Computer trouble

[SPman]

If its like mine - didn't matter what brand ram or what slot, as long as there was only 512mb. Any more than that and it would crash (I only wanted 2 x 512!!)

[cowboyz]

that would have to be either a BIOS issue or a power issue. 99% would be putting it down to a bios issue on an extremely crapTM motherboard.

However Athlons +DDR400 should indicate it be good for 4gb unless it is a very very cheap build.

[Fox Rider]

viewsonic would be your monitor. AMD athlon thats running DDR400 is pretty generic really and really doesnt make any difference.

PC works with other RAM
PC no work with new RAM
RAM at fault. (whether it be damaged or faulty or incompatible (incompatible means exactly that no matter what your friends mates dog told you about DDR ram being all the same)
So run memtest86 on it cause if you send it back then that is exactly what the shop will do and if it passes they will most probably send it striaght back to you and say bad luck. I havent had anything to do with Adata RAM cause it is not a "quality" brand.

Thinking if you want to delve into something more technical then jump into the bios (hit del (usually says on very start of turning machine on might be f10 or f1 or f2) and check if CAS setttings can be set in BIOS. IF they can set it to auto.

Problem fixed.

I think you were right all along... When you were talking about the page file or something, you were meaning under: Right click My Computer, Properties, advanced, Performance Settings, Advanced the Virtual memory yeah?... because my Initial and maximum were set to 667mb and 1038mb so i changed both to 2048mb each and have had no problems so far...

[Lias]

RAM is compatible with the Motherboard (Have made sure through many people)
Both sticks of RAM are exactly the same and both new.
RAM being faulty sounds like the best option there.

It is a ViewSonic (Unsure of exact model) Unsure where to find all the details and crap... AMD Athlon help?

As cowboyz says Viewsonic make Monitors :-)
And with all due respect about people saying the RAM is compatible, most people wouldnt have a fucking clue. Just because the motherboards specs says it will take a certain spec ram (eg DDR 400) doesnt mean that Batch XYZ of brand ABC with CAS X and RAS X will work in that motherboard. Believe me testing those minute differences and the issues they caused used to be mine (and MT's) job. Think of it in bike terms as your bike needs 95% ocatane gas, yet the gas from diffrent brands and servos whilst still 95% octane might not always work well with your bike. People can swear on the bible and scientifically prove that gas XYZ is 95% octane, but your bike still just wont run smoothly with it.

I havent had anything to do with Adata RAM cause it is not a "quality" brand.

Adata isnt Kingston, Crucial, OCZ etc, but its not total hung flung dung either.

Fox Rider: If you take the side off your case, you should be able to see the motherboard, which should look something like the attached pic. On the motherboard you should hopefully be able to see a brand and model number, generally its silkscreened on the motherboard in largish letters, or on a sticker with a barcode (sample pic has both, Asus A78NX silkscreened between the white PCI slots, and A78NX Deluxe UAY on a sticker on the purple LPT port housing)

If you can do this and tell us the make of motherboard it might help us help you.

[Lias]

Problem fixed.

I think you were right all along... When you were talking about the page file or something, you were meaning under: Right click My Computer, Properties, advanced, Performance Settings, Advanced the Virtual memory yeah?... because my Initial and maximum were set to 667mb and 1038mb so i changed both to 2048mb each and have had no problems so far...

Nice, someone may have tried to tweak your BIOS settings for that old RAM, which just didnt work with the new RAM.

With regards to the page file / virtual memory, changing those settings wouldnt have fixed the issue, but I'll try and explain how it works and what you changed. Windows can use space on your hard disk (C: drive) as virtual RAM when it runs out of real RAM. Now this virtual RAM runs a crapload slower than proper RAM, but its better than running out of RAM totally. Windows sets this when you install it, but you can manuall adjust it. Windows generally sets the page file to be dynamic, in that the size can vary, in your case between 667 and 1038mb. This means that the pagefile will be at least 667mb, upto 1038mb. You've changed this to a static pagefile, it will always be 2048mb, and wont adjust itself on the fly. Generally this is the better way of doing things, but the best way of doing things is to have enough real RAM that you basically never swap to the pagefile. Having 2gb is a damn good start in that department.

Hope that makes some sense.

[Fox Rider]

Nice, someone may have tried to tweak your BIOS settings for that old RAM, which just didnt work with the new RAM.

With regards to the page file / virtual memory, changing those settings wouldnt have fixed the issue, but I'll try and explain how it works and what you changed. Windows can use space on your hard disk (C: drive) as virtual RAM when it runs out of real RAM. Now this virtual RAM runs a crapload slower than proper RAM, but its better than running out of RAM totally. Windows sets this when you install it, but you can manuall adjust it. Windows generally sets the page file to be dynamic, in that the size can vary, in your case between 667 and 1038mb. This means that the pagefile will be at least 667mb, upto 1038mb. You've changed this to a static pagefile, it will always be 2048mb, and wont adjust itself on the fly. Generally this is the better way of doing things, but the best way of doing things is to have enough real RAM that you basically never swap to the pagefile. Having 2gb is a damn good start in that department.

Hope that makes some sense.

I dont know what im doing lol... Yeah it didnt, your dead right.. It seemed to fix it for about 10 minutes then it crashed again so i guess you cant call the fixed...

Ok so i took the case off again and cant find a barcode but have found a whole heap of codes...

KM400A Pro
And a barcode with a huge number underneath that.. Ill type it out anyway, just incase its of any use...
(01) 4710958851949 (21) SN0419500070

Thanks for clearing things up a bit

[Fox Rider]

Yeah i just realised ViewSonic make monitors lol Its a old box with new components in it... Its basically got the standard motherboard in it from years back and had everything else stripped and replaced with new stuff.

[boomer]

try testing the new ram; fitting one stick of ram and running ya pc, see if the ram is faulty..then try the other new stick..

take teh faulty stick(s) back to said supplier..ONLY after you have checked your mobo configuration for placing 2 sticks of ram, as teh Stranger has told you

[Lias]

Yeah i just realised ViewSonic make monitors lol Its a old box with new components in it... Its basically got the standard motherboard in it from years back and had everything else stripped and replaced with new stuff.

Your not wrong about your motherboard being old :-)

Does it look like this: (also attached incase it dont work)
http://www.albatron.com.tw/English/p...verview&no=111
http://www.albatron.com.tw/Public/Im...KM400A_pro.jpg

If it does rejoice for we have identified your motherboard :-)
The good news is the specs confirm that the motherboard should happily support up to 4gb of RAM, so that rules one thing out.
The bad news is I'm out of town for the next 4 days, but hopefully one of the other guys here can try and walk you through flashing the bios on it to the latest version to see if that fixes it.
If a bios flash doesnt resolve it, or you dont feel up to do doing it, take the RAM back, get it tested, and if they say it passes ask to swap it to another brand.

PS: Boomer has a point, if you havnt tested it one stick at a time try that. If it works with one and not the other then odds are its just a faulty stick of RAM.

[Fox Rider]

Your not wrong about your motherboard being old :-)

Does it look like this: (also attached incase it dont work)
http://www.albatron.com.tw/English/p...verview&no=111
http://www.albatron.com.tw/Public/Im...KM400A_pro.jpg

If it does rejoice for we have identified your motherboard :-)
The good news is the specs confirm that the motherboard should happily support up to 4gb of RAM, so that rules one thing out.
The bad news is I'm out of town for the next 4 days, but hopefully one of the other guys here can try and walk you through flashing the bios on it to the latest version to see if that fixes it.
If a bios flash doesnt resolve it, or you dont feel up to do doing it, take the RAM back, get it tested, and if they say it passes ask to swap it to another brand.

PS: Boomer has a point, if you havnt tested it one stick at a time try that. If it works with one and not the other then odds are its just a faulty stick of RAM.

That looks very similar.. Although i have a giant fan where that white box is but i doubt thats going to make any difference. Oh and mines green but apart from that...
If i had someone talking me through it id feel up to it but otherwise nope, Just incase i touch something im not suppose to.

Im sure someone else on here will know how to do it so ill ask around.
Thanks for your help. Will let ya know if that fixes it or not.

[scracha]

Wot Lias sez about Memtest86 etc but no doubt there'll be lots of idiots giving you helpful advice like "run Linux".

Let Windows manage your pagefile unless you know what you're doing. Try running it with just one of the 1GB sticks. Oh, and XP has problems hibernating with >1GB ram unless you apply a few MS Patches.

[Big Dog]

Yes, i know this is the last place to come for Computer trouble (Being a motorbike forum) but apparently a few of you are smart cookies with computers so i thought it was worth a try...

Problem is: Every time i open a program, doesn't matter what it is, It runs fine for about 30 seconds and then crashes and comes up with a error message saying "*The program* has encountered a problem and needs to close. We are sorry for the inconvenience
If you were in the middle of something, the information you were working on might be lost.
Please tell Microsoft about this problem, Blah blah blah and make a error report
Send error report? Or don't send?

I always select Don't send because Microsoft couldn't care less about my problems.
Now this has only started since i upgraded from 512mb of Ram to 2gb of Ram but was told that couldn't be the problem...
I was also looking at the Task manager when i opened the programs and it always runs at 100% when it opens and continues to do so till the program crashes, It never did this before the upgrade.

Any ideas?

Have not read all posts so sorry if repeating someone else but I had just this problem last year when I upgraded to 2gb of ram.
Take one stick out it runs fine, both in programs keep crashing and you get the occasional system failure.

Cause: MOBO (MOB = Mother Board) specs say it takes 2gb but the BIOS is not equiped to manage it because at the time that your MOBO was manufactured no one was that mad.

Contact the manufacturer of your MOBO for a new BIOS and the software to update it.
If you do not have access to Uninteruptable Power Supply PRAY. Stopping a BIOS update midway is almost alway fatal to the Mother Board.

[The Stranger:Me]

Problem fixed.

I think you were right all along... When you were talking about the page file or something, you were meaning under: Right click My Computer, Properties, advanced, Performance Settings, Advanced the Virtual memory yeah?... because my Initial and maximum were set to 667mb and 1038mb so i changed both to 2048mb each and have had no problems so far...

That if it is still that case that it is running ok, I would suggest setting both the min and max to 1.5 times your physical ram.

[scracha]

Contact the manufacturer of your MOBO for a new BIOS and the software to update it.
If you do not have access to Uninteruptable Power Supply PRAY. Stopping a BIOS update midway is almost alway fatal to the Mother Board.

I've killed a few of the older ones that way (and some ADSL modems) :-) The newer boards have a "spare" bios

[RantyDave]

Just because the motherboards specs says it will take a certain spec ram (eg DDR 400) doesnt mean that Batch XYZ of brand ABC with CAS X and RAS X will work in that motherboard. Believe me testing those minute differences and the issues they caused used to be mine (and MT's) job.

It's amazing how building your own computer got to be such a complicated pastime. And you still end up persuading people that engineers at Dell do actually work for their money.

Dave