Vista PC Problems - Help !

JonnyThunder

I've seen memory faults allow complete installations of operating system, drivers and software before showing themselves during operation. Save yourself the time and send it back. Im 99.9% certain you'll find the memory is goosed.

Jzpop

"but I want to eliminate software as an issue first." In this case, I don't think that you can. Your software controls your hardware. If your hardware (in this case, ram) is faulty, then the software which relies on the hardware to operate correctly will itself display faults. As several people have suggested, you can easily isolate the fault. it is extremely rare for all ram modules to fail at once,so just remove one stick (or one pair, if using paired ram). The only effect you will see is that your PC runs a bit slower overall - but that is a small price to pay compared to all the software faults you are suffering, and is only temporary until you obtain replacement ram. Incidentally, there should be no need to return the whole PC under warranty if you have followed the steps above and found the faulty modules - just return the faulty ram.

bristol_pilot

Thanks Jzpop,

I'm a novice with computers and have never taken the lid off a machine before - will it be obvious which chips are the memory? My order spec said:

2048 MB CORSAIR DDR2 533MHz - LIFETIME WARRANTY! (2x1GB)

does that mean there will be two chips (or sticks)?

Assuming that my warranty will not be invalidated (I'll check first), I will do as you suggest.

Jzpop

There should be just 2 sticks of ram, if they supplied what they said they would

Removing / installing / replacing ram is about as easy as it gets in terms of messing about inside the case - nothing to be afraid of at all. PCs are designed to be opened up and added to, configured and upgraded. You cannot invalidate your warranty by removing a stick of ram.

See the step-by-step guide below -
http://www.crucial.com/install/dimm.asp

andipandi_2

Jzpop wrote: »

There should be just 2 sticks of ram, if they supplied what they said they would

Removing / installing / replacing ram is about as easy as it gets in terms of messing about inside the case - nothing to be afraid of at all. PCs are designed to be opened up and added to, configured and upgraded. You cannot invalidate your warranty by removing a stick of ram.

See the step-by-step guide below -
http://www.crucial.com/install/dimm.asp

watch out for the dreaded static though,wear an anti static wrist strap

bristol_pilot

Thanks everyone for your help and suggestions. All the RAM was replaced under warranty and it's working fine now.