Upgraded RAM now computer won't work

ziggles50

Hi hopefully someone can help as i don't have a clue what's going on.
i was very brave and bought 1GB RAM for our PC that only had 256MB. I put it in myself after much lecturing about being fried or frying the motherhoard. it turned on Ok and was actually much faster but then the security settings on the internet were a bit wonky- i.e. the pop up for showing safe and unsafe content kept coming up- it just kept going back to the last page no matter whether you clicked on safe content only or whatever.
Then the computer turned on but wouldn't get past the desktop screen to allow you to pick a program to open. On switching it off at the mains it now shows a blue screen and says something about a dirty file.
I have now read the manual 'properly':o and it says the max memory is 1GB, where i now have 1GB plus the old 256MB.
My main question is- could this be why i am having problems or have i fried the inside of the computer?:eek:
Is it ok to take out the old 256MB safely without messing up the old stuff on the computer and just work with the new RAM?
Sorry i've not got much technical info for you.
it's a Dell dimension 2400 PC, 2.4GHz, 256Mb (originally) and that's all i can remember.
thanks

aliEnRIK

Take out the 256 and see what happens
If it fails to work then put the original 256 back in and remove the 1Gb

iritchie

Yeah, best thing to do is to remove the 256MB RAM stick, and try to run it with just the 1GB.
It's usually better to use matching RAM (i.e. if you wanted to use both slots, then 2 x 1GB), but since yours only takes 1GB max, just remove the 256MB and it will still have double what it used to have.

RAM tends to be a big issue on older PCs, but try running "perfmon.exe" and the 3 counters which are there by default show your processor, disk I/O and memory.
Will show you a quick picture of what is maxing out on your PC once you have it back up and running.

JasX

other thing to bear in mind if whether you have 1GB or 256MB your PC might 'need' a RAM stick specifically in the slot in position 1 (ie where the original stick was).

If you're going down the route of trying the 1GB stick only you might need to put it where the 256 MB was originally.

Also if you can post your hardware specifics there might be more info on the maximum RAM it can take.

-ie can it take maximum 1GB or is this actually a maximum of 2x 512 MB and it can;t handle a 1GB stick?
-if so can the firmware be updated to resolve this and allow it to recognise 1GB

Question: did you get advice from where you bought it from as to whether it was compatible or not?

Also is it too late to send it back (RMA) under distance selling regulations (7 days) -if so consider that rooute, and be careful and don't explicitly tell them you 'used' it by plugged it into your PC, just that you've since 'discovered' its incompatible so need to send it back

aliEnRIK

iritchie wrote: »

Yeah, best thing to do is to remove the 256MB RAM stick, and try to run it with just the 1GB.
It's usually better to use matching RAM (i.e. if you wanted to use both slots, then 2 x 1GB), but since yours only takes 1GB max, just remove the 256MB and it will still have double what it used to have.

I think youll find thats quadruple what it was

iritchie

aliEnRIK wrote: »

I think youll find thats quadruple what it was

I misread and assumed that 256MB sticks were originally in it.
There is currently 1 x 1GB AND 1 x 256MB sticks, so I assumed the 1GB stick replaced a previous 256MB stick.
Makes no difference to the OP though...

closed

Dimension 2400 should take upto 2GB, and will work fine with 1GB+256.

None of the symptoms you describe sound ram related, so don't start pulling ram out yet.

dirty means you didn't shut it down properly, (because you couldn't login)

Try safe mode with networking, install malwarebytes, and do a scan

reest internet explorer settings to defaults, under tools, internet connections, advanced

and then chkdsk c: /R from the run prompt.

ziggles50

Thanks everyone. I shall start off with Closed's suggestion as it did actually work once after i had installed the RAM and the PC recognised it ok on the bios (?) as far as i remember
@ iritchie- what is "perfmon.exe"? Do i just go to 'run' and type that in and let it do its thing?
@JasX- yes it's too late- 3 weeks worrying about getting electrocuted or frying the motherboard. I looked through slow computer threads on here and this is the result i came up with. no specific advice from anyone. Bought ram on ebay:o
@ closed- "Try safe mode with networking" How do i do that? I can do the malware thing.
i shall try to log in later tonight and see what's happening.

closed

if it still won't boot, press F8 at boot, safe mode with networking