Re: help

Malke,
Just so you know, I did visit your advice web sites and tried the testing
software (Memtest86+ from www.memtest.org) and after I explored the menu
choices and found the RAM memory test option and ran it, it was about a split
second later that the DIMM RAM chip showed error after error. It got to over
the 3 or 4 thousand count when I decided to just stop the test and conclude
that this is the first DIMM chip I ever heard about that got fried by either
lack of maintenance, or something still unknown! I would bet that the fan
motor got stuck and the Memory card just overheated until it stopped working!
The problem is that I still can't tell which card is good and the other one
is bad! Can I assume that the first slot is the one in operations or is there
a way to make sure?

BTW.......Thanks for your expert opinion! Even being an expert myself at
some things with computers, it just goes to show how important it is to keep
the dust and cool air flowing.

I have a special computer case with6 PCI slots, 4 IDE slots, a 450 watt
power pack, 5 fans, and not to mention that I can also go to the ATA133RAID
device when I upgrade to the latest AMD Athlon 64 x2 processor, to mirror the
4 HDD's which can get the DDR DIMM SDRAM memory maxed out to oabout 3 or more
GIGs. I hope that this is a lesson learned and not something that Microsoft
is known to have had problems with before!
--
NeoRulzu


"NeoRulzu" wrote:

> Hello Malke,
>
> Thanks for your advice. I failed to mention that I did get my PC running
> again, but not to what it was. I have an ABIT KD7/KD7 RAID motherboard with 4
> slots for DIMM RAM Memory (2 slots with 512MB chips). My AMD AthlonXP is a
> 2.08GHZ processor. My CMOS settings and motherboard manual came in handy, but
> it did take me over 12 hours of several different boot options they
> recommended before my system got back to operation level. My BIOS has a power
> monitor that shows fans, CPU temp, and settings for alarming me for
> overheating. My log file shows nothing. As I took my guts apart during
> inspection, and swapped suspected parts around (DIMM chips), and got no boot
> up, on several swappings, I finally had to hit the manual to find out what
> went wrong. I built my own PC 2 years ago, and have never had a problem until
> I bought the XP Home Edition. I used to have the XP Pro version, but it was
> the Beta multi user program and Microsoft no longer allows any users to
> update the SP1 or SP2. Anyway, I am going to try those tests you mentioned
> and at least try to get a grip on this problem. I did notice that dust on my
> fan attached to the VIA KT400 module did make the motor stall during one of
> my swaps, and yes, I did blow out everything after noticing that. But, before
> I opened up my PC for inspection, I was able to get to my BIOS and view the
> temperature, voltage, and outputs, before I shut down to find out why my RAM
> memory was no longer 1GIG and showing only 512MB. It seems kind of odd that I
> had just downloaded an automatic update for the XP Home edition (SP2) and
> rebooted when just a few hours later is when my Memory Dump occurred! I have
> had problems with this motherboard before, but it was when I was uneducated
> with the settings and the XP ways of operations. As long as I don't touch
> anything inside the motherboard until I run these tests, I will be OK, except
> that I am half speed with my RAM. The XP program uses at least 256MB to run,
> along with all my security programs and monitors I use, for trying to keep
> malicious hacks out of my system. Who knows, maybe it was some lucky hacker
> that got in this time and not Microsofts never ending changes!
> --
> NeoRulzu
>
>
> "Malke" wrote:
>
> > NeoRulzu wrote:
> >
> > > I had a Blue Screen Memory Dump and from that point on, I can't boot
> > > up with F8, or Safe made. The following is my event log, so can anyone
> > > help me out with this? I also lost a 512MB DIMM RAM memory chip that
> > > does not even show it is installed or working! Any clues?
> > >
> >
> > Yes, here's your clue: "I also lost a 512MB DIMM RAM memory chip that
> > does not even show it is installed or working". Sounds like hardware
> > troubles. Here are some general hardware troubleshooting steps. I'd
> > start by testing the RAM.
> >
> > 1) Open the computer and run it open, cleaning out all dust bunnies and
> > observing all fans (overheating will cause system freezing). Obviously
> > you can't do this with a laptop, but you can hear if the fan is running
> > and feel if the laptop is getting too hot.
> >
> > 2) Test the RAM - I like Memtest86+ from www.memtest.org. Obviously, you
> > have to get the program from a working machine. You will either
> > download the precompiled Windows binary to make a bootable floppy or
> > the .iso to make a bootable cd. If you want to use the latter, you'll
> > need to have third-party burning software on the machine where you
> > download the file - XP's built-in burning capability won't do the job.
> > In either case, boot with the media you made. The test will run
> > immediately. Let the test run for an extended period of time - unless
> > errors are seen immediately. If you get any errors, replace the RAM.
> >
> > 3) Test the hard drive with a diagnostic utility from the mftr. Usually
> > you will download the file and make a bootable floppy with it. Boot
> > with the media and do a thorough test. If the drive has physical
> > errors, replace it.
> >
> > 4) The power supply may be going bad or be inadequate for the devices
> > you have in the system. The adequacy issue doesn't really apply to a
> > laptop, although of course the power
> > supply can be faulty.
> >
> > 5) Test the motherboard with something like TuffTest from
> > www.tufftest.com. Sometimes this is useful, and sometimes it isn't.
> >
> > Testing hardware failures often involves swapping out suspected parts
> > with known-good parts. If you can't do the testing yourself and/or are
> > uncomfortable opening your computer, take the machine to a professional
> > computer repair shop (not your local equivalent of BigStoreUSA).
> >
> > Malke
> > --
> > Elephant Boy Computers
> > www.elephantboycomputers.com
> > "Don't Panic!"
> > MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User
> >
.