PC100 SDRAM upgrade Slowed down my Computer?

Hi, I'm having problems with my computer's RAM. It has 256 MB(2 128MB) of SDRAM ram(double sided) in it with a 600 MHZ CPU running Win 2000 Pro. I tried upgrading it to 512 with 2 more sticks of PC100 128 MB SDRAM. The slots are all full, and it takes way to long to boot now, horribly slower, and most of my information is lost that was on my computer. The new sticks that i tryed are taller than the older sticks of RAM. Any body have any ideas why alot of my information is lost and my computer is way slower? I tried moving the sticks around in any different order and it doesnt make a difference. My CPU is running at 100% all the time now. My computer hardware instructor thinks i have a virus, but why would it come up as soon as I install new RAM? There would be no way a virus would get into my computer, I have Nortan 2004 updated almost everyday, and AVG 6.0, along with a couple of firewalls. please help!!

jerrod

 

Hello,

Incompatible RAM sticks do cause the most oddball system and application errors (next to virial infections and inadequate power supply) that people commonly overlook.

First of, if you took out the newly installed RAM sticks, do things go back to normal? If you haven't tried it please do so.
Also Anti-Virus programs especially Norton is super picky with RAM make/models and also they do not like adding new RAM even it might be the correct type! I have experienced that on a few different friends machines.

If all you did was to install the RAM sticks and nothing else then my initial thought would be incompatible RAM with your existing RAM and/or mobo, so check on that first.

Good Luck.

 

It is possible that you may have a bad stick of RAM. I had one in my system a few years ago. It registered as 256MB total, but only 128MB was available. Those hairline fractures can do alot of damage. Your 100% CPU usage could be the processor trying to deal with the "bad" RAM. Just my $.02

 

Try going back to your 2 original sticks only. Any improvement on using the full 4 ? Then try using the 2 new ones only. Any difference? Better or worse or no change? Did you earth your hands on a metal part of your PC before delving inside your PC, EVERY time? Static electricity discharge can damage electrical components. Bazza

 

I've tried just the orginal sticks, just the new sticks, mix of them, just 3 sticks, every possible way to put them in. My father did say he heard my kind of motherboard doesnt like all 4 slots full.

My computer is registering the how ever much RAM I put in there, so the computer registers it. I can put as many sticks in there as possible and any combination and it still doesnt make a difference on speed. Although when I do fill all the slots, I get a couple of Error messages once Win 2000 is all the way booted saying " invalid system file" and "AVG file is corrupted" and than if you click ok on both of those, it will restart automaticly.

Also the first time I booted the computer after the "memory upgrade" there are GUI's missing on my desktop, and new icons like ones that show up when you just install windows. Weird? you bet, any more info would be great!

jerrod

 

My final post on this thread because I am sure the last two sticks were (as mentioned earlier by a few of us) were either bad (low quality or damaged by Electro Static Discharge (ESD) while installing them (in the future when you open the case before you touch anything touch the PowerSupply since it will safely discharge whatever charge you might have built up on you).
Also there is a good chance the new memory has caused the problems with the Operating System and quite possibly with AVG. I also mentioned this before but to provide more info: Virus Scanners do scan the memory (during boot-up and shutdown even) and this causes problems similar to yours.
But 100% compatible and high-quality RAM would not normally cause this, so either your new RAM is incompatible with the existing RAM and/or the motherboard.....or they are simply bad!
Install only the working, original RAM and try booting in safe mode, if successful without changing anything or touching anything do a restart and see if everything comes back up normal...if not, boot in safe mode again, disable your virus scanner (or uninstall it temporarily), then reboot to see the results...if all is well you could install AVG again...hopefully these tips will help and you will not have to install everything from scratch. Also remember if the RAM is compatible and high quality, you could always add more up to whatever your BIOS/Mobo support when using NT, 2K and XP but taking RAM out could cause these OSes to crash or give errors...