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    Need help...Compaq V2000 notebook RAM issue

    Discussion in 'HP' started by John Nail, May 11, 2009.

  1. John Nail

    John Nail Newbie

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    First, hello to all...this is my first posting...so bear with me, please.

    I have a Compaq Presario V2000 lappy. Actual build model is V2401CL ...it came out of the box with 512MB of DDR-333 sodimm RAM...which I tried (to date unsucessfully) to upgrade with more RAM. I first went to Fry's Electronics and allowed them to choose the RAM for me....they came up with Kingston Value-ram Notebook memory. It didn't work very good, if at all...lots of blue screens of death at random intervals. So, upon returning it, I got Kingston System-Specific RAM according to exact model lookup at their site. This is where the wierdness happens. I put both sticks in and the laptop refuses to boot at all...have tried reseating it, no avail. I can put one stick in solo and it boots, but you can't take it off AC power to battery as it will screen-freeze. Plug is back into AC and do a reboot and everything runs fine. I can put a solo Kingston chip in either RAM slot and get the same results. I can run one Kingston chip and one stock chip for a total of 1.25 gigB of RAM, but same thing happens....if I unplug from AC power and go to battery, screen will freeze. If I try to boot directly from battery power, I get a black and white pixelated screen after the main bootup screen and Compaq logo screen happens....where the blue "welcome" screen is supposed to be...the black and white screen happens and no boot from there. OS is WinXP Pro Service pack 3, 32-bit, and all updates for BIOS have been installed as downloaded from the HP/Compaq site. During the first stages of the problem, I thought it might be a bad battery, so I bought a new replacement 12-cell unit...that is about 2 months old now. I have gotten little to no real help from either Kingston or HP/Compaq...even after going through all the trouble-shooting section at HP....did all the recommended things....still same trouble.
    Am I doing something wrong? Or is there an issue with Kingston RAM or the Motherboard of the lappy? Where is the issue? I am at wits end with this.
    This is my first laptop, though I have owned, built, and fixed several of my own desktops....so somewhat "intermediate" in the know-how...but in laptop land, I am a total greenhorn. Can someone help, please?

    Thanks in advance for any input,

    John Nail
     
    John Nail, May 11, 2009
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  2. brianstretch

    brianstretch Notebook Virtuoso

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    Compaq Presario V2401cl specifications

    For AMD laptops of that vintage, Crucial brand RAM has been the most reliable choice for me. I'd give them a try. You should be able to load it up with two 1GB SODIMMs if you like.
     
    brianstretch, May 11, 2009
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