I think I am the person that had the post you are referring to. Feel free to e-mail me for any details. Here is what I found... I also had a big problem getting memory to work with my COMPAQ Presario 4505. I spent a LOT of time reading this forum, and looking for some defining statement from COMPAQ on their website/forum. From this, I did learn that there were many other COMPAQ Presario owners trying to do the same upgrade and facing the same problem, and wasting a lot of time. At the time, it appeared that the moderator at COMPAQ ("Greg") did not have this type of information in the database he uses to try and help users. I tried two different 32MB PNY SDRAM memory modules. Both were recognized by the COMPAQ as only 8 MB. On some reboots, the COMPAQ did not see any additional memory. Like you report, depending on what way you were looking, there were different amounts of memory reported. My guess is that it was dependent on the timing and method that the memory was being looked at. Here's what worked for me with the Presario 4505: Crucial Technology Item number: CT4M64S4d10 SKU: CT134305 Description: 32MB 168-pin DIMM 4Mx64 SDRAM unbuf 10ns www.crucial.com In February, I bought it on their website (gives you a 10 percent discount) and paid $41.39 + $5 shipping + sales tax. They are a division of Micron. Call them for pre-sales support on your model, but I think it is the same. Technically the PNY memory modules met the specifications by COMPAQ, but they just don't work. The difference between the memory modules is that the Crucial memory is configured differently . It uses sixteen 2MB chips (8 per side), while the PNY memory used just four 8MB chips all on one side. There may be other manufacturers memory modules that work. It is the "density" of the memory is the critical factor. - "density" being the number of memory chips that are used to make up the 32MB's on the module. After going thru all of this, I sent this information to the COMPAQ forum for posting. The last time I looked, it had not been posted. Not sure why. Curious about the people moderating your messages? Visit our staff web site: http://nospin.com/pc/staff.html