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New RAM causes system hang

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7 replies

by a.cant.be.arsed

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Hi there, well, lately i purchased 2*1gb sticks of RAM to upgrade my heap-of-poo computer. When i installed them and turned the PC on, the system would boot up and then hang at the XP loading screen with screen anomalies and then go through the process in a loop. Can anyone help me? My motherboard is an INTEL D915GAG and the RAM was bought from ebay from the states (i was assured that it would work here) Many Thanks

7 replies

by langlier

1. using your original ram download and burn a ram test (you can get a memory test from microsoft but there are others available).

2. start the computer with the new ram only and the memory test in the drive. if the memory test freezes up verify that the ram you purchased is what you were expecting and that it is compatable with your motherboard. Some RAM does not work correctly when downclocked.

by a.cant.be.arsed

Thanks for the write back. 1. In progress will post results in 10 mins 2. In progress will post results in 10 mins, the ram is indeed ddr400 as it says so in the bios on startup as for compatibility, its a Intel board so the chances are that its the board.

Many thanks

by a.cant.be.arsed

I did the tests... the original ram passed the tests but the new ram didnt even run the tests. But i did get as far as a STOP ERROR SCREEN. It was blue background and white writing. It said to disable caching/shadowing and gave me a TECHNICAL INFORMATION bit at the bottom this is exactly what it said: ***STOP:0x0000007e (0x0000005, 0x80544654, 0xba51f79c, 0xba51f498)

Many thanks for your patience and help

by wysocki

My problem is similar to yours and I wonder if it's related. I have a 2003 server running on 2gb. When I add another stick (matched) it hangs in the logo screen too. Either stick works fine by itself and I have two identical computers that it behaves the same way on. I can start it in safe mode but then it reports 2.6gb with both sticks in. Could this be something to do with switching memory to "dual channel" mode? How do I get past the error?

by a.cant.be.arsed

This could be to do with how much memory the OS can address but surely a SERVER OS should be able to address upto 32GB ram, a dunno m8 sorry, thats too technical 4 me

Dave

by vhrocker

Enterprise Edition (32-bit) can handle up to 32GB. Server Standard can handle only 4GB.

You guys should be looking at not what type (DDR1 or DDR2) or speed (2700 or 3200), but the other important specs of memory: Voltage, CAS, Configuration

Since both of you were able to start your machines with the RAM, voltage is probably not important. I don't think I had many issues with CAS, but check to see if all the sticks are atleast the same, and match up to motherboard specs if specified. However, RAM comes in different configs, suchs as 128Mx64, etc. What you should do is look in your motherboard manual for tested and proved Manufacturer/Model sticks and go with them. If not atleast, make sure your RAM specs are correct. I know from experience that this VERY frustrating, but hopefully you will learn a lot like I did.

~Matt

P.S. Another thing you can try is swapping the memory sticks into different slots. It sounds crazy, but it has worked for me (though I still can get RANDOM blue screens or restarts, rarely though, which I presume to be from the memory problem)

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