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Can't boot all the way with 4 gb.
I need some help, good SevenForums users. :)
I have a Dell E521 here at work that has had 2gb of RAM. I have Windows 7 64bit installed and just upgraded this morning to 4gb. The computer won't boot past the "Starting Windows" screen, where the fire flies swarm in. It will pause for about one minute there, then they'll start moving again and finally form the Microsoft Flag, or Banner, or whatever you want to call it. Then that's as far as it gets. It will just sit there, flashing the MS Flag and say "Starting Windows". I let it sit there for about 10 minutes so I'm pretty sure it isn't going anywhere.
If I back off and put just 2gb and 3gb (I tried both) of the new RAM in, it works great. So it has something to do with the 4gb barrier, which shouldn't exist because I'm using 64bit anyway. So let's just say it has something to do with 4gb being used.
3gb works great. If I have to I can use 3gb, but that defeats the purpose of having 64bit, and having 4gb that I just bought.
I have a feeling I could reinstall Windows 7 with 4gb in it originally and it would work. I'd prefer not to do that if possible, however I'm going to begin making sure my backups are in order just in case. If I don't get it figured out by 2:00 or so this afternoon I'll need to just go ahead and reinstall (assuming it will work if I go that route, I'm not 100% sure).
If anyone could provide suggestions here that would be great.
One more thing, my BIOS does recognize the full 4gb without any problem. I also am using the latest BIOS, I'm pretty sure (I looked on Dell's site). Also I checked the ACPI or whatever settings, and I don't have any version options, such as 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 etc to choose from. I read somewhere that could cause this sort of thing but alas I don't have those options.
Thanks in advance for any help.