Adding Ram

Hi there,

I'm a newbie to DIY PC stuff so please bear with me if I ask a stupid question. I have (what was originally) a Dell desktop PC. It was re-built by an independent PC shop a couple of year ago after if went wrong and has I think a new motherboard and RAM and bits like that.

I know the MBoard is different because we had to change RAM to DDR2 to go with the MB (was only 512, now is 1024). Anyway, I have 1024MB of RAM but want to double it to try to improve PC performance. I've purchased Samsung 1Go DDR2 memory and tried to clip it in next to the existing 1Go DDR2 memory. It all seems to fit OK.

However, when I add the new stuff and start the PC I get error messages, 'start in safe mode' etc but Windows will still not start. If I take the new memory out again, it all works fine.

Does anyone have any advice or tips? Am I doing something wrong.? If it helps I have listed below what I can find in terms of technical data. Not sure if it will be of use though?

OS Name Microsoft Windows XP Professional
Version 5.1.2600 Service Pack 3 Build 2600
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
System Name FAMILY-D2E7AE18
System Manufacturer NVIDIA
System Model NVDAACPI
System Type X86-based PC
Processor x86 Family 15 Model 95 Stepping 2 AuthenticAMD ~1808 Mhz
BIOS Version/Date Phoenix Technologies, LTD 6.00 PG, 09/01/2007
SMBIOS Version 2.2
Windows Directory C:\WINDOWS
System Directory C:\WINDOWS\system32
Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume2
Locale United States
Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "5.1.2600.5512 (xpsp.080413-2111)"
User Name FAMILY-D2E7AE18\Family Wallace
Time Zone Romance Standard Time
Total Physical Memory 1,024.00 MB
Available Physical Memory 463.80 MB
Total Virtual Memory 2.00 GB
Available Virtual Memory 1.96 GB
Page File Space 2.81 GB
Page File C:\pagefile.sys


Thanks in advance,

Welcome to D-A-L.

Click on the Hardware Scan link (in my signature at the bottom of my post) and post the resulting URL of your results into your next post here.

If by chance the scan doesn't work for you.....

To get a detailed report of all your machines (recognized) hardware;

Download, install, and run Everest Home Edition on this machine. (Clean FreeWare) Once it's finished loading and running, click on the Report Wizard in the Menu Bar. Save all hardware related pages (the default) to a TEXT file. (It will save it to C:\Program Files\Lavalys\EVEREST Home Edition\Reports by default, unless you redirect it.)

Compress (zip) the Everest Report text file and attach that zipped text document to your next posting. (When posting, click on Advanced, and just below the posting box you'll see "Additional Options", and within that, "Attach Files". Click on "Manage Attachments" and follow the prompts. Browse to the file and choose UPLOAD.)

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Location: Alberta, CanadaD-A-L Hardware Scan

Hi Dan

Sample template for the DAL Scanner is I assume the URL you need. I'm new to all this. I'll trust that I'll not find you've taken control of my PC in an effort to start War Games II.....

I notice that it says SDRAM yet my paperwork for the memory put in when I had the new MB says DDR2. Is this the same thing or am I trying to mix memory types? All very confusing.

Thanks for your help and any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers.

No fears there. Even if we could, we wouldn't. We're chosen to be Staff here based (in part) on our integrity and honesty.

Based upon (found through a Google search) jephree's responses here PCI bridge device?, is this the mobo; http://www.msicomputer.com/product/p...del=K9N6SGM-V?

Is the "new" RAM of the same specs as the existing RAM? (DDR2 800Mhz)

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It's a good day when you learn something
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Location: Alberta, CanadaD-A-L Hardware Scan

Hi Dan,

To be honest, I'm not sure about the MB. My paperwork from the guy who rebuilt the PC simply says 'AMD2 Motherboard'. It has an AMD2 Sempron 3200+ processor. I have the box for the existing RAM and it says 'Kingmax DDR II (Long-DIMM). The 667MHz box (on the packaging) is ticked as is the 1gb one.

That was the theory behind me buying the new RAM of the same spec (or so I thought).

Could I just have done something wrong when putting the new RAM in? I unclipped the 2 retaining clips top & bottom, snapped in the new RAM next to the old one (facing the same way round) and then snapped the clips back in place. I re-connected all the leads and then powered up the PC again.

The longest bit was backing stuff up to an external hard-drive in case I killed the PC!!!

Thanks again for your assistance.

RAM modules are notched on the contacts edge, and can't be inserted incorrectly (unless really forced).

There's only two possibilities I can think of;
The modules are not matched
The bios may need configuration data reset
(See the last paragraph in my article here: ) How to enter the system BIOS/CMOS | D-A-L Computer Help

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It's a good day when you learn something
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Location: Alberta, CanadaD-A-L Hardware Scan