB RAM installed (2x1GB) - I am attempting to add 2GB additional.

With only 2GB installed, I have no issues and the system is stable without any issues.

If I attempt to install additional memory - I get a BSoD and an error indicating that my BIOS is not APCI-Compliant and to contact the manufacturer for a BIOS update. Unfortunately, HP is not indicating that they have a BIOS update available for this model.

Additionally, in order to confirm that I was not dealing with a memory speed/mis-match issue, I installed 4GB of new RAM (all the same) - works with 2GB of the new RAM but not with either 3GB or 4GB.

Btw, the BIOS does see the full memory (2GB, 3GB or 4GB) with each attempt I tried, Windows 7 seems to be where the issue occurs during startup.

Any thoughts/assistance is greatly appreciated!!

Welcome!

Can you rule out the possibility of bad slots? Try installing the RAM in the 2 slots you don't normally use, and boot up.

Thanks - my apologies that I didn't indicate in my prior post. Yes, I did attempt to put the memory in the other slots. Same result. It only seems to occur when I go beyond 2GB installed.

The fact that you get a BSOD seems to indicate that Windows has started to load - so I wonder if this is truly a BIOS issue.

When you put all the RAM in, can you get into the BIOS (press F10 as the HP screen comes up)?
Once in the BIOS, is all 4 gB of RAM recognized?

What OS did you have on it before installing Win7? If possible, can you restore it to the previous OS to see if the problem still exists there? If it does, then it's most likely a hardware issue. If not, then we'll have to work on why Win7 won't operate with it.