Blue Screen w/ RAM upgrade

Travis

Oddly enough I work in the IT industry but when it comes to computers, I'm an idiot. After having Lightroom crash my pc, I decided last night to upgrade my RAM. I run XP. My original RAM was (2) 1 GB DDR2 6400 strips. I replaced them with (2) 2 GB DDR2 6400 strips. Opened PS CS3, started work, and BAM - blue screen of death. Tried modifying temp memory page file size, etc. but still crashing. Removed new memory, inserted old, and back to normal. Any ideas on how to fix?

Mike J

Travis wrote:

Oddly enough I work in the IT industry but when it comes to computers, I'm an idiot. After having Lightroom crash my pc, I decided last night to upgrade my RAM. I run XP. My original RAM was (2) 1 GB DDR2 6400 strips. I replaced them with (2) 2 GB DDR2 6400 strips. Opened PS CS3, started work, and BAM - blue screen of death. Tried modifying temp memory page file size, etc. but still crashing. Removed new memory, inserted old, and back to normal. Any ideas on how to fix?

I'm no expert here but I would guess that you have a timing issue with the new DIMMs. DDR2-6400 is about as fast as DDR2 technology will go so there is often compatability issues between motherboards and DIMMs.

I would get a copy of memtest86 at http://www.memtest86.com/download.html

Use this file to burn a CD and then you will need to boot from the CD.

Go to the technical info page at http://www.memtest86.com to learn how to run the tests.
Basically this is going to test your memory to see if the data that is written matches the data that is read. My bet is you are going to see some errors.

If so, then you will probably need to tweak some of the memory timing settings in your BIOS to try to make things work. Heat could also be a problem... Good luck.

CatOne

Travis wrote:

Oddly enough I work in the IT industry but when it comes to computers, I'm an idiot. After having Lightroom crash my pc, I decided last night to upgrade my RAM. I run XP. My original RAM was (2) 1 GB DDR2 6400 strips. I replaced them with (2) 2 GB DDR2 6400 strips. Opened PS CS3, started work, and BAM - blue screen of death. Tried modifying temp memory page file size, etc. but still crashing. Removed new memory, inserted old, and back to normal. Any ideas on how to fix?

It's probably bad or incompatible RAM. Be 100% sure the RAM you ordered is right for the machine you ordered it from. There could be some timing differences.

If it is certified and supported for your machine, then it's likely you got a bad stick of RAM. I'd say, return it and ask for a replacement.

T. Bombadil

Travis wrote:

Oddly enough I work in the IT industry but when it comes to computers, I'm an idiot. After having Lightroom crash my pc, I decided last night to upgrade my RAM. I run XP. My original RAM was (2) 1 GB DDR2 6400 strips. I replaced them with (2) 2 GB DDR2 6400 strips. Opened PS CS3, started work, and BAM - blue screen of death. Tried modifying temp memory page file size, etc. but still crashing. Removed new memory, inserted old, and back to normal. Any ideas on how to fix?

Could well be a bad piece of RAM. When you turn your computer on, there is (probably) a way to have it run a diagnostic test of the RAM (and other components, if you choose). From a cold boot, when you see a black screen with a small white rectangle in the top corner - hold down F10 (or look in your hardware's documentation to see if it something different for your machine). That will (we hope) start a diagnostic routine (or it will do nothing - no harm done).

Defective RAM is depressingly common.

cmason

yep I usually see this kinda result with bad ram. One test is to isolate which module is bad, by removing one of the modules and try running with just one module. Usually when you do this, one module will boot, but the other will not.

So run with the first module, shut down, then swap in the other, and reboot. 99% of the time you will get your answer right away. Then you know which one to return.

Travis

Thanks everyone for the advice. I'll play with it this weekend and see if I can identify the root cause. The memory is compatible with the motherboard so it is probably either a bad stick or a timing issue. Appreciate the feedback!