Memory upgrade

[coolJO]

Hi,
I would appreciate any help on my PC memory problem.
I have a Gateway Pentium 3, 500Mhz. It came with 128mb of memory and I have decided to upgrade to 512mb. The mother board has 3 slots available(1 used, 2 empty). I have added another 128mb and 256mb, giving a total of 512mb.
My problem is this, although the machine recognises the added memory and shows it as OK during the boot sequence and also shows it as being recognised under Control Panel / System Properties / Performance, however the System Resources percent free figure does not change , no matter whether I have just the orginal 128mb installed or the full 512mb installed.
The PC is only 12 months old and all the memory is 133mhz , so there should be no conflicks etc.
I am at a loss as to what to try next. HELP.

Regards,
Jo.

[Toaster]

Howdy,
Folks seem to confuse "system resources" and "system memory" or RAM.
The main cause for low system resources are items in start-up and other applications in the background. You didn't specify what your currect resources were so its difficult to elaborate.
System resources are finite and have little to do with system memory.
Micky$oft O/S's use a sort of "stack space". This is a sort of "pointer" to running applications and system core functions.
Both hardware AND software use these resources from a predefined "pool".
This "pool" is not RAM or other system memory but rather "pointers" to the O/S core and the functions it offers.
System resources can also be indictive to remaing processor "time".
This is rather difficult to explain because so much is going on regarding system I/O and other OS "duties".
Each device and/or applicaion consumes "stack space" which is part of the "system resources". Common resource hogs are AOL, running FTP clients, USB (big offender) multiple IDE devices and countless others.
So, system resources have little to do with system memory or RAM.
I suggest you run the system monitor to give a better clue as to "whats going on" and which applications are running.
Win9x can become overburdened with DLL files that are no longer used and other device drivers and support files.
Very old installations of the above OS's (year or so old) and systems that have many additions/deletions add to this problem.
One way is to "dump and reload".
Other activities such as virii and the like have great impact on system resources. Adding system memory (RAM) often offers no help.