Hey yall,

My PC beeps on startup, right after the flash screen for my motherboard. I was having a problem checked out by the guys at Best Buy and they mentioned that the beep on start up means a memory error. I know that my memory situation sucks (256, real old...). I have a third slot but I want to figure out some things first:

1. How can I scan my memory myself to see if there is an error
2. I heard that your computer will only be as fast as your slowest memory...wth? can that be true??
3. Can the beep mean something else?

Im beginning to work out the memory issues on my PC, I cant wait! Thanks for the help.

How many beeps are you getting? It varies, BIOS to BIOS, but generally, one beep means everything checks out ok, and continuous short beeps signal a memory error.
If the computer starts up, you can get memory testing software from www.memtest86.org

A better way to put it would be that your memory will only run as fast as your slowest stick, and your computer will only run as fast as its slowest component. You could have the fastest memory in the world, and a ton of it, but if your processor is old and slow, it will limit your performance, for example.

Welcome to geekstogo
Well, no need for a ram test here, running XP with 256 ram is like pulling the cart with a goat, but another bar is cheap (pray they still have one) take it out and at the shop ask for another one of the same, and yes if you get two different speeds it goes the speed of the slowest, so it is type-speed-size to check, btw is they are the same type and speed then you can add different sizes, example 256mb plus 512mb making 768mb.