RAM Problem

Hi,To start i have not much knowledge about computers,i have tried to upgrade my son's RAM from 256mb to 512mb but everything started to go pear shaped when i put new ram in and started up,it kept disconecting from the internet and restarting then the blue screen came up saying IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL,i read a few forums took the ram out reinstalled windows have not downloaded any updates and it is on SP1,It now seems to be working,I was told the new ram was compatable,this is what is on ram

AT PC133 32Mx64 256mb DIMM Module 168 pin C-1371
the original is
ACER PC133 SDRAM 91.AB264.056 168 pin
This is all the info on son's pc

Acer Aspire 8000XP
Microsoft XP Home
CPU..AMD Athlon (tm) XP 1666mhz (12.5x133) 2000+ 1.6ghz
M/Board..Biostar M7VIG (pro)(3pci,1agp,1cnr,2sdr dimm,2ddr dimm
M/Board ID..09/09/2002-KM266-8233A-6A6LVBODC-OO
Chipset..VIA VT8375 Pro Savage DDR KM266
SYS Mem..256mb PC133 SDRAM
Vid Adapter..GeForce FX5200 (128mb)
Ram Slots..2sdr dimm,2ddr dimm

I don't know if ram is compatable or not,but when ram was in pc on my computer properties it showed 512mb ram

Hope i have explained myself properly,if you need anymore info i will try and give it you.

 

Your new ram could be faulty, if you were told it is compatable - the IRQ-..... is an error for several things, but as it happened when installing the new ram, I would suspect it. It is also possible that by reinstalling , your bios has picked it up correctly, and it will now be o.k
Bios update can help compatability issues, and updating the motherboard drivers (chipset, vga, etc: can help.
Sometimes sp2 can cause problems, but updated drivers will often fix that.
http://support.acer-euro.com/drivers/downloads.html
http://support.acer-euro.com/drivers/desktop/aspire_8000xp.html

 

I think i spoke to soon,blue screen came up again with IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL,still only have the acer ram 256mb inserted,if i can upgrade bios and motherboard would that cure it ??

 

Did you instal the motherboard drivers ? -original, or, updates ? as the graphics driver can affect things.

 

Do not try to upgrade the Bios, without the system being stable first.
http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=25901

 

Have just updated video drivers and chipsets,will see how that goes first,Thanks

 

When happy, then update to sp2, but try making a restore point before doing so. Then , if o.k , try the autoupdate from majorgeeks, it will be quicker.
http://www.majorgeeks.com/AutoPatcher_XP_Update_d5213.html.

 

If you right click My Computer, click manage, click Event viewer, click applications, you will see error s for system crashes, .Scroll down and double click on any of them , and it will give us more information.
If you post the errors ,
http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=86880
We can help , more

 

Just tryed to do what you suggested but pc gets as far as windows starting up then turns it self off and starts again but will not get passed windows starting up,so have formatted hard drive installed Win98 and will try my Win xp pro upgrade to see what happens,will let you know

 

Still not booting up have found 4 errors which are..

NetBT
Service Control Manager
EFS
System Error category 102 event 1003

I have no idea what they are can anyone tell me what they are and how to cure them

 

Seems it might be a faulty hard drive, when this happens.
If you can run the XP update disk, as 98 has been on it, it could set up.
Try that , first.
If you can get into it at all, type in
CHKDSK /F
FROM THE START, RUN BOX.
Otherwise - If you have a second computer with XP on, to connect that hard drive to, as a slave.Then,
Right click My computer, click manage, click Disk Management, right click the drive you have just been working with, and click format.
Setting as slave means to use the 2nd connection on your ide lead , and a 4 pin connection from the psu, and move the small plastic plug on the rear of the hard drive to the slave position (usually printed on the top rear of the hard drive)

 

I have reinstalled windows and all the updates,sp2 are on pc it seems ok at the moment,but if it does happen again will try another hard drive,have downloaded the patch from this site but it say's i need WinXP July 2007 x86 ENU before i can install it,do you know where i can get it from,thank's for your help

 

I would run CHKDSK /F, anyway, as if there is a problem with a sector on the hard drive, Windows will try to correct it. I am pleased to see that you have XP installed , and updated.
I take it that you have installed the motherboard drivers, too.
I am assuming you mean the autoupdate for XP, - Now aug 07
http://www.majorgeeks.com/AutoPatcher_XP_Update_d5213.html
Here is the May-07 one
http://www.majorgeeks.com/AutoPatcher_XP_Full_d4901.html
The following post discusses it.
http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=32518

If the computer plays up again,
Remember, If you right click My Computer, click manage, click Event viewer, click applications, you will see error s for system crashes, .Scroll down and double click on any of them , and it will give us more information.
If you post the errors ,
http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=86880
We can help , more

 

have just tried to run CHKDSK /F but changed F to C for my hard drive,but just came up windows cannot find CHKDSK/

 

my mistake,ran CHKDSK /F found no problems at all

 

Good, if CHKDSK /F found no problems, it looks like all is o.k

 

Just when i thought everything was ok,pc crashed,blue screen..these are the errors i found..

System error category 102 event 1003
Error code 0000007f
parameter 1 00000000
parameter 2 00000000
parameter 3 00000000
parameter 4 00000000

0000:53 79 73 74 65 6d 20 45 sysE
0008:72 72 6f72 20 20 45 72 rror er
0010:72 6f 72 20 63 6f 64 65 ror code
0018:20 30 30 30 30 30 30 37 0000007
0020:66 20 20 50 61 72 61 6d f parameter
0028:65 74 65 72 73 20 30 30 eters 00
0030:30 30 30 30 30 30 2c 20 000000,
0038:30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 00000000
0040:2c 20 30 30 30 30 30 30 ,000000
0048:30 30 2c 20 30 30 30 30 00,0000
0050:30 30 30 30 0000

hope somebody can understand all this..

 

If you have done basic cleanout of fluff , and dust, I still suspect the ram ( even though it appears o.k,) Try other ram sticks.
One other error there could be the video driver.- try uninstalling and reinstalling the video driver.

 

Hi,I have been using pc for a few day's on the internet no problems,my son started using it again blue screen restarts,but i have found out it is only when he plays online games,when you just browse the net no probs,am going to give pc a good clean

 

if you suspect ram issues i would download and run a memory test outside of the windows enviroment, personal favourite memtest 86 which i believe you can download from here @majorgeeks. download burn to a cd and set your machine to boot from cd and run the tests.
goto the memtest website for more detailed info on usage
http://www.memtest86.com/

personally after browsing your recent posts and the fact these issues show up when gaming, are you sure there is no chance of overheating?
i would reccomend getting a temp monitoring app such as motherboard monitor or everest free edition(again available in the download section@majorgeeks) see what kind of temps you are hitting when gaming
perhaps worth blowing the inside of your tower out with some compressed air?

if you need further help or more detailed instructions let me know

 

Have just cleaned fan and cpu which was full of dust,have installed everest and it showed temp of 74c was that to high?so will try a few online games to see how it goes and let you know

 

well thats pretty warm but the athlon xps do run quite hot, and your max temp is 90c, so before you cleaned it and running it hard could very easily have pushed it over the edge

also which core is your CPU Thoroughbred or Palomino? as the Palominos are notorious for overheating under load

what kind of case cooling set-up do you have? is the heatsink stock or aftermarket? did you install the cpu yourself?

ill keep a look out for this thread as i would be interested to see your temp readings after running a few games. good luck

 

the temp is now between 55c-57c according to everest and it is a palomino,i bought the pc new for my son a few years ago,the only way i can get all this info is from everest as i don't know to much about computers,but am picking a few things up

 

Now thats a hell of a lot better espicially if its a palomino

Keep us updated to the stability now your temps are a lot healthier, keep checking those temps before and after a good gaming session
Fingers crossed

 

will do and thanks for the help