Laptop RAM problem

Hello,

I've got a Acer Aspire 5633 with 2X 512mb PC2-4200 so I decided I needed some more ram so I bought 1x 2Gb PC2-5300 (Crucial live support said it would be fine)

I received my ram today and tried it out but I'm having some problems it boots fine but wont load Vista it displays the "Microsoft Corporation" logo faded and doesn't go any further.

I tried putting my Vista disc in and doing a format or repair but it BSOD's

I've tried the ram in both slots and tried it with one 512mb in as well


Any Ideas or should I send it back?

 

Take the new ram completely out, and only put in the original ram and see if that works.

Most likely it's just a bad stick, and if it's in there (no matter what the pairing or in which slot) you will get a bsod.

 

Yer the old ram works (having to use it now)

The from was from HK and came in just an envelope

 

Just an envelope? Sounds like RAM is damaged. If no static protection tell them when you call sounds like could be bad shipping setup.

 

There was a static bag but no protection from any impact

 

Box would be nice, maybe ask if they can.

 

Yes, impact protection is needed. I had some old RAM which I sent to someone else in a padded envelope. It was dead on arrival so they sent it back and I could see that some of the chips were cracked. The postal system evidently gets quite brutal with the mail.

John

 

It could also be a density issue with the ICs. Have you checked to see if there is a bios update for your system? Also, have you cleared your bios and then tried the new module?

 

I actually updated my BIOS last week. I would normaly clear my BIOS on a desktop when installing new RAM buy removing the battery but how would I clear the BIOS on a laptop?

 

Any Ideas how to do this on a acer laptop?

 

It's definitely just a bad ram. The computer obviously works perfectly with the old ram, and when the new ram is in it doesn't...so what does that say about what's wrong?

Return it if you can.

 

It does point to bad ram but from experiance from desktops I've had to remove the BIOS battery for new ram to work thats all

 

Well I've had the same problem with a pair of OCZ rams, and after returning them and getting new sticks, everything worked just fine, w/o the need to do anything else or remove the bios battery.

 

Well if you really want to know which stick is bad try putting one at a time in and running this program: http://www.memtest86.com/ Download and install onto a cdrom and then have the computer boot off of it. Watch it carefully and prepare to close if a bunch of errors start shooting up fast. Allow at least one full pass before deciding it's good ram. I usually run overnight (watching the first 20 minutes.. maybe an hour to determine it's not going to go quickly. Run with one stick at a time to determine if it's just one stick or both that's a problem.

If just by chance both sticks pass on their own, try putting both in at the same time and running it. It's not common I don't think, but I've heard sticks getting cranky with each other and refusing to work together but fine on their own.

 

^^Good advice but has already tried 2GB solo so cranky RAM already ruled out I believe.

 

Check with ACER on how to clear the bios on that notebook.

In some cases, it is necessary to clear the CMOS when adding new RAM.