DaveD

iTrader: (2)

I've just replaced two 512MB memory sticks with two 1GB sticks in my pc.

However, the computer has now shut down on three separate occasions without warning and rebooted. I haven't had any error messages or hangs, the pc just aburptly turns off and reboots.
Is there possibly a problem with the new memory, or could I have damaged something else in the pc? The pc is a 4 year-old hp machine running XP, and is normally reliable.

slipstream_uk

iTrader: (1)

What brand of ram did you put in ?
Also is it an intel or amd based motherboard


As I learnt the hard way by buying the wrong type of ram for my board in the past.
I bought high density instead of low density ram.

richs2891

Put the old stuff back in and see if the PC is ok with that.

Double check that the numbers on the old memory is the same as on the new memory (apart from the capacity !)

Try the new memory one piece at a time, then check that the new memory is properly is the slot - seen that many times before when either one pice of mem is faulty or not propely clipped in

Richard

LostUser

I've had exactly this problem after fitting new memory. Generally it turns out one of the memory sticks is faulty.

I'd advise leaving both new sticks in, download memtest86 and run that. It'll soon tell you if there's a fault

jpor

iTrader: (1)

Sounds to me the CL timings on the RAM are not right. Check first if the original RAM does not produce the same fault. The BIOS could be set to manual settings of the CL timings of the original RAM, and could be set too fast to the RAM you have replaced with. Have been caught out with this in the past. Try going into the BIOS and checking wheather the RAM is set to AUTO (PC determines the correct speed of the modules at boot time) or Manual mode.

For example the Latency timings on the old ram could be 2-2-3 whilst the new stuff is only good for 3-3-4 therefore the PC reboots as the RAM cannot cope with the faster speed settings it's expected to perform with. Sometimes you may need to update the BIOS code for compatability. Could do with knowing the brand and type of RAM you are now using and then check this in a compatibility matrix on the Website of the PC to see if you have the right RAM for the PC.

DaveD

iTrader: (2)

Thanks for the pointers.
I'll give the memtest86 program a go, to see if that identifies a problem. It took 3 attempts to get the pc to fully boot up just now, although in 20 minutes it hasn't switched itself off!

For info, it's an hp paviloin pc with an intel Pentium 4 processor.
I checked the timings on the memory, and they are both the same (4-4-4, I think). If anything, I think the new memory is slightly faster (667 MHz?) than the old (553 MHz?).

I've not checked the BIOS yet.

I'll see how the pc runs for the next day or two and also play around with swapping the various bits memory that I now have!

DaveD

iTrader: (2)

Quick update.....

After my previous post, the computer went through a period of behaving normally.
I checked the BIOS - all seems to be correct.

Then I had problems with IE hanging (couldn't even CTRL+ALT+delete to close the windows) and couldn't get the computer to switch off!

So, I pulled out the new RAM, and realised that one of the sockets had a light pile of dust/fluff sat on it. I've cleaned this off with a small paint brush (being weary of generating any static!) and put the new RAM back in.

So far, so good - not had any issues since this minor clean up.

So, it could have been dust in the socket (although the dust did not appear to be contaminating any of the contacts) or, maybe I hadn't fitted the modules correctly (one was a very tight fit in the socket).

Obviously, if anything changes, I'll be back!

Thanks again for your help

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

Could be the dust giving a bad contact, try the memtest 86 again, it will find any issues if there are any left

Tony