What to upgrade?

I dunno.....I can go into the bios though....I think.....thats just where you hit f8 when starting up isn't it? The screenshots I posted earlier....does it look like those 1gb sticks should work together....I don't know what a bunch of that stuff means, but was just wondering.....the 512mb stick I have in with the 1gb stick right now shows it is pc2-4300, and all the numbers are the same as the 1gb stick. It still says single channel though....Should it switch to dual channel with 2 sticks in?
 
I shut down the computer, and when I turned it back on. It said (f1 setup menu) I hit f1, and it brought up a bunch f stuff you could change, and there was an option to hit f5 to set to optimal defaults it said. Is that what your talking about?
 
Usually pressing F8 when the PC is booting gets you into Windows Safe Mode - not the BIOS.

Have a look here to see what key you need to press to get into the BIOS (it is manufacturer specific): http://pcsupport.about.com/od/fixtheproblem/a/biosaccess_pc.htm

If you don't see your manufacturer listed, turn your PC off and when you boot it back up again look at the splash screen you see before Windows even begins to load - it will usually say at the bottom of it 'Press F1 to enter Setup' (for example).

For example here is an HP splash screen and you can see that it says F10 is the key to get into the BIOS (F10 is common for HPs):

hp-bios-boot-screen-5169226.jpg


And then you can use the keyboard to navigate the BIOS.


So if I am reading this correctly you have two 1GB sticks right? And when you put the two together you are still only seeing 1GB? Does it say 2GB if you look in System Properties? (right click My Computer -> Properties).

I can't help but notice on your CPU-Z screenshots that you are looking at Slot #1 in detail in both screenshots which is why both screenshots show the same information...

But I'm kind of confused myself about exactly what the problem is right now... :confused:

Right now I'm thinking one of your sticks is possibly bad - especially going by the whole blurry lines business.
 
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deerslayer1985 said:
I shut down the computer, and when I turned it back on. It said (f1 setup menu) I hit f1, and it brought up a bunch f stuff you could change, and there was an option to hit f5 to set to optimal defaults it said. Is that what your talking about?
Click to expand...

Yes.
 
The problem is. Each 1gb stick works by itself. My original 1gb stick works with the original 512mb stick. If you put anything with the new 1gb stick it makes the screen blurry, and lines everywhere. It also doesn't allow the computer to fully boot up It takes you to the screen where you hit f1 setup, or f10 system recovery. Then if you just try to let it boot up, it will automatically shut the computer back off, and then start back up again. It just repeats this over and over. It will allow you into the setup though, and it only shows 949 mb of memory installed even if you have 2 1gb sticks in.

The reason both of those show slot #1 is because I started the computer with the original 1gb stick in, and did screen shots, and then shut it down. I put the new 1gb stick in by itself, and botted up and took screen shots of it. You can see they have different dates they were made.
 
You have a bad stick of RAM. Plain and simple. :(

If the original stick works with the 512MB stick but this stick refuses to work with anything else then it proves it's bad...
 
It is weird that the new stick is fine by itself, but wont run with anything else. I would just return it and get another stick and see what happens.
 
Alright, Thanks for the help guys. I'm going to get another stick and see if it works. I'll reply back on this thread when I get the new ram and see if it fixed it or not.
 
deerslayer1985 said:
Alright, Thanks for the help guys. I'm going to get another stick and see if it works. I'll reply back on this thread when I get the new ram and see if it fixed it or not.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I mean, it'd be cool if you could upgrade this PC to 2GB but don't lose sleep over it. It's an old machine at the end of the day.

I doubt you'll notice any difference between 1.5GB and 2GB anyway. You could be spending time and money needlessly.
 
I have been racking my brain trying to search for what could be the problem.....I have typed in searches on yahoo, google, and other search engines. I've found 2 other cases having the same issues as me, and they never figured it out either.....well at least they didn't post if they did......I was reading the specs on my motherboard, and it says single channel architecture...Does that mean I can't have 2 of the same size in each slot? Probably a dumb question, but why not...? Also will my computer support a 2gb stick in just 1 of the slots? I know some of you might think its not worth it, but now that it isn't working......well I'm kinda OCD. I am going to try and go every route til I get 2gb now......Thats just how I am......lol


Also I found this.........................http://www.buzzle.com/articles/computer-keeps-rebooting-itself.html.................... about the computer showing a black screen at first and then rebooting.......It shows how to do a test, but how do you do a test on the memory if the computer won't start....?
 
You can download and burn Memtet86 to a CD to create a bootable CD with the memory tester on it. You boot off the CD before Windows starts to load. Try testing the stick I think is faulty on its own.

It seems unlikely that you can't have two of the same size sticks in each bay and if the max amount of memory this PC will take is 2GB then you likely need 2x1GB sticks to accomplish that.

I do think you just got a bad stick of RAM. Get another one if you want and see if you have better luck.
 
Well, solved the problem. I said heck with it, and ordered 2 sticks of hp pc2-4200 533 mhz 1gb ram. I stuck both sticks in there, and it boots up fine, and shows 2 gb on cpu-z. So evidently that was just a bad stick of ram. I am sending it back to get a refund. Thanks for all the help on everything guys. Oh, and on cpu-z it shows the manufacturer of the hp ram as samsung.....Is that right? Does samsung make the ram for HP?
 
Woohoo! :D

And it doesn't matter what the make of the RAM is so long as it works. Samsung do make a lot of RAM for OEMs so it is quite possible that you have Samsung RAM.
 
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