Incorrect Ram amount seen by system

[Awdiofreq]

just added more ram recently. Originally had 2 sticks of 128mb ddr pc2100 for a total of 256mb which worked just fine. Tried replacing these with 2 sticks of ddr pc2100 256mb to give me a total of 512mb. After doing so, pc wouldn't boot up, just one beep every 5 seconds & no video either. Tried clearing CMOS, but no luck. Maybe bad or incompatible new ram? So now i've reinstalled my original 2 sticks of 128mb, my pc boots up now, but my system info only shows this amount of ram: total physical memory= 228,848kb & available physical memory= 129,100kb. I wore a ESD wrist strap the entire time, tried reseating the original ram several times, in different slots, not sure what to do next.

Also, my system can't find the drivers for the video controller after installing the new ram (maybe clearing the cmos caused this?). Keep getting this error message in device mgr "video controller (vga compatible) the drivers for this device are not installed code 28". I've tried reinstalling/updating drivers several times but still get this error. How can i get my system to recognize the correct amount of ram? PLEASE HELP. Any help is greatly appreciated!!!

PC INFO:
OS: windows 2000 version 5.0.2195 service pack 4
MOBO: MSI KM266-8235
Processor: AMD Duron 1.3ghz socket A
Bios: Phoenix - Award Bios V.600pg
Ram: DDR PC2100 128mb x 2 (256mb total)

[mjc]

Umm...does this machine have onboard video? And a video card?

[Awdiofreq]

Yes, i'm using the onboard video. No actual video card is installed.

[mjc]

There is nothing wrong with the amount of memory displayed...

Your onboard video is taking 32 MB and since you reset the BIOS there is 99.9999% that the setting for a 1MB 'memory hole' is on....so that is the rough difference.

The 'available' amount looks pretty typica afte an OS load...

As for the driver issue...you will probably have to go and remove all occurances of the the device listed (in device manager), probably doing so in Safe Mode. Also what form is the driver package? You may need to run its installer instead of using the Hardware Wizard...

[Awdiofreq]

THANKS for the help, i greatly appreciate it!!!!! I tried what you suggested by going into safe mode, removed the drivers for the video controller and re-installed them using the cd that came with my mobo. This resolved the conflict in the device mgr. As for the ram problem you were right. The correct amount of ram is displayed, and i wasn't aware that the onboard video took 32mb. And after i reset the cmos it displayed the amount in kbs whereas before it displayed it in mb (256). That's where i got confused about the correct amount being there.