[Rdsx45L04]

I received a Latitude laptop from my company. They were having problems with it locking up, not shutting off and some other problems. So I told them I would take it and they bought a new one.

I did a little resource and I was told that it could be the a couple of things 1) the harddrive and 2) the memory. I removed the memory from "DIMM A" and placed into "DIMM B" and it worked fine. I bought some new memory and placed into "DIMM A" and the computer worked fine for a month or so. Now only the new Memory works in the "DIMM B" slot and I still have problems with it crashing. I think that the harddrive is getting ready to go. I would like to upgrade the OS to 2000 Pro, but I can't until I upgrade my memory, (when the old memory is the computer it will not start).

Please help, I know very little about diagnosing computers and I don't have a lot of money to spend on something that was "free"

Thanks

[Advertisements]

There's a free memory checking program at:
http://www.memtest86.com

[admin]

There's a free memory checking program at:
http://www.memtest86.com

[Rdsx45L04]

there was a reply by a "soxrok" but it is not listed.

Anyway I downloaded "Hijack this" and hit the "scan" button and this is the log that it made:

Logfile of HijackThis v1.97.7
Scan saved at 11:22:25 PM, on 5/18/04
Platform: Windows 98 SE (Win9x 4.10.2222A)
MSIE: Internet Explorer v5.00 (5.00.2614.3500)

Running processes:
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\KERNEL32.DLL
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\MSGSRV32.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\MPREXE.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\mmtask.tsk
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\MSTASK.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\ATI2EVXX.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\EXPLORER.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\TASKMON.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\SYSTRAY.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\ATIPTAXX.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\ATI2CWXX.EXE
C:\PROGRAM FILES\WINZIP\WZQKPICK.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\WMIEXE.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\DDHELP.EXE
D:\HIJACKTHIS.EXE

O3 - Toolbar: &Radio - {8E718888-423F-11D2-876E-00A0C9082467} - C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\MSDXM.OCX
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [ScanRegistry] c:\windows\scanregw.exe /autorun
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [TaskMonitor] c:\windows\taskmon.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [OEMCleanup] C:\WINDOWS\OPTIONS\OEMRESET.EXE
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [SystemTray] systray.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [LoadPowerProfile] Rundll32.exe powrprof.dll,LoadCurrentPwrScheme
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [AtiPTA] Atiptaxx.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Ati2cwxx] Ati2cwxx.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\RunServices: [LoadPowerProfile] Rundll32.exe powrprof.dll,LoadCurrentPwrScheme
O4 - HKLM\..\RunServices: [SchedulingAgent] c:\windows\SYSTEM\mstask.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\RunServices: [ATIPOLAB] ati2evxx.exe
O4 - Startup: WinZip Quick Pick.lnk = C:\Program Files\Winzip\WZQKPICK.EXE
O4 - Startup: Microsoft Office.lnk = C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\OSA9.EXE
O9 - Extra button: Related (HKLM)
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: Show &Related Links (HKLM)
O16 - DPF: {9F1C11AA-197B-4942-BA54-47A8489BB47F} (Update Class) - http://v4.windowsupd...8117.8786689815

Another problem that I found is that when my "new" memory is in the computer I have trouble starting it. I get some intializing errors "VMPOLL" or "IOS" But I installed the "old" memory and the computer started right up. This is confusing me.

Thanks for your help
Rdsx45L04

[Rdsx45L04]

The "new" memory is the correct size according to the DELL website.

[admin]

Your log is clean.

Did you try testing your memory for errors?

There's a free memory checking program at:
http://www.memtest86.com

[Rdsx45L04]

I will test my memory tonight when I get home. But if I have trouble with
one piece of memory how will be able to test it. Can I run the test in "Safe Mode"? That seems to be the only way that the computer will start when I have the one piece in.

Thanks on the log report, I didn't know how to read it.

[admin]

Memtest86 loads from a bootable floppy. There's no reason to boot to Windows.

[Rdsx45L04]

I tried to run the Memtest86, But I don't think I was doing it correctly. Is there any instructions for this program. Both pieces of memory would "fail" on test #13 for some reason. Please help.

Thanks
Rdsx45L04

[admin]

The only documentation that I know of is on the same website you downloaded it from. Did you try removing a stick and testing them one at a time?

Usually this test is very accurate, and errors are legitimate. The strange thing is I believe there's only 12 tests, and it's failing test 13. A bad motherboard or CPU can also cause failures. Usually a bad CPU just crashes the test. The only way to confirm the motherboard status is by using some known good RAM, and running the test again.

[Rdsx45L04]

I will retry the software and write down what happens. but thanks for your help.