[stacey1984]

Hi! I have a Gateway Desktop Model GT5404...a little over a year old...never had a problem with it..I was using it last week and before I shut it off for the night, I ran the Automatic Windows updates & then my computer shut itself off when done with the updates....The next night I went to turn it back on and when I turned on the power button, the PWR button turned blue like always but my the pwr button on my monitor went blue then yellow. I used to have this problem with an older HP desktop and I just shut the computer off at the power cord, turned it back on and voila! Good to go...So when I tried that, I got the same result with an added bonus...the fan in my tower was crazy loud (and not shutting off) and my computer beeped at me 3 times...I tried this several times, getting the same results each time. When I contacted gateway, they said that they could not help me because my computer is no longer covered by warrant. However they did tell me to reseat my RAM and one rep. gave me a link on how to do so. I removed the RAM and could not get it to go into the slot that it came out of...there is another slot right next to it however, and the RAM went into the other slot fairly easy. So I went with that and when I turned on my computer it worked! But at the start up screen, it said that I am running on less memory and didn't give an explanation why...However my computer was working! When I tried to get into several applications, my computer was extremely sluggish & wouldn't even load some programs. I didn't know if this was because my RAM was in a different slot or not so the following day, I took the RAM out and was able to put it into the original memory slot that it came out of...after that it was a bit faster but not by much. Again, I'm having a heck of a time loading web pages, some apps won't load, it takes forever to load basic programs...even going into MY COMPUTER..it takes forever to bring up the icons....I don't know what the issue is and before I go spend a TON of money at Best Buy for the Geek Squad (which I so DON'T want to do), I wanted to try here and see if anyone has any suggestions...do I just need another thing of RAM? I don't know if it is my memory or not! I don't know what information you need but whatever it is, I will get it to you!

Thanks so much for any help you can give me!!!

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a couple questions:
How much RAM do you have installed?
After putting the RAM back into the original slot again, is it working the same as before you did it or slower?
Have you defragged your hard drive recently?
Have you run a full scan of your PC using your anti-virus/spyware program?
What type of internet connection do you have?

Defragging and scanning your system might find some issues that needed fixing.
You might also have a less than optimal internet connection, or a bad RAM stick.

Let us know your findings/answers.

cheers

[stimuli]

a couple questions:
How much RAM do you have installed?
After putting the RAM back into the original slot again, is it working the same as before you did it or slower?
Have you defragged your hard drive recently?
Have you run a full scan of your PC using your anti-virus/spyware program?
What type of internet connection do you have?

Defragging and scanning your system might find some issues that needed fixing.
You might also have a less than optimal internet connection, or a bad RAM stick.

Let us know your findings/answers.

cheers

[stacey1984]

I'm not sure how to check how much RAM I have installed...(I have Vista)and all I did was go to the Control Panel & click System and under that is says RAM:502MB....(On my laptop I have twice that amount! Is that normal??) My computer does a defrag every Wednesday and it says it did it last week although I am running it now but the thing says it may take several hours...so I'll post results on that later on! As for when I put my RAM back into the same slot, computer is still crazy slow. Took about 15 minutes when I turned it on this morning to finish booting up...Then loading web pages, even doing simple things like going into my computer, or control panel, take awhile to load....Yes, I did do a full scan on my virus program, all clear there. My internet connection is DSL. It goes fast on another desktop and my laptop...

How would my RAM stick go bad? I'm confused on all this! I don't understand how or why this would happen!? I've never had a power surge or anything like that on the computer and it's all crazy! It's all a bit stressful when you pay quite a bit of money for a computer and the company won't help you with it! Grr!


Also, when I turn on my computer, I always get a box that says Gateway blocked some of the startup programs from opening. I don't understand why it did that either?


EDIT: Okay, so I went online to look up specs on this computer and it says Memory Installed 1024 MB DDR2.....so I'm confused.....as to why it is still so slow! Please help!

Edited by stacey1984, 24 June 2008 - 02:13 PM.

[stimuli]

Hi Stacey
You did it right by checking under Control Panel/System for your RAM amount. Do you have TWO ram sticks total installed on your system? IF so, each would equal approx 512MB. It seems like maybe one of them isn't seated in it's slot correctly, either that or perhaps it went bad. I have had that before. Sometimes it might have gotten "flexed" when you were installing it, & it might have gotten damaged, like if one of the tiny traces of the memory board got broken.
The first thing I would look at is to make sure your memory sticks are fully plugged in correctly. You'd be amazed at what it takes to cause one not to have full contact in it's socket

Have you noticed any changes on your PC such as your start page for your browser has suddenly changed?
System slowdown can sometimes be caused by malware programs running on your PC in the background. Which a/v software do you run?

You might want to go here & do their "Housecall" online scan of your computer, just to verify that your a/v program didn't miss anything

http://housecall.trendmicro.com/

Anyways, those are the two areas I can think of that might be causing your slowdown. Let us know what you find out, and good luck

[stacey1984]

I have only one stick of RAM & yes, it is seated correctly...it took me forever to get it in the correct way!! lol...When I originally took it out to reseat it, I could not get it in the correct slot so I put it into the one next to it. When I turned the computer on after putting the RAM into the other slot, I got a black screen right away saying something along the lines of having less memory. The next day, I tried again installing the RAM into the original slot and it worked (and it input correctly!)...and when I turned it on, I never got a message saying anything about memory. Today I ran a memory diagnostics test and it said there was no problem with the RAM so I don't know why it is going so slow...Is there any way of telling if my memory stick is bad? Also, if I get a new one do I lose any of my information? What size is good to get for a desktop?

[stimuli]

howdy

Well if your PC is spec-ed to have 1 GB of RAM, it appears you are only getting the use of 1/2 of it somehow.
Windows Vista really needs a MINIMUM of 1 GB (preferably 2GB) for it to run decently.
First off, do you have any friends who might have similar computers that you might be able to swap one of their sticks with , putting it into yours for a test?
I'm assuming that your desktop uses the newer DDR2 type RAM memory, which is actually fairly inexpensive.
Sometimes the OEM PC builders (Gateway, Dell, etc) have specific memory standards, so that they try to get you to buy more only from them. This is more common with laptops it seems (I learned that the hard way)

Perhaps you can buy a 1 GB stick of DDR2 memory from a local shop , with a promise from them that if it doesn't work, that you can return it in a few days for a full refund. Some may do that for you. You can usually find it cheaper online (newegg.com comes to mind), but being able to put it in & test it & then return it may be easier doing it locally to you.
The type of memory you need is: 1GB PC2-4200 DDR2 Memory

Hopefully the memoery problem is the issue (which by the way, removing it from your PC will not harm anything you have on your computer, data wise. Just make sure you turn it off & unplug it first!
That is about all I can come up with as far as solving your issue. Perhaps someone else can chime in if I have missed something.

Edited by stimuli, 24 June 2008 - 04:01 PM.

[stimuli]

By the way, don't forget to do that online scan via that link I posted for you if you can. Eliminating a possible malware issue will certainly not hurt to know.

[moonwillow]

my gateway dx4800-05e [model]
ptg540x0059080a90c2700 [s/no]
90804927627 [snid]
is just shuting off when it wants to i just formated the hard drive to see if it was the problem but that was not it cause it just have the basice now with all the up grades and it is still shuting down any time it wants to help

[rshaffer61]

Run hard drive diagnostics: http://www.tacktech....ay.cfm?ttid=287
Make sure, you select tool, which is appropriate for the brand of your hard drive.
Depending on the program, it'll create bootable floppy, or bootable CD.
If downloaded file is of .iso type, use ImgBurn: http://www.imgburn.com/ to burn .iso file to a CD (select "Write image file to disc" option), and make the CD bootable.

NOTE. If your hard drive is made by Toshiba, unfortunately, you're out of luck, because Toshiba doesn't provide any diagnostic tool.

Thanks to Broni for the instructions




If you have more than one RAM module installed, try starting computer with one RAM stick at a time.

NOTE Keep in mind, the manual check listed above is always superior to the software check, listed below. DO NOT proceed with memtest, if you can go with option A

B. If you have only one RAM stick installed...
...run memtest...

1. Download - Pre-Compiled Bootable ISO (.zip)
2. Unzip downloaded memtest86+-2.11.iso.zip file.
3. Inside, you'll find memtest86+-2.11.iso file.
4. Download, and install ImgBurn: http://www.imgburn.com/
5. Insert blank CD into your CD drive.
6. Open ImgBurn, and click on Write image file to disc
7. Click on Browse for a file... icon:



8. Locate memtest86+-2.11.iso file, and click Open button.
9. Click on ImgBurn green arrow to start burning bootable memtest86 CD:



10. Once the CD is created, boot from it, and memtest will automatically start to run. You may have to change the boot sequence in your BIOS to make it work right.

To change Boot Sequence in your BIOS

Reboot the system and at the first post screen (where it is counting up memory) start tapping the DEL button
This will enter you into the Bios\Cmos area.
Find the Advanced area and click Enter
Look for Boot Sequence or Boot Options and highlight that click Enter
Now highlight the first drive and follow the directions on the bottom of the screen on how to modify it and change it to CDrom.
Change the second drive to the C or Main Drive
Once that is done then click F10 to Save and Exit
You will prompted to enter Y to verify Save and Exit. Click Y and the system will now reboot with the new settings.


The running program will look something like this depending on the size and number of ram modules installed:




It's recommended to run 5-6 passes. Each pass contains very same 8 tests.

This will show the progress of the test. It can take a while. Be patient, or leave it running overnight.



The following image is the test results area:



The most important item here is the “errors” line. If you see ANY errors, even one, most likely, you have bad RAM.

[123Runner]

my gateway dx4800-05e [model]
ptg540x0059080a90c2700 [s/no]
90804927627 [snid]
is just shuting off when it wants to i just formated the hard drive to see if it was the problem but that was not it cause it just have the basice now with all the up grades and it is still shuting down any time it wants to help

moonwillow You need to start your own post/topic. You are piggybacking off this one and it will get real confusing for everyone concerned.

stacy1984. Lets get some more info on the computer to see what we can figure out. Sometimes what the specs say are not what is in the computer.

Download and install PC Wizard 2010

Run the program and it will analyze your computer and then display the results.
In the upper left hand corner click on the floppy icon.
You will get a save as screen.
Change the range bullet "only this selection" to be "selected category".
Make sure that text is selected for format.
Click on ok and you will be given a spot to save it to.

Attach it to your response.