Adding memory problem

  • Thread starter Thread starter Alan
  • Start date Start date
A

Alan

Hi ,I'm lost amongst all these news groups,I shall try my question here.,or
please direct me to the proper place.
I have an inexpensive pc ,windows XP It has two slots for memory one of
which contained Samsung 168 pin PC 133 SDRAM 128 Mb memory.
I have purchased a matched pair of 256 Mb ram same spec.
The PC will run with either of the two new memories installed singly but not
together.
If the new memory is installed as a pair ,the pc either does not start or
usually the desk top appears but after a minute the screen freezes.
I tried a new 256Mb memory with the original 128Mb the pc started but froze
after about 15 minutes of operation
Thanks in advance Alan
 
Alan said:
Hi ,I'm lost amongst all these news groups,I shall try my question here.,or
please direct me to the proper place.
I have an inexpensive pc ,windows XP It has two slots for memory one of
which contained Samsung 168 pin PC 133 SDRAM 128 Mb memory.
I have purchased a matched pair of 256 Mb ram same spec.
The PC will run with either of the two new memories installed singly but
not
together.
If the new memory is installed as a pair ,the pc either does not start or
usually the desk top appears but after a minute the screen freezes.
I tried a new 256Mb memory with the original 128Mb the pc started but froze
after about 15 minutes of operation
Thanks in advance Alan

There are many things to consider when installing RAM. Go on Google and search for "installing RAM" or "installing RAM tutorial" and READ the information. One place: http://www.hardwarecentral.com/hardwarecentral/tutorials/50/2/
Click to expand...

Gene K
 
Very like your MoBo (Mother board) will not support 512Mbs of RAM.
You can probably install two 128s but not two 256s. Do a Google search
for your MoBo to see what it will support.
 
Hi ,I'm lost amongst all these news groups,I shall try my question here.,or
please direct me to the proper place.
I have an inexpensive pc ,windows XP It has two slots for memory one of
which contained Samsung 168 pin PC 133 SDRAM 128 Mb memory.
I have purchased a matched pair of 256 Mb ram same spec.
The PC will run with either of the two new memories installed singly but not
together.
If the new memory is installed as a pair ,the pc either does not start or
usually the desk top appears but after a minute the screen freezes.
I tried a new 256Mb memory with the original 128Mb the pc started but froze
after about 15 minutes of operation
Thanks in advance Alan
Click to expand...

To recap, the two new modules work fine individually but they do not work
together. If 2 sticks of 256 is within the capabilities of your motherboard
(I'm assuming that you checked that before purchasing more RAM) then it
should work. Same spec RAM from two different batches can be different
enough that you could run into problems. It's possible that this is what
has happened. You should probably contact the vendor for the RAM and work
this issue out with them.
 
Thanks all for your advice so far,perhaps you can help some more if I post
all the details
I initially used a scanning tool offered by Crucial Memory .That reported
the pc as having four slots one of which was fitted with a 128Mb memory and
that the pc had a total capacity of 512Mb.
Looking inside the case I could only find 2 slots .one of which was fitted
with the original 128Mb memory On the original memory is a label which
reads
128Mb 168P DIMM +Q4
128PC 133 SDRAM
It has 4 chips on the one side.

The two new memories were bought on Ebay and classed as used but tested ok.
A matched pair of Samsung 256 Mbs
The label on these reads
Samsung KOREA H 0413
PC 133U -333-542
M366S3323FTS-C7A
256Mb Sync 133Mhz CL3
Each have 16 chips Eight on each side

I also scanned the pc with something called Belarc Advisor that also
reported Slots 0,1,2,3 ?

The PC is a model by I Friend Model EVE2
The XP Help report scan lists the following info
Processor Intel (R) Celeron(TM) CPU 1300MHz
Hard disc Used 12Mb Spare 26Mb
Memory reports correctly as to which is fitted ,at the moment one stick
256Mb Minimum required 64Mb

The Belaric Advisor also lists
System Model VIA Technologies Inc VT8601
Main Circuit Board
Board 8601T-686
Bus Clock 100MHz (Data may be tranferred at 1,2,3 or 4 times bus clock rate)

As said before it lists 4 slots but has two notes c) Memory slot contents
may not add up to installed memory if some memory is not recognised by
Windows
d) Memory slot contents is reported by the motherboard BIOS.Contact system
vendor if slot contents are wrong.
OS Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition Version 5.1.2600
Service pack 1.0
Is this information any help,is there anything I have left out? I do not
have the knowledge to take it any further.
Thanks Alan
 
Thanks all for your advice so far,perhaps you can help some more if I post
all the details
I initially used a scanning tool offered by Crucial Memory .That reported
the pc as having four slots one of which was fitted with a 128Mb memory and
that the pc had a total capacity of 512Mb.
Looking inside the case I could only find 2 slots .one of which was fitted
with the original 128Mb memory On the original memory is a label which
reads {snippage}

The PC is a model by I Friend Model EVE2
The XP Help report scan lists the following info
Processor Intel (R) Celeron(TM) CPU 1300MHz
Hard disc Used 12Mb Spare 26Mb
Memory reports correctly as to which is fitted ,at the moment one stick
256Mb Minimum required 64Mb
Click to expand...


Alan, sometimes OEMs modify boards that they buy from other suppliers.
Sometimes there are two models of the same board - perhaps this board was
offered to OEMs with 2 or 4 slots or the manner in which the 2 slots are
wired is being interpreted as 4 slots by the report tools you've been
using. Regardless of what's reported, you physically have 2 slots for RAM.

I did a google search for your system. I think I found the right one here:
http://www.i-friend.com/c2134x.htm

If that's your system, it ships with 128 MB of RAM (PC133) and it's
supposed to support up to 512 MB. Not much technical info on this site but
there is a mention in the specs that there is an electronic system manual
included. That means it's either on your hard drive or on the CDs that came
with the system (or both). Suggest digging that up and reading the sections
on installing new RAM. Maybe you'll find a step in there that you're
missing to get the full 512 RAM utilized.

Also...

You've tested sticks individually but have you tried testing them in both
slots? I once had an desktop PC that had 3 slots (0,1,2). Unfortunately,
slot 1 was a duffer. If I inserted any RAM in that middle slot, the system
would throw a lot of explorer.exe errors and would occasionally restart for
no apparent reason. If I kept RAM out of that slot, the system operated
perfectly. Hopefully, this isn't the case for you but you probably should
check it out the best that you can. If it is bad, the motherboard is faulty
and should be replaced.
 
Sharon ,thanks for your time. I have read with interest your reply and i
will try your suggestions. I have only tried both memories in the same slot
,I shall try other slot later. I had placed details of new and existing
memory in my last post ,they seem to have been replaced by (snipage) ?but
probably not inportant .If I have any luck I shall let you know
Alan
 
Sharon ,thanks for your time. I have read with interest your reply and i
will try your suggestions. I have only tried both memories in the same slot
,I shall try other slot later. I had placed details of new and existing
memory in my last post ,they seem to have been replaced by (snipage) ?but
probably not inportant .If I have any luck I shall let you know
Click to expand...

Sorry about the snippage. The details from your previous post are still in
messages found in this thread. They may be important to someone else
familiar with your system and it's memory requirements but they are
irrelevant (at the moment). I snipped to leave just the part of your post
that I was addressing in my reply. "Snipping" is not an uncommon practice
in newsgroups and can make reading replies a bit easier.

At this point and from a distance, if that slot is not bad then there isn't
much more that I can tell you. The memory modules may still be "bad."
Software testing can detect many but not all errors. Sometimes it takes a
technician with tools to uncover those other errors. In other words - if it
becomes necessary to go further with this, I think that your best bet would
be with a local technician that can thoroughly test the system first hand.
 
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