Computer not booting up.

tom._2

My computer is Fujitsu Scaleo L with following spec:

CPU Type: AMD Athlon XP, 1913 MHz (11.5 x 166) 2600+

Motherboard Name: Asus A7N8X-VM (3 PCI, 1 AGP, 2 DDR DIMM, Audio, Video, LAN)

DIMM1: Micron 16VDDT12864AY335F2 1 GB PC2700 DDR SDRAM (2.5-3-3-7 @ 166 MHz) (2.0-3-3-6 @ 133 MHz)

Video Adapter: NVIDIA GeForce4 MX Integrated GPU (64 MB)

A couple of weeks ago it started loading up really slowly then finally refused to boot up at all. I bought a new hard drive but this changed nothing. I then took out the hard drive and RAM and turned the computer on. The beeps were 1 long and 2 short. I then replaced the hard drive and left in only one of the two 1Gb RAM modules. This did nothing but when I took the first RAM module out and replaced it with the second one the computer booted up. However I don't feel confident that the real underlying problem may be solved and wondered if anyone may have any thoughts on what may be going on here.

Bowling_4_Gold

The diagnostics you've done definitely point at a faulty RAM module- but equally it could be a couple of other things:

- Dust in RAM sockets on motherboard (or modules themselves)- would be worth using some compressed air and giving them a thorough clean. Re-insert both modules and see if issue resolved

- PC overheating- the act of you removing RAM modules etc could have allowed it enough time to cool down sufficiently to boot once more. Could be caused by several things, including faulty heatsink/case fans. With the case open, try spinning them both gently, to ensure they're not stuck. Could also be a build up of dust in the CPU heatsink. Again, easily solved by using compressed air. If you remove the heatsink entirely to do this, it's good practice to renew the heatsink compound at the same time.

J_B

Bowling_4_Gold wrote: »

- Dust in RAM sockets on motherboard (or modules themselves)-

Nifty advised me to clean the ram connections with a rubber - well, he said 'eraser', but I knew what he meant
That seemed to do the trick

Bowling_4_Gold

J_B wrote: »

Nifty advised me to clean the ram connections with a rubber - well, he said 'eraser', but I knew what he meant
That seemed to do the trick

Indeed, heard of that method before.

Strong alcohol is also apparently effective for cleaning the contacts- although can understand if diverting it from your mouth at this time of year is not a viable option.