Inland?

Jenny?

Why haven't you answered my questions?

I've been waiting, and waiting and I never got any answers about this?

I sure don't -

Acer - Acer Aspire 5745G Notebook Series Specifications

Up to 4 GB of DDR3 system memory, upgradable to 8 GB using two soDIMM modules

Crucial - Your Aspire 5745G System Specs

Each memory slot can hold DDR3 PC3-10600, DDR3 PC3-8500 with a maximum of 4GB per slot.

If you want a larger HD and insist on a Western Digital device, go with a Scorpio Black (they top out at 750GB).

Edit -

WDC does market larger drives, it depends on what the laptop supports, look for the Scorpio Blue series - SATA 3Gb @ 5400 RPM.

Ok, I'll go with the 8 GB RAM (2 x 4 GB sticks) and what's the maximum HDD that the Acer can take (am hoping to put Windows 7 & Windows 8 on it (after partitioning new HDD)?

As for upgrading the Dell laptop's HDD, I'm planning on keeping XP Home on it, its RAM is maxed out to 4 GB (excellent!) and here's specs of Dell laptop's hardware:

EDIT - have d/l PC Wizard, here's hardware specs on my Dell laptop:

mobo - Dell 0XR148;
chipset - Intel GM965;
CPU - Intel Core 2 Duo T7500 @ 2200 MHz;
RAM - 4096 (2 x 2048 MB) MB,

So long as you've got an SATA controller there is no limit size wise yet... and probably not anytime soon (although XP does have limits for boot drives).

I wouldn't bother dual booting Windows 7 & 8 - I've given 8 my best shot, and I've got absolutely no use for it.

If I can believe the threads on the MS TechNet forums, and I don't have any reason not too, Microsoft is moving in the direction of dropping the Desktop altogether.

Well, I just bought a Windows 8 Step by Step book at Barnes & Noble today (regarding the upgrade discs as per $40 until 1/31/12) b/c I still would like to play around with this Win 8 upgrade, but this is just me.

Ok, here's the hardware specs of my Acer laptop:

platform - Intel Calpella;
mobo - Acer ZR7;
chipset - Intel HM55;
CPU - Intel Core i3 370M @ 2400 MHz;
RAM - 2 x 2048 DDR3 PC3-10700 (667v MHz - DDR3 1333)
size 2048 KB, 2 ranks, 8 banks, as far as I can tell from this info, my Acer has 2 x 2 GB RAM sticks in the DIMM0 0 and DIMM1 0 slots, while the DIMM1 1 and DIMM1 3 slots are empty - so why doesn't this enable my Acer to go up to 4 x 4096 MB RAM sticks = 16 GB in each of these slots?

OK, what's the XP limit for boot drives - max GB/TB?

And what about the Acer (regarding dual booting Win 7 & win 8) - max limit for boot drives/partitions (on one HDD)?

Will this new book I bought today be for that $40 Win 8 upgrade (until 1/31/13)?

Because your laptop only has two slots for RAM.

I don't get it - as I understand it, a DIMM0 & DIMM1 0 slot is for RAM, but what about these DIMM1 1 and DIMM1 3 slots - if their not for RAM sticks, then what are they for, what goes in these?

What about these 8GB RAM sticks

can't I just get 2 x 8GB RAM sticks (as mentioned in my link?

Inland and Jenny,

Thank you for the help you give.

According to the ***Acer site that Inland found*** you have

Where are you seeing something that says you have 4 slots for RAM?


You can get them, but don't be surprised if your laptop can't detect them, or only detects a portion of the memory. Crucial doesn't list them as being compatible with your laptop.

Why do you need that much RAM anyway? The article you linked to says those 8GB sticks are $265.99 each. Compare that to the $37.99 Crucial is charging for the 2x4GB kit they recommend for your laptop. Even if they were compatible I wouldn't recommend them.

I seem to recall XP having issues beyond 2TB for a boot partition, but I could be wrong. As to Windows 7, you need to use a GPT partitioned disc and only the x64 versions support GPT (the MOBO has to provide support as well).

Doesn't my Acer's mobo (from the specs I provided a la PC wizard) indicate that the Acer has support for GPT?

How do I tell if my Acer's mobo will support GPT?

FYI, my Acer is a x64 (64-bit) isn't it? It has a 64 bit OS (win 7 currently).

As for XP and the MBR, I found an article (someone's post on TechNet) **here**

So I take it it's saying my Dell XP Home (32-bit) laptop can take a max size of 2 TB HDD (with the boot partition)?



This - highlighted in bold.

Quoting something you said yourself is useless, Cruise.

But I think you must have gotten the information from the article
http://www.insidemylaptop.com/disassemble-acer-aspire-5745-laptop/
because he says there are 4 in his laptop. I only see two in the picture, but they may be underneath. You should still check your laptop to make sure your model has 4 before ordering them though, because it's very unusual for there to be more than 2 RAM slots in a laptop. Do you have the exact model 5745G-6726 that he does?

Yes, Jenny, that article is where I got this info, and I trust the writer who wrote and posted this info.

I'll check tomorrow (a good excuse to do something "techie" - opening/peering inside my Acer).

And what about that Windows 8 Step by Step book I bought today *8here** do I keep this book or return it (considering that $40 Win 8 upgrade I'm hoping to get this Christmas)?

Yes, if you're going to upgrade the RAM, you might as well get your feet wet.


If you think it's useful, and that you'll be using it before Christmas, keep it. All I know about it is what I see on Amazon's ***Look Inside*** feature, which shows little beyond the index.

One problem with it is mentioned in the Comments following the User Review at Amazon
I don't know how much more of that there is in the book. Apparently the proofreader missed that bit, and it's a bit worse than a simple misspelling.

Do yourself a favor and run the Crucial Memory Advisor - it will tell you what you have installed, the number of slots, and what you can upgrade to -

Crucial Memory Advisor

Look for "System Scanner" - click it and run the program.

Edit -




a.) You can't run a 64 bit OS on a 32 bit platform - so yes, it must be 64 bit.
b.) To boot from a 3GB partition you must have an EFI BIOS - I have no idea what your laptop has.

Ok, how do I tell what kind of BIOS my Acer has?

The easiest way is to enter the BIOS setup routine. If you see text, it's not EFI based.

Thanks. Will check into this tomorrow.

And Jenny, check out these photos regarding my Acer's RAM:

slot 003

slot 002

slot 001

pc wizard - mem slots

from what PC wizard recorded, I'm seeing 4 DIMM slots - DIMM0 0 thru DIMM 3, and these are the photos of my RAM slots in the Acer. I may have taken a duplicate photo of one view of my slots hoping to get a better view of these module slots, but this is the best I could do.

I still think there are 4 DIMM slots in my Acer. From these photos, Jenny, what are you seeing?

Looks like Acer never updated their docs, and I finally found a reference to the motherboard with 4 SODIMM slots ** HERE **

If that's the one you've got, you should be good to go.

Nice pictures, though without seeing all the slots at once it's a little hard for me to tell how many there are. From what PC Wizard says and the website Inland just found, it appears you really do have 4 slots. That's a very interesting laptop you have -- the extra RAM slots almost make up for the Optimus technology you didn't want. And you can get 16GB RAM using the much less expensive 4GB sticks.

But Inland, that link you found for me doesn't say what kind of mobo it is, it just talks about RAM slots - what do you mean, "if that's the one I got" I don't get it?

Did you see these photos of my Acer's RAM slots I linked you to? What do they indicate (regarding RAM slots/banks)?

OK, does that mean I'll have to open up my laptop and photograph the RAM slots from the top view?

What do you mean, the extra RAM slots kind of make up for the Optimus technology I didn't want?

Jenny, Inland, do you believe what PC wizard says about my Acer's RAM slots?

Yes, that's what I had in mind ever since about the time before I broke my finger (late Aug '12) is to get 4 x 4 GB RAM sticks in order to put 16 GB RAM in my Acer.

Just curious, but why do you want to put 16 GB of RAM on the ACER?

Ah, the voice of reason - good question



But it do4s state: Memory Upgrade for Acer Aspire 5745G (w/4 SODIMM) Notebook - The w/4 indicates "4" SODIMM slots.

So... If you have 4 SODIMM slots, you may have the ability to upgrade.

Use the site I linked to in my prior thread, Crucial. Let see what it says.