RAM question

hi all,,

i bought a new dell vostros today that came supplied with 1gb ram (2--512's).
i have and need the 2gb i had in the last computer.
the ram are the same type and speed, hdd2(?) @667mhz,,
i took out the 2-512's from slot 1,3,, installed the 2-- 1gb's into slot 1,3 and fired it up. lots of beeping and no start up.
where did i go wrong?

thanks!!

 

Most likely your memory is DDR2-667, a.k.a PC2-5300.

A few quick basic questions, and we'll see if we can figure out how to make this work:

If you put the two 512Mb parts back, does it work again?

What happens if you put the two 1GB parts in the two empty slots, 2 and 4?

And most importantly of all, when you installed the two 1GB parts did you push hard enough on them that the little clips closed on their own and the memory sticks loudly clicked into place?

 

thanks mimsy! i'm gettin there...

a little history may be in order.
my previous computer, a cheap 'no-name' built here in Belize refused to boot up. the fans would run but nothing on the screen at all. we have a terrible power company who sends out spikes, outages and dirty power at will.
we had left for a few days and turned off the computer AND the UPS unit.
while we were gone, power went off but was on once we returned.
now is where i find it won't start up.
for our business we really need a computer and it was quicker and easier (barely) to buy the new dell.
we had been about a week behind in back-up's so i put the 'old' hard drive into a external case to see if we could retrieve some data. no sweat! worked like a charm, so the problem was not the hard drive,,, right?
my photo editing software runs much better with 2g of ram, so this is where i got the idea to yank some ram from the 'dead' computer and slap it into the new dell.
yes your right,,DDR2-667,, (DOH!) reading my manual it says to keep like speeds and size paired in the slots. first thing i did was take one 512 from slot 3,, put it into slot 2. then put a single 1gb into slot 3. checking,, the system didn't recognize the new ram.
next brainstorm,, remove both 512's and replace with the two 1gb's into slot 1,3.
bells and no start.
put it all back to original and here i am,, typing to you.
my first question is,, can any of this damage the new dell? as that would cause Mrs. Barnacle to beat me severely about the head and shoulders.
also,, could the ram be bad and that is why it won't work in either computer?
and, could a spike gotten past the UPS since it was turned off? do they need to be powered in order to work?

EDIT: i will wait to hear it's safe before i proceed,,, and yes,, i did push them in till the little arm clicked over into place.

thanks so much for the help!! out here, i am very remote and can get little to none!

 

Good job, that's some thorough troubleshooting. (If you ever need a new job, you can come give my customers classes in how to troubleshoot ) You've managed to show that the new Dell will not recognize the two 1GB sticks, no matter which slots you put them in. By putting them in slots 1 and 3 you've also shown that the problem is with the sticks and not with the computer's memory slots, since the slots obviously work if you put in the two Dell 512MB sticks.

No, the memory will not damage your new Dell computer.

The only way memory can damage a computer is if you install it backwards into the slot. If you look at the memory stick, you'll see that there's a little gap in it, that has to line up with the way the memory slot is designed. A memory stick is in other words deliberately made so it can only go in the right way.

Besides, if you have manged to put it in backwards you would have broken the slots, and if you had done that, the 512MB Dell sticks would not work in the slots you have them in now. Fear not, your head and shoulders are safe.

Yes, that is a possibility. In fact, when a memory stick refuses to work in two different computers, regardless of which slot it is installed in, that is the most likely explanation.

Now, here's the thing: The probability of one stick failing is small, the probability of two failing in the exact same way and the exact same time, is extremely tiny, unless something was done to them that made them go bad. A power spike is one thing that could have made them both go belly-up, a.k.a. non-working, a.k.a. dead.

If you do have to bad sticks of RAM, then unfortunately there is nothing that we can do to make them work. If they are still under warranty you may be able to get them replaced by a new working pair. Most big brands these days offer a limited life-time warranty on memory. If you post a little more information about the sticks themselves, we can do some research on that, and see if we can find a solution for you that way.

I am not a UPS expert, so I am not the best person to answer this, but my own UPS says in the manual that it protects from power surges when it is switched off as well. If you have detailed questions about the UPS, the best thing for you to do is probably to start a new thread about it. That will make the UPS people notice you, and they'll be able to give you better answers than I can.

 

hi mimsy,,

OK, here's whats up,,
first and foremost, thank you for your help and advice!
i am going to order new memory for the dell and use the 'old' 512's in the last unit. i found some 1gb sticks form kingston for 22 bucks, so i ordered 4. what the hell, may as well enjoy editing photos, right?
here's the kicker. 22 bucks off the internet, per gb.
the local computer store (100 miles away) wants 116.50 us$ per gb!!!!!!
can you believe that? i may order 8 just because.
they were shipped to the next suitcase coming down (we run a beach rental biz) so they won't be here for a couple weeks but still,, 116.50!!!!!
please keep this thread nearby as i may have unforeseen problems.
and again,, thanks a whole bunch!!!

 

Working in this business, yes, I can believe that. :innocent

Kingston is a good brand, and they also offer a limited lifetime warranty on their memory, so you're getting good value for your money there.

You're welcome. Here to help and all that.

If you do run into new issues it is usually better to start a new thread about them, than to continue an old one. I'm here every day, I'll see it. The beauty of new threads is also that if I don't see it, for any reason, there are lots of other MG members who would help you as well.

Enjoy the new memory when it arrives!