Presario 700 laptop memory upgrade (XP wont boot)

[David]

I have a Compaq Presario 730us. It comes standard with
256MB RAM expandable to 384MB. The system has been
running fine with the standard 256MB.

After installing an additional 128MB, Windows XP Pro (w/
SP1) will not boot. I can boot from floppy, from CD, but
not from the hard drive. After removing the memory
upgrade, the system behaves fine once again.

I'm using a 20MB NTFS formatted drive, which I partitioned
and formatted using Partition Magic. If I boot using the
Partition Magic rescue floppies, the drive and partitions
are recognized.

I intend to try formatting the drive. I tried to boot to
the Windows XP CD, but each time it complains about not
being able to read some file off the disc. (The disc is
fine.) Although I have yet to try, I'm sure the system
would have no problem reading the disc without the memory
upgrade.

Does anyone know anything about this?

 

[Jim Macklin]

Don't format to fix a bad or mismatched memory module.

Make sure the RAM is an exact match for your system. Compaq
is very touchy about RAM.

Check in your manual, check www.crucial.com and get the
proper RAM.



message | I have a Compaq Presario 730us. It comes standard with
| 256MB RAM expandable to 384MB. The system has been
| running fine with the standard 256MB.
|
| After installing an additional 128MB, Windows XP Pro (w/
| SP1) will not boot. I can boot from floppy, from CD, but
| not from the hard drive. After removing the memory
| upgrade, the system behaves fine once again.
|
| I'm using a 20MB NTFS formatted drive, which I partitioned
| and formatted using Partition Magic. If I boot using the
| Partition Magic rescue floppies, the drive and partitions
| are recognized.
|
| I intend to try formatting the drive. I tried to boot to
| the Windows XP CD, but each time it complains about not
| being able to read some file off the disc. (The disc is
| fine.) Although I have yet to try, I'm sure the system
| would have no problem reading the disc without the memory
| upgrade.
|
| Does anyone know anything about this?

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

It's either defective, sub-standard, or incompatible RAM.

It's absolutely essential that any new RAM module be compatible
with both the motherboard and any other RAM module(s) in the system.
Additionally, there are sometimes jumper switches on older
motherboards that need to be reset for the new RAM configuration.
Consult your motherboard's manual.


Bruce Chambers

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