Compaq Presario R3000 memory upgrade that works !
Aug. 9, 2011

I have the Presario R3000 and it came with 256 megs under the keyboard.  First it is DDR 333mhz memory, the slower stuff.  I bought a gig of 333mhz memory and put it in the empty slot at the bottom.  That worked O.K.

Jump ahead, I upgraded the memory speed of another laptop I have Compaq Presario C500 C551NR.  As usual the installed memory was 1 gb of the slower 533mhz.  I was going to put in 2 Gb and found out that this PC can go to 667mhz.  So I bought 2 gb of PC5300 (DDR2 is cheap) for some $30.  Now this Vista PC runs really good.
Update Jan. 2014.. I got Windows 7 (pro) disk and did an upgrade.  Not this slow as dirt laptop is running great !  Would have not bought another PC if I did this first.  It now has 2 GB and I used Defraggler and CrapCleaner on it.  Win7 works great on this Compaq Presario C500.

Thinking about the increase in speed due to the memory and Mhz increase I checked out the older R3000.  I didn't see any reason to stay with 333Mhz memory so I got a Gig of 400Mhz Corsair (you might even pick up some used stuff cheap, DDR is still expensive ($33 for a gig).  One you need to upgrade your BIOS to ver F.35

So even though EVERY memory site says 333Mhz is required, I can only assume the company never thought anyone would replace the original memory under the keyboard.  If you leave that memory in place, it will kick any added 400Mhz memory to 333Mhz.  You need to replace both.

There are videos (YouTube) and HP has photos out there on how to get under the keyboard.   They all say 333Mhz. memory.  I even wrote to Crucial about my find and they just said "333Mhz is what we have listed".

- - To get to the memory under the keyboard - -

[A warning, I work on PC's all the time.  This is not hard, but don't complain to me you messed up your PC.
Maybe get a good PC friend.  It'll take 10 min.]

Make sure you turn OFF the laptop and not hibernate it.

With the 2 DDR 400Mhz laptop memory in hand.....

There are three bottom screws you need to remove to get the keyboard cover off, these hold the plastic plate by the cover hinge.   Close the cover, flip it over, the back by the hinges.  With one of those tiny Phillips screwdrivers, the two most outer screws come out.  They will be pretty long (the wrong ones are short).  Then the screw (same length) right by the external video, that's the third.  Capture each screw by flipping the laptop over.  Don't lose them, the are black and tiny.  Then flip it over, open it and with a tiny FLAT screw drive, go on the sides of the cover by the hinges.  It should pop off pretty easy. Those screws hold on the cover.  With the cover off you will see 4 small screws holding the keyboard.  This are short so be VERY careful once they are out.

The keyboard by the mouse pad has 4 tabs that go in, then DON'T lose the 4 screws for the keyboard.  Put the plastic cover back on the hinge, and the 3 screws.  Now replace (or add) the memory at the bottom with 400Mhz.  Make sure BOTH chips are pushed into the holder so you don't see the connectors, then down to the holding clips.

With 2 GB of 400Mhz memory, now it really works nice, and you have XP ! IE and Firefox windows pop up nice.

If you want to try this.. just take any bottom memory out and get just one stick of 400Mhz for under the keyboard.  Get a program that checks the memory speed and you'll see it go from 150Mhz to 200Mhz (DDR doubles the memory speed).  You can see it works faster, then you can buy a second 400Mhz for the bottom.

I got Corsair Value Select for $34 (new) per Gb. from Amazon.  If you buy on E-bay make sure the seller is selling a 1Gb chip, not two 512 but only showing one chip.  I use this laptop when I travel and keep my good one safe.  So it gets used a lot.