DELL sometimes does not come on: then "changed memory"

Hmm_Messiah

Ok I have a Dell Dimension 5150 which I bought few months back but only over last week have set it up to use (in a gap between studies)


So far am very happy except some times when you press power button it does not start up

a led behind 3 and 4 on the tower lightrs up, I u nderstand this to show which drive its trying to boot from (???0 (floppy/cd/hdd1/hdd2) etc

when it does start the I get a message "memory has changed, press F1 to continue F2 for settings."

I looked at the Setup once all seems ok, recognised 4 sticks of ram (4*512) and the two hard drives (calls first hard drive 0, but I'm taking that is ok ? )

I wonder if any one has any suggestions ? Other times it starts up fine, and no problems if from standby etc.



A second Question (save multi threads )
<snip>

thanks for any helph

snappieT

That message is in relation to your RAM. My guess is that one of the sticks is loose/dodgy.
Try opening the case, removing and re-inserting each stick, and trying again.

<snip>

Hmm_Messiah

thanks for the quick reply

just found in Dell Diagnostics that light "3 4 " means a problem with the ram, says to rem ove and install one by one

thing is I've never poked inside a tower..... inow its easier with the 5150 witht he cute side panel lock and stuff,

but I really dont want to mess around, knowing my luck I'd mess up. Maybe its just from ahving to move it to coneect the wireless router initially ,


damn, I stress over problems with my nice shiny dell.

<snip>

snappieT

Opening a tower is dead easy
And Dell even tie down all the cables for you so it's nice and neat. You honestly can't mess up (bar static discharge - touch a metal part of the PC case to ground yourself before you start poking, and don't poke if you're on a carpet [snigger])

@irlrobins: why did you snip the part about backup?

irlrobins

Not allowed under charter/FAQ.

Hmm_Messiah

just reread FAQ, sorry

po0k

In the unlikely event that reseatng the sticks doesn't resolve the issue, download MemTest86+.
You'll find a bootable .iso there which you can use to stress-test and verify the ram.

Hmm_Messiah

Thanks for that SyxPak though I am not sure what I would be doing re testing RAM etc, beyond my abilities but might look at it anyways
I have Car & Return warranty if thats what its called but don't want to go through that hassle

At the same time the message came up again today


I was on to Dell for 40 minutes to get the cds

Occidental

I've a 5150 in front of me and it really is a 30 second job to reseat the RAM.

Unplug ther PC. You've a black push tab at the back of the case on the top. This will release the right hand side panel. Once off you'll see two ram sticks, just below the power supply. Push the cream tabs to release these, reseat(making sure they go home good and tight and the tabs close fully in)and restart your PC.

paddyp

Heres a pictorial guide - very detailed re: installing memory. Read through it.

http://www.crucial.com/install/dimm.asp

Hmm_Messiah

I've never open a pc before is all, and knowing my luck I'd build up some Xman like static or somethign
have 4x 512 so I guess looking for 4 modules, might try it and if succesful might even see can I get a dvd drive in the spare..bay ??

thanks for the answers,

I'll post back if successful, I feel a bit stupid bought th epc in march only now had time to set up etc
good bargain though
2048ram, 2 x 250 HDD, 256 video card, audigy somthign or other soundcard, all 660e in their ebat sotre, the "scratch" is a dullness on a tiny section of the silver