This is bad, please help me

Oh man, this is bad. Okay, I have a lot of info saved on my laptop. Anyway, I had 2 sticks of 512mb ram in my laptop, so I decided to buy 2 1 gig sticks to make my laptop 2 gigs. The first one arrived, so I pulled a 512 stick out and replaced it, bam, 1.5 gigs. So, today the second 1 gig stick arrives. So, I do the same thing, I pull out the 512, and put the 1 gig in, bam, 2 gigs, right? NO!!! My laptop boots, I see the hard drive flashing, and I even hear Vista loading, but I get NO picture on my display! Someone please help me, I need to get it working. Oh, I've swapped sticks back and forth and still no picture, though it loads and I hear it.

 

Ummm did you try going back to the 1.5 gb configuration and seeing if that still works?

Although... if the OS loads and there's just no picture, maybe the display connector came loose... can you try connecting to an external monitor?

Worse comes to worse, you can take out the hard drive and transfer your data to another machine.

 

1. Try each stick by itself, try to see if that works.
2. If computer boots OK by each individual stick, then start to run memtest86 on them for a few passes to verify the ram is working 100%.
3. Make sure the ram is identical. Speed/timing. Most different types of ram will work in machines by themselves, but when mixed the machine will barf.

 

Did you accidentally unplug your monitor cable. PM me.

 

No, doesnt look like it.

 

Read this thread from last week which discusses a similar problem.

What computer and chipset do you have?

John

 

Its an Alienware Area 51m m5700

 

I put the old ones in, the ones that came with the laptop and still no picture on display. I mean I hear Vista make its sound as it boots, but no picture on display, looks like the display is totally off.

 

Strange.

Try just one of the modules, in either slot. Make sure you are free of any static. Make sure the modules are fully pushed into the slots. They can sometimes be physically seated without making electrical contact.

As already suggested, if there is a lot of HDD activity as if Vista is booting then an external monitor would reveal whether you have disturbed something, but I have encountered the situation where bad RAM causes similar activity. This should clear once a good module is installed.

Finally, remove the power cable, take the battery out and leave the computer for half an hour in case there is a glitch which will clear itself.

John

 

Okay, I will give it one last try. This is really frustrating because I have lost so much time trying to figure this out. I mean all I did was upgrade my ram, something that I have done a million times before on my desktop and laptop.

 

ESD can kill ram if your not carefull but im doubtfull thats what happened here since you would have had to kill all 4 dimms to not get a proper boot with only 1 of them in place.

 

I hope it woks for you..now you got me all nervous..I just bought a 1gb pc2700..currently the NB has 1-256mb and 1-512mb..both pc2100..and I hope the stick will work well..I'm looking to take the 256mb out and shove the 1gb in there..I hope the 512mb and 1gb play nice or I'm gonna freak out..awwww freak out!
May the force be with us..

 

Does your laptop have some kind of hard reset push-tab? Not the power button, it should be a tiny hole with a tab underneath you can jab with a needle to "reset" the laptop. Try that first.

Also, try booting up with no RAM. Your system will either beep or show no picture or something similar. Let it sit for a minute. Turn it off, then add in 1 stick of the old RAM. Turn it on, and see if there's improvement.

Lastly, have you checked the monitor depress button? You know, the button that gets pushed in when you close the lid of the LCD? Jiggle that a bit in case it is stuck. If it is not there, then it is internal to the LCD panel. Check with Alienware tech support if so, or if you get no results.