New Ram Problems ??

[thomson]

My relative has an old computer from an office ive been trying to get going for her, basically just for surfing the web.

Its an old pentium 3 (550mhz) job with 64mb ram (windows mellinium).

I tried installing the software for her to use talk talk broadband from the disk they supplied but instantly hit a problem, not enough ram, talk talk require 128mb minimum.

Anyway, i took out a stick of the ram and had her go get more of the same from the local computer shop, the guy sold her 1x256mb unit of ram, the machine has 3 ram slots, and as i said, already has 2x32mb units in 2 of the slots, so it had one slot spare which i tried the new 256 unit in, but when windows boots up i firstly get told i need to update the graphics driver etc (which was ok before) and the picture is all fecked up, then if i take the new unit of ram out the machine it boots up ok without saying anything about the graphics driver etc and the picture is fine, but with the new unit of ram in there windows doesnt even detectect it at all in system properties.

Soooo, i tried switching the units of ram round into different orders in the slots to see if that helped but it either resulted in the computer not booting at all with blank screen and no beeps etc or back to the graphical error etc with no detection of the ram.

So, i dont know if you guys agree, theres a couple of things i think could be causing this, firstly the guy in shop may have gave her the wrong ram (looks the same though, its the old 16chip ram and from very reliable shop), and secondly maybe the computer cant handle 256mb of ram or more ??? does it sound like that could be a possible problem ??

I dont actually have the pc in the house here so it only gets my attention when i go over there which is pain in the arse, other than that i try and guide her what to do over the phone, which is also pain in the arse, LOL.

Ohh, and i dont know the make n model of the motherboard, i know i should have got this when installing windows but i didnt, is there anyway i can get the make n model number of the motherboard from windows other than running summit like belarc or summit like that, it would speed things up as i could tell her to check it over the phone, but i doubt it, eh ???

Any advice or help appreciated :Cheers:

 

[davie r]

Hi

Many older motherboards prefer 2 matched sticks of ram
i.e. 2 x 128 etc - if this is not possible i would try the
256 on it's own - it is also worth checking the bios ram
settings and disable SPD (serial presence detection)
the entry usually says something like detect memory
by spd etc

 

[thomson]

Hi

Many older motherboards prefer 2 matched sticks of ram
i.e. 2 x 128 etc - if this is not possible i would try the
256 on it's own - it is also worth checking the bios ram
settings and disable SPD (serial presence detection)
the entry usually says something like detect memory
by spd etc

i tried the 256 on its own in the three slots but it didnt work , i will need to take note of your instructions to change the ram bios and possibly try that (if she aint flung the pc out the window yet, hehe).

any other advice appreciated too

 

[thomson]

anyone else got any other thoughts on this, iam all ears so to speak, lol ?

 

[X-Wolf]

More than likely the motherboard was designed before 256MB strips were commonplace (if even in production), as a result there will be very few strips will run on that board (it may tell you in the manual what types of 256 have already been tested for the board - that will be the make/type to buy).

Far easier just to get 2 of 128MB strips (more types of the 128 will match the board).

You could always take the pc into the shop, telling them that the memory they sold you doesnt work on that board, and get them to fit something that does.

Have fun ...

 

[thomson]

More than likely the motherboard was designed before 256MB strips were commonplace (if even in production), as a result there will be very few strips will run on that board (it may tell you in the manual what types of 256 have already been tested for the board - that will be the make/type to buy).

Far easier just to get 2 of 128MB strips (more types of the 128 will match the board).

You could always take the pc into the shop, telling them that the memory they sold you doesnt work on that board, and get them to fit something that does.

Have fun ...

ye, thats what i thought was easiest solution rather than messing around.