laptop frequently freezing up

arciere

EveryWhere wrote: »

I know it not a lot of money, but if it turns out to be the RAM, find out which by testing them in the device one at a time.
Then get CEX to change it at their cost.

Not necessarily a faulty RAM problem (which usually causes BSOD), it could be that the motherboard cannot work in dual-channel mode with those modules. So testing them individually could actually show that both are perfectly fine. Worth trying, but given the symptoms I would try another brand.

EveryWhere

arciere wrote: »

Not necessarily a faulty RAM problem (which usually causes BSOD), it could be that the motherboard cannot work in dual-channel mode with those modules. So testing them individually could actually show that both are perfectly fine. Worth trying, but given the symptoms I would try another brand.

We don't even know if they are a matched pair.
If shown not to be faulty, there is also the possibility of swapping the 1 GB module for one of the 'new' 2 GB modules to see if that works.

Perez1292

Definitely a RAM problem, it may be either because of MB not working with it correctly or RAM itself being damaged or just not working correctly with your hardware and/or another RAM stick.

Aidanmc

Thanks guys,
The RAM i actually got from Dr. Memory
4GB (2x2GB) DDR2-800 PC2-6400 SODIMM Laptop Notebook Memory RAM 200 Pin




So if i remove the 1gb RAM and try one of the new 2gb ones, if i run that diagnostic test will that show if there is an issue?

that

Not sure how the bios memory test works, and the thoroughness. Do run them first. After download MemTest86 and run that too https://www.memtest86.com/download.htm

there are also some Linux boot disk with this software on.

Mother boards can be weird. Memory slotted in to any bank will work on some, others the memory has to be put into bank 0 then 1. the old dells you had to put the biggest memory into bank0 and the smaller size into bank1, but thinks keep changing an this may no longer be the case?

Aidanmc

So i reinstalled 1 of the 2gb Ram module in place of the original 1gb one.
Run the bios diagnostic test before loading windows, no problems found.
Then run windows memory diagnostic program and that also was clear.


Removed the said 2gb Ram module and installed the other 2gb module,

Run the first diagnostic test again, no issues found, then when continued to load windows, system froze with just a blank screen. Powered off, restarted, run windows memory diagnostic program, no problems found!

arciere

Aidanmc wrote: »

So i reinstalled 1 of the 2gb Ram module in place of the original 1gb one.
Run the bios diagnostic test before loading windows, no problems found.
Then run windows memory diagnostic program and that also was clear.


Removed the said 2gb Ram module and installed the other 2gb module,

Run the first diagnostic test again, no issues found, then when continued to load windows, system froze with just a blank screen. Powered off, restarted, run windows memory diagnostic program, no problems found!

Unfortunately that happens with memory modules. It seems impossible, but after minor changes (i.e. swapping the slots) what wasn't working starts to work and viceversa.

I still think it's a compatibility problem, rather than a faulty RAM module. If you can, get a refund and buy a different brand. You could also buy modules with the same frequency as the old ones, even though your motherboard should support the faster speed.

However, before you do that, check if there is any option you can tweak in the BIOS, like dual-channel mode (try disabling it).

poppasmurf_bewdley

Just on the off chance, have you got a Logitech wireless mouse?

I added one a couple of years ago, and immediately began suffering total freezing of my laptop every few days. I changed back to a wired mouse, and haven't had any problem since.

Aidanmc

poppasmurf_bewdley wrote: »

Just on the off chance, have you got a Logitech wireless mouse?

I added one a couple of years ago, and immediately began suffering total freezing of my laptop every few days. I changed back to a wired mouse, and haven't had any problem since.

Thanks for your thoughts, but no i'm not using any mouse.

Neil_Jones

Wireless mice shouldn't affect anything, they don't use anything in the laptop, having their own receiver built-in. If it was bluetooth then yes it might be using the laptop one but otherwise...?

The issue posted about could be a faulty stick or (more likely) a faulty memory slot on the board itself. If the freezing always occurs with memory (any memory) in the faulty slot (including the second slot on its own) then that's a board slot issue which isn't repairable.