Wacky Problem Other Vista Discussions Discuss Wacky Problem in the Windows Vista forums; Ok this is pritty messed up, somtimes when i restart my PC it wont come back on, the fan on my CPU goes real slow and my case fan does ...

[ProCookie]

Ok this is pritty messed up,

somtimes when i restart my PC it wont come back on, the fan on my CPU goes real slow and my case fan does nothing??? i have found the only way to fix this problem is by removing one of my RAM sticks and then putting it back in.

This is a totaly werid probelm, i have check the ammount of RAM i have and its correct so one of the sticks hasnt died. So what the heck could be causing this, its happening more often and its getting quite annoying

Anyone know what on earths going on?

[felix8406]

How many and what size memory sticks does your PC has? If it got two or more and 512MB or larger, try it one at a time and see what happens. If one of them is bad, yoou should be able to isolate it. You can also run a RAM check using the Vista DVD, but the test is not as accurate.

[crabby]

I wold agree wth felix. A change in size isnt indicative of bad RAM so checking it is a good way to start.

I wonder whether you have a bios speaker... because, if you dont, your motherboard may be trying to beep at you with no luck!

I would point out that when PCs dont restart correctly, it is often because they have warmed up. By this I mean, a cold PC can boot easier than a warm one (hence why overclocking is best at low temps etc).

crabby

[Snuffy]

I have not heard of this in a long time. but yrs ago, found that xx memory manufacture was not using the 100% required material on there sticks.
if the wrong metal or different manufactures sticks are used, this can cause a problem. also remove the sticks and carefully look with a magnifier and using a very clean pencil eraser clean the contacts only moving in 1 direction. NOT UP & DOWN...
also using a old toothbrush clean the track where the memory goes... any small piece of lint can cause the same problem... summer time and AC causes more moisture to cause " lint shorts ".

[felix8406]

Originally Posted by crabby

I wonder whether you have a bios speaker... because, if you dont, your motherboard may be trying to beep at you with no luck!

crabby

This is what Crabby was refering to, of course your BIOS might be different: from http://www.pctechbytes.com/bios.htm

AMI BIOS

1 short DRAM refresh failure The programmable interrupt timer or programmable interrupt controller has probably failed
2 short Memory parity error A memory parity error has occurred in the first 64K of RAM. The RAM IC is probably bad
3 short Base 64K memory failure A memory failure has occurred in the first 64K of RAM. The RAM IC is probably bad
4 short System timer failure The system clock/timer IC has failed or there is a memory error in the first bank of memory
5 short Processor error The system CPU has failed
6 short Gate A20 failure The keyboard controller IC has failed, which is not allowing Gate A20 to switch the processor to protected mode. Replace the keyboard controller
7 short Virtual mode processor exception error The CPU has generated an exception error because of a fault in the CPU or motherboard circuitry
8 short Display memory read/write error The system video adapter is missing or defective
9 short ROM checksum error The contents of the system BIOS ROM does not match the expected checksum value. The BIOS ROM is probably defective and should be replaced
10 short CMOS shutdown register read/write error The shutdown for the CMOS has failed
11 short Cache error The L2 cache is faulty
1 long, 2 short Failure in video system An error was encountered in the video BIOS ROM, or a horizontal retrace failure has been encountered
1 long, 3 short Memory test failure A fault has been detected in memory above 64KB
1 long, 8 short Display test failure The video adapter is either missing or defective
2 short POST Failure One of the hardware testa have failed
1 long POST has passed all tests