Tag Archives: ram fault

Faulty RAM?

Computer Aid Posted on by

At first glance, this looks like a simple problem:

Computer won’t start. I re-seat the RAM, and it starts correctly.

I close the computer case, and when I start the PC again, I hear a familiar beeping sound (no RAM).

Since there isn’t much dust inside the PC, I re-seat the ram again, and I can eventually get the PC to start long enough to run a RAM test… but I find no fault… and  the PC is now working fine, and I can’t re-generate the fault.

I ask the customer to keep an eye on it, and to call me if it happens again.

Well, I get called again just 1 month later… with exactly the same problem.

So all I can figure is that the RAM has an intermittent fault, so I replace the RAM.

Oddly enough, that seemed to fix the problem.

strange PC startup problems

Computer Aid Posted on by

Customer has a PC that sometimes won’t power up… and sometime after powerup, the screen colours will shimmer, or be different to what they should be.

He also says that the CPU temperature is very high.

The CPU heatsink has a lot of dust on it… severely blocking the airflow from the fan. Some tweezers, and some fluff balls later, and the CPU is looking much cooler.

However, there are still some startup problems, and the system is very slow at booting.

There are no infections that I can see.

So I take it back to the office for a careful inspection.

Customer also gives me a “spare” motherboard, in case the motherboard ends up being faulty.

Anyway, there are lots of strange symptoms, so I decide to do some tests. everything is fine until the RAM tests.

The RAM test give some odd results. A dedicated RAM test gives more errors.

I put the RAM into another socket, and the memory problems are gone… The display is solid, and the PC is somewhat faster… But XP now wants to activate again… 🙁

And customer has lost his original XP CD… he has a few others, but none that match whats on this PC.

I manage to fix the activation problem, replace a faulty CDROM and ethernet card, and hand back a working PC.

Computer beeps at startup

Computer Aid Posted on by

This seems to be a common occurrence: Computer refuses to start, and often makes beeping noise.

I open up the case, see that the CPU heatsink seems to direct a lot of air towards the RAM (and there is usual a buildup of dust on the RAM). So I pull out the RAM, wipe the RAM terminals, plug it into a different socket, and the problem is fixed!

Its amazing how dust can wedge its way into memory connectors and (presumably) cause a connection problem.

Then again, I’ve also seen similar symptoms when a power supply is about to fail: computer will either refuse to start (and may or may not beep), or will suddenly shut down, or suddenly restart (or only restart after a ‘rest’).

And in similar circumstances (computer will suddenly shutdown a minute or two after startup, and won’t restart unless it gets a ‘rest’): cause can be an overheating CPU (either the heatsink compound has dried up, or the heatsink is not making contact with the CPU).

Its just a process of elimination, until the fault is found.