Computer help - blue screen error

[Lee Schierer]

I have a Dell computer and we had been getting some low virtual memory errors, so we decided to upgrade from the 512 Mb memory to 2 Gb. We installed the memory on Friday of last week. It ran fine for about 1 hour then the screen in the attached photo showed up. At first the computer would not reboot due to a bios error. We tried updating the bios several times and it would not remember the changes, so we suspected the mother board battery was dead. After changing to a new battery it still would not save changes to the Bios. My son down loaded a test program from Dell that tested all the areas of the computer. After running the memory checks, the bios changes would save and the computer would reboot.

However, the blue screen shows up every once in a while. We thought the new memory might be getting hot so we turned off the "quiet and cool" feature in the bios to make the fan run a bit more last night. That hasn't helped as teh screen came up again this morning while reading my email.

The bios has recognized the correct speed and size of the memory we added. Any ideas on how to fix this?

P.S. No new programs or hardware other than memory have been installed.

[Phil Thien]

Most likely a device driver. When those errors occur, a minidump (located in c:\windows\minidump) file is created. If you have the MS debugger, you can load this as a crash dump and discover which driver is giving you grief.

[Frank Trinkle]

Yup... almost sure it's a conflict in the drivers.

This often happens when two drivers are trying to use the same IRQ.

While it is a pain, sometimes the best solution is to do a fresh re-install of Windows and load your programs again.

On my Windows computers, I usually do that about once a year to get rid of all the crap in registry and elsewhere that slows down my computer or starts having problems.

A fresh install allows you to manage memory better; load latest drivers; insure that you have MS updates and security fixes; and usually speeds up your computer significantly. It also manages your IRQ's during setup while evaluating your system during install.

(I don't have this problem with my Mac computers!:D)

[Chuck Wintle]

I have a Dell computer and we had been getting some low virtual memory errors, so we decided to upgrade from the 512 Mb memory to 2 Gb. We installed the memory on Friday of last week. It ran fine for about 1 hour then the screen in the attached photo showed up. At first the computer would not reboot due to a bios error. We tried updating the bios several times and it would not remember the changes, so we suspected the mother board battery was dead. After changing to a new battery it still would not save changes to the Bios. My son down loaded a test program from Dell that tested all the areas of the computer. After running the memory checks, the bios changes would save and the computer would reboot.

However, the blue screen shows up every once in a while. We thought the new memory might be getting hot so we turned off the "quiet and cool" feature in the bios to make the fan run a bit more last night. That hasn't helped as teh screen came up again this morning while reading my email.

The bios has recognized the correct speed and size of the memory we added. Any ideas on how to fix this?
Lee,
It's my guess that the new memory has a problem. try going back to the original memory and see if the problem persists. You can download and run memtest 86+ to check the memory and there is a download that is for a bootable cd. I have seen this several times in my experience where brand new memory is faulty.
Or you have the wrong type for the model of computer. have seen that before also.

[David G Baker]

If you installed the correct type of memory for your motherboard think about removing the memory you just installed and re-seating it. Sometimes the memory sticks don't seat right or there could be some dust on the motherboard memory slot contacts. Another thing to try is to change the arrangement of the memory sticks if there is more than one because sometimes there is a specific order that the memory needs to be installed in if the sticks are of a different value or size. If you have the motherboard manual the information should be in it.

[phil harold]

also try just using one stick of memory then try the other
bad memory is just not a human problem

[Robert Eiffert]

+1
The erratic behavior points to something in the stick(s). Memtest stresses them enough so heat issues will come up.

[Burt Alcantara]

This is easily fixed by reformatting your hard disk and installing linux. You'll never have problems again. And...it's free!

Burt

[Tim Morton]

This is easily fixed by selling that junk and buying a mac....

Burt


Fixed:D:D

j/k guys....

[Brad Wood]

+1 on putting old memory back in and seeing if the problem goes away.

sorry you Mac and Linux guys, if it is bad memory you would not be isolated.