Windows 7 BSOD after memory upgrade

  • Thread starter Thread starter MikeB
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MikeB

I have a Win 764-bit PC that has been solid as a rock since I
upgraded from XP in October. Recently I was doing a bunch of stuff
and I noticed a distinct system slow in the system. Upon checking, it
seemed to me that the 2BG memory was overcommitted and I ordered
another 2x1 GB for the two open slots on the MB. My original memory
was OCX DD2-PC3200 CL5. I used CPU-z to determine type and verified
that that type was supported on my motherboard (Intel DP35DP). I
ordered 2 sticks of Kingston RAM of the same type also with the same
voltage and Cache Latency (CL) numbers.

On power-up, BIOS recognized the 4GB of memory. All seemed well.

On Windows boot, the logon screen came up. As soon as I selected my
userid, I got a BSOD and the machine rebooted. I booted into Safe Mode
and everything came up fine. I looked and confirmed that Windows oculd
see 4GB of memory and that the page file was now 4GB.

Booted back with normal Windows (since I didn't know what else to
check, and the system booted up fine and I could log on. I started
running the System Performance evaluation and mid-stream another BSOD.
Again, the system rebooted too fast for me to read any of the
diagnostics.

First question: How do I make the machine stop on a BSOD and not
reboot?

I have a old (ca. 2009) Windows Memory Diagnostic disk here and I
booted off that to run a memory diagnostic. That said the installed
memory was bigger than 4GB and it could only test part of the
installed memory. I'm letting it run while I'm typing this.

Second question: Is there a memory diagnostic tool that is more recent
and will test the entire memory range?

Third question: Any other suggestions on how to trouble-shoot this?
Anything that I might have overlooked, any compatibility issues I have
not considered?

This really sucks, I have been successful in upgrading almost every
other component of this PC over time and have never had any problems.

Thanks for any help offered.
 
I have a Win 764-bit PC that has been solid as a rock since I
upgraded from XP in October. Recently I was doing a bunch of stuff
and I noticed a distinct system slow in the system. Upon checking, it
seemed to me that the 2BG memory was overcommitted and I ordered
another 2x1 GB for the two open slots on the MB. My original memory
was OCX DD2-PC3200 CL5. I used CPU-z to determine type and verified
that that type was supported on my motherboard (Intel DP35DP). I
ordered 2 sticks of Kingston RAM of the same type also with the same
voltage and Cache Latency (CL) numbers.

On power-up, BIOS recognized the 4GB of memory. All seemed well.

On Windows boot, the logon screen came up. As soon as I selected my
userid, I got a BSOD and the machine rebooted. I booted into Safe Mode
and everything came up fine. I looked and confirmed that Windows oculd
see 4GB of memory and that the page file was now 4GB.

Booted back with normal Windows (since I didn't know what else to
check, and the system booted up fine and I could log on. I started
running the System Performance evaluation and mid-stream another BSOD.
Again, the system rebooted too fast for me to read any of the
diagnostics.

First question: How do I make the machine stop on a BSOD and not
reboot?

I have a old (ca. 2009) Windows Memory Diagnostic disk here and I
booted off that to run a memory diagnostic. That said the installed
memory was bigger than 4GB and it could only test part of the
installed memory. I'm letting it run while I'm typing this.

Second question: Is there a memory diagnostic tool that is more recent
and will test the entire memory range?

Third question: Any other suggestions on how to trouble-shoot this?
Anything that I might have overlooked, any compatibility issues I have
not considered?

This really sucks, I have been successful in upgrading almost every
other component of this PC over time and have never had any problems.

Thanks for any help offered.
Click to expand...

Q1:
Start > Computer > System Properties (top)
Select "Advanced System Settings" on the Left
Click the "Advanced" tab
"Startup & Recovery (bottom) > Click "Settings"
"System Failure": uncheck "Auto Restart"

Q2:
Memtest86+ is the best, as Jon has given you a link to.

Q3:
You most likely gotr a bad stick of RAM. You track it down by removing
one stick at a time and testing. If dual channel prevents only one stick
at a time then you want to try one known good "old" stick with one new
stick and test each new stick, then test them both with the other old
stick. If one of the sticks causes failure with either of the old sticks
then you've got your culprit.

Double and triple check that your new memory is compatible with your
motherboard and processor. Can't hurt.

You were very fortunate to never had to deal with bad components before
this. It's kinda sad how common it is.
 
Jon said:
Never run new memory in a live OS without first testing it overnight with
memtest:

http://www.memtest.org/

Jon
Click to expand...

You can test the sticks of memory individually. That makes it
easier to tell which stick is bad.

Once all the sticks are tested, plug them all in and do one
last test.

By testing the sticks individually, you'll also be able to
confirm their capacity. (The memtest screen should tell you
how big the total memory is.)

As for memtest, the test 5 seems to be the most sensitive to
memory errors. If you're in a hurry, you can advance the test
to that point, to get faster results.

*******

In terms of an "incorruptible" OS, if you use a Linux LiveCD to
boot the computer the first time, that gives you an opportunity
to test RAM, with less danger of corrupting a hard drive.
Examples of that include Ubuntu and Knoppix.

With new RAM here, my second test is to boot Knoppix, then
use the Linux version of the Prime95 stress test, as a
secondary test case. If I can pass a few hours of that
without any errors detected, then next I might try booting
Windows again.

Knoppix (an OS that runs from the CD)

http://www.knopper.net/knoppix-mirrors/index-en.html

Various versions of Prime95.

http://www.mersenne.org/freesoft/

Use the stress test option at Prime95 startup. I run Prime95 error free
for at least four hours, before deciding my memory is good.
Prime95 doesn't test all of the memory, which is why running
memtest first is still recommended. It is a tag team approach
to test. Memtest tests virtually all the memory locations (only
BIOS reserved locations are untested). Prime95 provides more stress
while testing, and catches things memtest might not, but Prime95
cannot test the memory occupied by the OS. Passing both tests
is a pretty good indication the hardware is working.

Paul
 
MikeB said:
I have a Win 764-bit PC that has been solid as a rock since I
upgraded from XP in October. Recently I was doing a bunch of stuff
and I noticed a distinct system slow in the system. Upon checking, it
seemed to me that the 2BG memory was overcommitted and I ordered
another 2x1 GB for the two open slots on the MB. My original memory
was OCX DD2-PC3200 CL5. I used CPU-z to determine type and verified
that that type was supported on my motherboard (Intel DP35DP). I
ordered 2 sticks of Kingston RAM of the same type also with the same
voltage and Cache Latency (CL) numbers.

On power-up, BIOS recognized the 4GB of memory. All seemed well.

On Windows boot, the logon screen came up. As soon as I selected my
userid, I got a BSOD and the machine rebooted. I booted into Safe Mode
and everything came up fine. I looked and confirmed that Windows oculd
see 4GB of memory and that the page file was now 4GB.

Booted back with normal Windows (since I didn't know what else to
check, and the system booted up fine and I could log on. I started
running the System Performance evaluation and mid-stream another BSOD.
Again, the system rebooted too fast for me to read any of the
diagnostics.

First question: How do I make the machine stop on a BSOD and not
reboot?

I have a old (ca. 2009) Windows Memory Diagnostic disk here and I
booted off that to run a memory diagnostic. That said the installed
memory was bigger than 4GB and it could only test part of the
installed memory. I'm letting it run while I'm typing this.

Second question: Is there a memory diagnostic tool that is more recent
and will test the entire memory range?

Third question: Any other suggestions on how to trouble-shoot this?
Anything that I might have overlooked, any compatibility issues I have
not considered?

This really sucks, I have been successful in upgrading almost every
other component of this PC over time and have never had any problems.

Thanks for any help offered.
Click to expand...

1. Does it run ok if you take the new memory out?
2. Does it run ok with just the new memory in?
3. Is new memory confirmed as compatible with mobo/cpu?
If the answer to 2 & 3 is yes, I would guess that the old and new memory are
not compatible.
 
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