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Huge, time-sensitive computer problem (UPDATE, post 10)

ThanatosThanatos Registered User regular
edited September 2009 in Help / Advice Forum
So, I have a computer at work that I put new RAM into. It loaded up at first, but the keyboard wasn't working. So, I restarted it. Now, it doesn't load at all. Doesn't post, either; the fans just spin. I thought maybe the RAM was bad, so I switched it out for the old RAM. Still doesn't work.

Exactly how fucked am I?

Thanatos on

Posts

  • MichaelLCMichaelLC In what furnace was thy brain? ChicagoRegistered User regular
    edited September 2009
    You put the old stuff back in the same slots as before?
    Any chance that you just knocked something loose in the case?

    MichaelLC on
  • underdonkunderdonk __BANNED USERS regular
    edited September 2009
    Re-seat the PSU to motherboard connectors.

    Are you worried about the system not coming back up or losing data?

    underdonk on
    Back in the day, bucko, we just had an A and a B button... and we liked it.
  • ThanatosThanatos Registered User regular
    edited September 2009
    MichaelLC wrote: »
    You put the old stuff back in the same slots as before?
    Any chance that you just knocked something loose in the case?
    Yeah, I'm about to start checking that. I just figured I'd get a thread going here before I ran out of ideas.

    Thanatos on
  • ThanatosThanatos Registered User regular
    edited September 2009
    underdonk wrote: »
    Re-seat the PSU to motherboard connectors.

    Are you worried about the system not coming back up or losing data?
    The system not coming back up. Data loss isn't a problem.

    Thanatos on
  • TK-42-1TK-42-1 Registered User regular
    edited September 2009
    Seconding reseating things. It only takes a minute and usually clears up any problems posting after installing new hardware

    TK-42-1 on
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  • ecco the dolphinecco the dolphin Registered User regular
    edited September 2009
    On the flip side, double check that you haven't pushed the motherboard too hard while reseating everything and it's now shorting itself across the case.

    ecco the dolphin on
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  • SzechuanosaurusSzechuanosaurus Registered User, ClubPA regular
    edited September 2009
    Have you changed the ram in this system before?

    Some motherboards are a bit bendy and the ram just doesn't seat properly if it's installed after the board has been screwed into the case. You need to remove the motheboard from the case or at least disengage some of the screws so that the board can lay flat while you pop in the ram.

    Szechuanosaurus on
  • underdonkunderdonk __BANNED USERS regular
    edited September 2009
    Alternatively, you could blast off and nuke it from orbit.

    It's the only way to be sure.

    underdonk on
    Back in the day, bucko, we just had an A and a B button... and we liked it.
  • ThanatosThanatos Registered User regular
    edited September 2009
    Okay, the RAM was just ridiculously difficult to seat. Got it in without snapping the motherboard in half (just barely).

    It's 4GB, and I'm running XP Pro 32-bit; it should be detecting upwards of 3.5GB, given that it's onboard video and pretty old, right? But it's only picking up 2 GB. I've re-seated it twice, now. Ideas?

    Thanatos on
  • KiTAKiTA Registered User regular
    edited September 2009
    Thanatos wrote: »
    Okay, the RAM was just ridiculously difficult to seat. Got it in without snapping the motherboard in half (just barely).

    It's 4GB, and I'm running XP Pro 32-bit; it should be detecting upwards of 3.5GB, given that it's onboard video and pretty old, right? But it's only picking up 2 GB. I've re-seated it twice, now. Ideas?

    Check the motherboard BIOS and see what it's seeing.

    Does this system have raid? How much video RAM does it have?

    KiTA on
  • underdonkunderdonk __BANNED USERS regular
    edited September 2009
    Four 1GB sticks? Two 2GB sticks?

    underdonk on
    Back in the day, bucko, we just had an A and a B button... and we liked it.
  • PeregrineFalconPeregrineFalcon Registered User regular
    edited September 2009
    I know Ye Olde SDRAM Boards sometimes had chipset limitations that prevented them from seeing more than X MB of memory. Perhaps this one is similarily shitty, only using DDR?

    PeregrineFalcon on
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  • ThanatosThanatos Registered User regular
    edited September 2009
    Two 2GB sticks. The person just came back, so I'm not going to be able to check the BIOS until Tuesday at the earliest.

    Thanatos on
  • MichaelLCMichaelLC In what furnace was thy brain? ChicagoRegistered User regular
    edited September 2009
    Pairing off?

    I assume you know it can take 4GB? Otherwise yeah, take a look at the BIOS.

    Tell them it's a Homeland Security Drill and you need to verify the system's resistance to foreign attacks.

    MichaelLC on
  • TL DRTL DR Not at all confident in his reflexive opinions of thingsRegistered User regular
    edited September 2009
    Crucial.com has a tool that will tell you the max RAM the PC can handle. For example, mine is maxed at 4GB even though it has 4 DDR2 slots.

    TL DR on
  • RuckusRuckus Registered User regular
    edited September 2009
    Some older motherboards only supported 1GB per stick, but this is sometimes a BIOS limitation corrected in a later version that can be Flashed.

    Ruckus on
  • underdonkunderdonk __BANNED USERS regular
    edited September 2009
    MichaelLC wrote: »
    Tell them it's a Homeland Security Drill and you need to verify the system's resistance to foreign attacks.

    Make sure to mention the terrorists.

    underdonk on
    Back in the day, bucko, we just had an A and a B button... and we liked it.
  • Hamster_styleHamster_style Registered User regular
    edited September 2009
    With 32 bit windows the 4 gigabyte limit is theoretical.

    Some other stuff takes up space, so usually you'll end up detecting between 2.5 gigs - 3.5 gigs of RAM when you install 4gigs or more, which is what I think is happening to you. I usually have it settle at ~2.8 gigs.

    There's always the 64bit OS option.

    Just to make sure both sticks are working, have you reseated the things in opposite slots and still detected the same amount RAM?

    Hamster_style on
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