[mikeja75]

I have two slots for RAM on my PC and decided to take out one of the smaller chips and replace it with something larger. Past experience has given me a great knowledge of how finicky RAM can be during an install.

I installed the RAM in the open slot and turned on my pc and nothing boots up. The tower is getting power -- I can hear the drives running and the hard drive spinning, but the monitor does not display anything. The monitor is getting power, and works fine when I connect it to my laptop, but it shows nothing on the screen when I turn on my pc.

It seems like everything is running fine...unfortunately, it seems as if the hard drive isn't getting the go ahead to boot up.

I've tried every possible configuration as far as the RAM is concerned to try to get the machine to bootup. The RAM is securely in the slots and no cables are loose inside the machine -- everything is secure. Before I decided to add in the new RAM everything was working fine.

Any ideas on what could be the problem or what fix is needed? I don't believe the hard drive has gone south since it doesn't boot up at all -- I see nothing on the monitor. I replaced the graphics card thinking that perhaps it was booting up but there was something wrong with the monitor, but that wasn't the case. The new RAM works fine on another machine so I don't believe there's a problem with the RAM or the slots.

I'm to the point where I'm about to give up and simply buy a new machine.

Thanks in advance for any help,
Mike in IA

Specifics:
WinXP
Precessor: 833
RAM: 300+
Dell Demension PC

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well take the new ram out and put the old back in to see if it still boots. Maybe the ram is too large for the computer or the wrong type or the wrong speed or just plain compatibility issues or maybe even a dead stick of memory

[shard92]

well take the new ram out and put the old back in to see if it still boots. Maybe the ram is too large for the computer or the wrong type or the wrong speed or just plain compatibility issues or maybe even a dead stick of memory

[mikeja75]

Thanks for the reply.

I tried every possible RAM configuration that I could think of and still nothing happened. I put the RAM that was previously in the PC back in the exact same slots and still no dice.

I'm sure the solution is simple, but I'm a few days away from adding a decent pc to the muddy waters of the Raccoon River.

Mike

[tenbroya]

This could be one of many things:

1)Is it in the right way round
2)Does your MoBo take that type of RAM
3)Does your MoBo have a maximum RAM limit
4)Have you tested your RAM chips in another PC to check they are not Faulty
5)Are the Ram Chips in firmly and securely

Thats all I can think of at the mo.

Tenbroya

[shard92]

check all the cards in the computer to see if any have worked their way loose. use some canned air to remove any dust in computer.... particularly around the cpu, video card, and memory.

What happens when you take ALL the memory out and turn on the computer? do you get any beeps?