XP not working after Ram install

[jholland1964]

I thought this RAM might cure a lot of my computer woes but it's caused my whole system to go down.

Ok condor...that is the KEY sentence of this entire thread and the KEY phrase is "computer woes". You never mentioned computer woes until now. This is what we need to know to hopefully help you solve this problem.
What are all the woes? When did they begin? Do they happen all the time? If they Don't happen all the time then When do they happen? What are you doing when they happen? Do you receive any error messages? If you do, what is the exact wording of these messages?
And finally, OTHER than adding the RAM and then removing it, what steps have you taken to correct things?
Give us more information about the computer...processor, hard drive size, video card, what all do you have installed on the computer and what exactly do you DO with the computer...gaming? music? photos, videos, what?

[condor335]

Oh wow, no you've misinterpreted me, I just wanted my computer to run games a little faster, hence the desire for more ram, and what I called computer woes.

There have been no problems to date other than this. Sorry for the panic.

Other than remove the RAM I have done nothing.

Pentium 4 Processor

ATI All in one wonder 9600 graphics card

200gb hardrive

I believe I already listed the motherboard.

I have no more than 100 gb of installed programs, from photoshop, premiere elements, 4 games, nothing serious and absolutely nothing installed within the past month.

I use the computer for mostly everything, gaming, photos, music.

[jholland1964]

The fact the problems you are experiencing now are display problems makes me think any way that this is where the problem lies...video drivers, graphics settings something along that line. Honestly don't know how or if the install of the RAM could have brought this on, this is not my area but since nobody else is here I am trying.
What driver version are you running? Have you checked here for troubleshooting tips OR updated drivers
http://support.ati.com/ics/support/d...asp?deptID=894

[TurcoLoco]

Do you guys mind if I butt in?

I think Condor might be experiencing RAM poisoning...this was an NT and sometimes Win2K problem but never thought XP would be effected with this old seldom seen issue.

What I am guessing might have happened is, Condor's system had 1GB of RAM then he said I want more power and added the additional 1GB stick, it was incompatible or more like faulty RAM and the using it in a system where the new stick was acknowledge yet never fully utilized 'poisoned' the OS or possibly just the drivers though not likely.

Here is a few basic, dumb things to try (if you already have not):

~ Shut down the PC and unplug the power cord (which I am assuming you have been doing before as well), then remove the old RAM stick and place it in another slot (try all other available slots till you get it working).

~ If the above is a no go, try removing the old one and just placing the new RAM by itself and try all available slots to see if you have any luck this way.

Not to interfer with what Jholland was doing but wanted to offer a side dish for you to taste...

~TL

[condor335]

thank you for your possible solution I will try it now, for the record the existing memory I had was two 256MB PC3200's, not really enough ram for my taste.

I will give this a try but I had assumed after seeing my OS the way it was that just simply putting the card in by itself would not resolve the issue, I will try this anyway though.

And yes I did have the power cable unplugged, Ram poisoning huh? Never heard of that before.

Would the problem still persist if even the original cards (not the new ram) were the only ones remaining?

[TurcoLoco]

And yes I did have the power cable unplugged, Ram poisoning huh? Never heard of that before.

Would the problem still persist if even the original cards (not the new ram) were the only ones remaining?

I made it up...lol...what it is, the BIOS/OS sees the new RAM but since it is crappy it will corrupt the OS (and a remote chance BIOS).
If BIOS got all screwy then resetting the BIOS settings would cure the BIOS portion (or worse case after unplugging the power cord, you would also remove the CMOS battery).
The OS portion is more troubling and often can not be fixed if swapping a good RAM stick by placing it into different slots doesn't cure it.

Remember try my suggestion using only 1 RAM stick at a time, ok?
It might be a bit tedious to move 3 different stick around to test but it will be worth it if it worked!

PS. Taking out the newly added RAM doesn't resolve the issue then you got a case of what I call "RAM poisoning".

[condor335]

Well by playing musical chairs with the old RAM I've got Windows to fully work again.

However any attempt to integrate the new RAM with the old RAM results in my monitor not even starting up.

So I don't know what the deal is, maybe this RAM is defective, but anyway I guess.......problem solved?

[jholland1964]

My thanks to ~TL.

condor
So I don't know what the deal is, maybe this RAM is defective

condor look at what ~TL said.....

the BIOS/OS sees new RAM but since it is crappy it will corrupt...

He is telling you that this new RAM stick itself is no good. Send it back.
He is not telling you not to add new RAM, he is saying this new one is bad

Why not go here to look for new RAM.

http://www.crucial.com/

[TurcoLoco]

My thanks to ~TL.
condor look at what ~TL said.....
He is telling you that this new RAM stick itself is no good. Send it back.
He is not telling you not to add new RAM, he is saying this new one is bad

Why not go here to look for new RAM.

http://www.crucial.com/

I noticed the first link you gave about the new RAM opened a page on Newegg for a RAM with no visible brand name. NEVER EVER buy no-name or generic RAM. Doesn't matter how broke you are or how cheap it is, blah blah, NEVER EVER!!

[condor335]

okay, my computer seems to be mostly working now, except my sound has died.

I guess I learned my lesson on cheap RAM.

Yes I know of Crucial, it's actually the site I used to find out what RAM I needed but I thought I found a better deal elsewhere, I was very wrong.