Hello yall, I recently purchased 2-2gb kits of Corsair RAM for my Dell pc through a Dell Technician who verified compatibility with my system. After I installed the RAM into my machine it gave me a message that windows detected new hardware and needed to fix a problem and that i needed to insert the windows disk, restart the machine and click 'fix the problem'. I did that and it didn't work. After retrying about 3 times I then took out the new RAM put in the old and it gave me the same message and still doesn't start up the machine at all (not even in safe mode). Well it turns out after speaking to a Sales agent at Dell that the RAM that was sold to me is incompatible with my system. She gave me a telephone # to call to speak to a Dell agent about what they can do to help me fix the problem. Before I call, I have 2 questions. 1) Does anyone know what the problem can possibly be? 2) Being that my warranty for tech support expired, Im afraid they will refuse to help me fix this issue; Do any of you have any suggestions on what i can use to my defense if i need to? Thanks, Albert
I bet the problem can be fixed without a technitian. First when you put in the other RAM, does the BIOS recognize it? If it does then the RAM is compatible. Second, try running a repair install of Windows XP or just reformatting on a second drive or the same drive.
Core2kid, The bios doesn't recognize the memory. How do you run a repair install for windows Vista or reformatting on the same or separate drive? Thanks.
as the ram is not seen by the bios, send it back as either incompatible with your system(most likely) or both are bad(unlikely). what is the make & model# of your dell?
To make sure that everyone is on the same page, are you saying that the BIOS no longer recognizes the old memory, now? You may now have a motherboard problem.
Thanks for the link Core2kid. I will try that and see if that fixes the prob. The system is a DELL XPS 410. Grandpa, The bios doesnt recognize the old memory now. The machine was running fine before I shut it down to install the new memory. When i put in that new memory thats when i started having this problem. Now the machine doesnt even recognize the old memory. Is it possible that incompatible memory can cause the motherboard to go bad? Thanks for the responses guys.
Bad memory can make the motherboard go bad. Is the RAM you bought DDR2? Also try to reset the BIOS with the jumper on the motherboard. On dells you have to set the jumper to clear, turn it on for about 30 seconds, turn it off, and set the BIOS back to normal. If the computers under warranty, I'd let dell take care of it. You can check here: http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/my_systems_info/details?c=us&l=en&s=gen
core2kid I tried to run a repair install and reformatting the drive through Vista and it didn't work. I tells me that a file might corrupt or missing. I did buy DDR2 memory. What makes memory go bad? I dont have warranty for the machine anymore, and i read that updating a pc's bios incurs a certain risk, so ill take your advice get a dell technician to do it for me. Question is whether the memory they sold me was bad when it came out of their warehouse so that i wont have to pay to extend my warranty. Is there a way to know? Thanks
The computer is running on the old memory. When I tried to run a repair install or reformat through Vista. It said that because a file was missing or corrupt it wasn't able locate the operating system.
So the old memory does work. How about a complete reformat if you didn't already do that. Completely wipe your hard drive clean and reinstall Vista from the start.
Welcome and glad it worked. Try to now go on Newegg.com and order RAM compatible for your system. What system is it?
Get this for guaranteed compatibility. http://crucial.com/store/listparts.aspx?model=XPS 410 This should work too. I used this in my XPS Gen 3 and it worked. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820211066 Memory modules need to be installed in pairs. Use CPUz to check the voltage your current RAM runs at. http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php Let us know how it goes. I think why the old memory didn't work is because it was asking for more voltage then the motherboard could supply. My Dell XPS needs 1.8v memory to work properly. Others may work but not guaranteed.
