Can RAM cause a No Boot

Dell Latitude C610 XP SP3

I just got through reinstalling the OS. Everything went great. Installed about 8 programs with no problems at all. Then was getting ready to click on an icon on the desktop. Screen went blank and computer died. It will try to boot then go dead within 10 seconds. One time it made it to the Dell screen where I could choose to enter Setup or Boot mode. It locked there and went no further. I pushed and held the on/off button and it turned off within 1 second. Then tried another few boot ups. Nothing. It will not even boot far enough on an attempted boot to read a DVD as first priority drive.

Could this be bad ram by any chance? The only other thing would be a fried motherboard.

Any input?

 

XP will no longer be supported by Microsoft as of 4/8/14.

This PC is of advanced age, and it failing to boot could be just about anything.

 

Thank you for the reply. I fully realize everything you said. I knew about XP a long time ago as well as the antique computer.

I still would like the initial Ram question directly addressed for the fun of things.

 

I had that problem in an old pc I was fooling around with.

Turned out the Ram had been jarred loose. - Reinstalled and booted.

Your problem might be that, could also be PSU failing.

If you reinstall Ram and it doesn't help, can you try a good PSU(possibly from another comp)?

 

Yes a bad or failing stick can cause booting issues. Try booting with one stick at a time.

 

Unless I'm mistaken, this is a laptop so there will be no switching of the PSU.

Other than re-seating the RAM as suggested, pull the battery and press the power button for at least thirty seconds. It just might do the trick.

 

Thanks to all who provided suggestions. I removed the ram and cleaned the gold contacts. Then reversed their placement. Bingo! Booted. Thanks again. To all - have a nice day.

 

Thanks for reporting back glad it worked out.

 

:clap:dancer