Windows 7: Not enough RAM for printer driver

I'm running Windows 7 x86 on a very old laptop with 512mb ram (Toshiba Portege R200), which with a little patience is perfectly usable! However I am unable to install drivers for a HP B11a wifi printer because although I meet the system requirement of 512mb memory, only 503mb is stated as 'usable'



It's very infuriating...I've run memory tests and all is fine so am assuming the 9mb is reserved for the video card or something, but bios options are very limited and I don't seem to have any settings for this. Is there any way to trick windows into thinking it has more memory, or some other ingenious solution I haven't thought of? I tried using ready boost but it must be usb1 because I don't get the option to use it as memory...

I appreciate any help thrown in my direction!

I'm sorry but that about sums up your problem. you are probably getting a low ram message because you are, in fact, low on ram. The above is what microsoft recommends as an absolute minimum. You currently have half that.

Can windows run in this state? Yes it can, can it use many features in this state. No, it can't.

You may have misunderstood - my problem is not with windows, I have been running it on this system since RC and it's fine (obviously a little sluggish but really, it's fine) - the problem is with a specific HP printer driver that I'm sure would run perfectly ok if I could just get through the installation check (for which I actually meet the minimum specs, ironically)

It's ok I've fixed it, just needed to extract the setup file and alter MinRAM=512 lines in Autorun.inf to MinRAM=503

And FYI, barring Aero effects & MC features, I can't think of one OS function this >6 year-old system has been unable to perform!

Next step: Crysis?

RAM is cheap relatively. Get it up to 1 GB and you'll be fine. Also you are asking machine to literally load more into the RAM while the OS is already using most of it for its operations... Really your system needs that extra 512 Mb to function properly. My cellphone has as much RAM as your laptop...

Sent from my SGH-i917 using Board Express

No need, it's hardly my primary system, I just need it to run the odd document and check emails. Which it does remarkably snappily!

One more suggestion to upgrade RAM to 1GB (the max your machine will accomodate according to Crucial.) And the price is only $15.99, maybe cheaper through eBay, Newegg, TigerDirect, etc. Even though it's not your primary computer, the RAM upgrade certainly won't hurt.

Computer memory upgrades for Toshiba Portege R200 Series Laptop/Notebook from Crucial.com

I'd rather buy £15 worth of beer