RAM Troubles!

First of all, hello people... new here. This is a bit long, but the main problem now is at the bottom.

Where to start. Well, about a year ago I updated my ram from 2x 512
to 2x 1GB in my Acer Aspire E380. When I first installed it, I got a few BSOD, did some shuffling around and it seemed to work itself out during a restart apparently and worked fine ever since. Anyway, a couple ago days my internet connection seemed a little slow (and this was after my AV had picked up a suspicious file/website the night before which I thought I had dealt with), and it ran fine up until I went to bed and also when I got up in the morning. (I leave it on over night). It was in the morning though I noticed I it was a little slow so I restarted. This is where a string of problems started.

First: I go to restart, I get to my user profile screen, click my profile and I get a blank screen with just my documents folder opened. I open task manager and it says Windows Explorer is running, only I don't see anything. I start a new task and type in Explorer.exe and everything pops up fine. After messing around trying to get a permanent fix i decide to just try a System Restore.

The restore screwed up somewhere along the way and then I couldn't get anywhere when I start computer. I pull out my recovery cd's, recovery goes fine... then when Windows goes to boot up to finish installation, I get error saying "windows encountered problem, shutdown unexpectedly, blah blah" or BSOD. This just turns into a cycle /error/bsod/restart/. Tried the recovery once more and nothing. I try the recovery AGAIN with my OLD RAM and now all of a sudden it works. It did crash/freeze a few times randomly and I woke up a couple of times through the night to a frozen/glitched screen.
I've done a lot of updates since and right now it seems to be running like new... only I still can't use my newer ram. I usually get BSOD before I get to the desktop. A few times I thought it was going to work, but after loading the desktop it crashes to blue screen. "DRIVER IRQ NOT LESS THAN OR EQUAL TO) is a popular one or just one that says it shutdown to avoid damage to PC and the codes at the bottom. HOWEVER, the newer RAM DOES work in SAFE MODE with no problems at all. It seems like a memory problem, and like I said it did this once or twice when I first bought the new sticks but I had got it working somehow.

Vista is all up to date I tried updating my BIOS with the update right from Acer and I get this after it tries updating in WinFlash:

"Erase failure! maybe hardware protected" then "FWH ROM is write-protected. Please make sure whether lockout jumpers is set to correct or not".

I'm not even sure if that would make a difference, I'm just trying anything at this point. I can't really see my new memory being toast already. It worked right up until that very first system restore where I had to do a recovery.

 

Well there has been new developments... yet again. This is just going from one problem to the next. As said above, PC was working good all day with the old ram back in and updates installed. I just got out of the shower and the computer must have crashed and tried to restart but it was just beeping. The old ram which was working better now wouldn't even get me to the Acer Splash screen. I got there a couple of times with the newer memory but it wouldn't allow me to enter setup.. just freeze, so I tried taking out the CMOS battery for a minite and replacing. It looked like that was going to work after I booted up again, but I get hung up on "Verifying DMI Pool.." every time now. I CAN enter setup now and tried setting everything to default but it didn't help. i check to ensure everything was plugged in too. I've never had a hint of a HDD problem.

I'm getting sick of all this. Whats up?

 

Maybe not too much help here, except to say I feel your frustration, and what's it doing now in Safe Mode?
Someone had this solution:
In BIOS settings, under ‘Advanced BIOS Features’, ‘Hard Disk Boot Priority’, ‘Bootable Add-in Cards’ had made it’s way to the top, so it was trying to boot off that 4th non-bootable data drive. As soon as I moved that down below my bootable drive, everything was peachy.
Maybe that will help, although i would have thought that if this was the problem, it never would have booted. Might be worth checking your BIOS settings, anyway.
Speaking of BIOS, are you getting a successful POST beep on boot?
Also look here:
http://www.dtidata.com/resourcecenter/2007/05/29/verifying-dmi-pool-computer-restart/
Could be that you still have a virus, or your HDD is on the way out.
Try one RAM stick at a time as another option.
Just ideas. Maybe someone with a bit more certainty will happen along... :confused

 

My gut is you have a bug maybe an infected driver, as soon as you said the new ram works safe mode. Ram either works or it don't the system mode should have no bearing. In safe mode the system starts with minimal drivers. Have you run deep scans with your AV? I would also try Trend and Kaspersky, I feel your whole problem is related to the bad web site.

Phil

 

i'll second Oldphil, with one more suggestion due to the crazy things i've seen RAM cause: you've obviously got it seated properly and from trying multiple sticks i'd say you may have mother board issues. i've seen a bad stick cause all kinds of havoc, but since you've tried so many combos of sticks (you have tried a 512 and a gig together right?) its either got to be the MoBo not being able to utilize the RAM or malware. try as many combos as ya can and good luck

 

Thanks for the replies people. I can't really think of anything else I didn't try. Restoring default settings, unplugging other devices. I can't boot from CD even when I set boot sequence and I can't select Safe Mode. I had got to thinking the virus thing was a coincidence.. maybe not so. It seems the attempt at BIOS update didn't help either though since I used computer most of the day without a problem. I'm going to get a new computer today I think... It's about that time anyway.

My concern is recovering my data off my my old HDD if I get a new computer. If it IS still good, and virus risk aside, I should be able to plug in and view/retrieve it from another PC most likely..no?

 

Yes. You should be able to recover your files and copy them across. It can be a little tricky though, depending on what OS you have, but not too bad.