RAM problem

flogen

I just got a 1gb RAM module to upgrade my PC (it has 2x256 ones in it)... it's the right type and size and the computer can take up to 2gb, so there's no problem there... but when I put it into the computer it goes into a loop where it gets past the Windows load up screen and then shuts down and starts up again from the start... same happens if I try to run it in safe mode.

I also tried to do a recovery from the system CD, but it said a file (sorry, can't remember... will check that) was corrupted and recovery has failed.

Anyone know what problem this could be? I'm using the old ram now and everything works fine, it's just when I introduce the new one that problems arise... so is that broken or incompatible (as I said, on paper everything is fine)?

Thanks for any tips

KdjaCL

Put it into the 1st slot closest to the CPU , windows having issues using the new ram. Either full reinstall windows or mix them up in different slots.



kdjac

greglo23

are you using both the old ram and new at the same time ? they may be conflicting with each other. use one of the used ram slots for the new stick as unused ram slots tend to gather dirt and dust. just fit the new one on its own and you may have to change your settings in the bios.

Ruu_Old

Try running memtest with the new memory installed.

flogen

KdjaCL wrote:

Put it into the 1st slot closest to the CPU , windows having issues using the new ram. Either full reinstall windows or mix them up in different slots.



kdjac

Tried it with pretty much every combo I could think of; on its own in the 1st and 2nd slot, with one of the 256 cards in the first and second, with the other in the first and second... just not doing anything at all.

greglo23 wrote:

are you using both the old ram and new at the same time ? they may be conflicting with each other. use one of the used ram slots for the new stick as unused ram slots tend to gather dirt and dust. just fit the new one on its own and you may have to change your settings in the bios.

The slots shouldn't be dirty; they work fine with the 256 cards and one of them hasn't been empty in a long while (with the other being used since day 1).
What settings would I need to change in bios? interestingly, the 1gb card shows up in there no problem, it just won't boot into windows if it's in the machine.

Ruu wrote:

Try running memtest with the new memory installed.

Would I not need to get into windows to do that?

If I boot from the system CD, it'll start to work away, and then tell me there's a corrupt file... the name of the file seems to change each time; so far I've had dac960nt.sys, toside.sys and ntfs.sys...

And will a windows reinstall keep all my files, or would it need to be a total format job?

Stephen

Sounds like your new ram is faulty, or you have timings set too aggressively in the bios.
Run memtest like ruu said. You don't need Windows for it, it runs from a boot disk/cd.