Windows crash after RAM install

[JClark]

Hello Group:
I'd appreciate some advice.
The system:
ASUS A8N-SLI
Windows XP SP2, all updates
What I did to cause the problem:
I added 2 DIMMs 1G each PC400 to my already existing 2G. All
Supertalent RAM. That should have brought it up to 4G. The system ran
fine, but my when Windows and Everest both showed only 2.75G of RAM,
my curiosity got the best of me and I reseated the DIMMs, thinking
that might have been the problem. This requrired removing one of the
two video cards. All the mechanical stuff seemed to go fine and was
done carefully, replacing the bridge between the cards and assuring
proper seating of the RAM.
But... windows would not boot. Wouldn't boot into safe mode. Tried
changing setup to defaults. Tried last known good. (I didn't have a
restore point, sadly).Booted from Win XP CD and copied "system"
(after renaming) from the repair\regback folder back to
%windir%\system32\config.
None of these measures helped for very long. I'd get the Windows
splash screen, then blank.
Soooo, I restored the boot drive from a DOS ghost copy on another
drive (two months old, unfortunately) and manually updated what I
could.
So the system is back up. But I'm wondering what the heck could have
happened? I don't want this to happen again.
Any ideas?
I'd love to at least get some education out of this experience. And
yes, I'll create a restore point now.

Jack

 

[Guest]

It seems that the only change to your system is the hard drive - so I'd
suspect that as the cause. Try running the free diagnostic utilities from
the hard drive manufacturer's website to see if the drive has failed.

- John

 

[Lem]

Hello Group:
I'd appreciate some advice.
The system:
ASUS A8N-SLI
Windows XP SP2, all updates
What I did to cause the problem:
I added 2 DIMMs 1G each PC400 to my already existing 2G. All
Supertalent RAM. That should have brought it up to 4G. The system ran
fine, but my when Windows and Everest both showed only 2.75G of RAM,
my curiosity got the best of me and I reseated the DIMMs, thinking
that might have been the problem. This requrired removing one of the
two video cards. All the mechanical stuff seemed to go fine and was
done carefully, replacing the bridge between the cards and assuring
proper seating of the RAM.
But... windows would not boot. Wouldn't boot into safe mode. Tried
changing setup to defaults. Tried last known good. (I didn't have a
restore point, sadly).Booted from Win XP CD and copied "system"
(after renaming) from the repair\regback folder back to
%windir%\system32\config.
None of these measures helped for very long. I'd get the Windows
splash screen, then blank.
Soooo, I restored the boot drive from a DOS ghost copy on another
drive (two months old, unfortunately) and manually updated what I
could.
So the system is back up. But I'm wondering what the heck could have
happened? I don't want this to happen again.
Any ideas?
I'd love to at least get some education out of this experience. And
yes, I'll create a restore point now.

Jack

You may be interested in the following article that explains RAM usage:
http://members.shaw.ca/bsanders/WindowsGeneralWeb/RAMVirtualMemoryPageFileEtc.htm

I know that some versions of Windows mis-report large amounts of
installed RAM (even though the system actually is using all of the
installed RAM). I don't recall if that applies to XP sp2. With respect
to Everest, the following was posted on one of the Everest forums last
September:

In most cases the remaining amount of memory is used by the onboard video. EVEREST shows the amount of RAM the operating system can utilize.
For example, when you have 4 GB RAM, and you're running a Windows XP 32-bit OS, then WinXP can only use 3.0 or 3.5 GB of RAM -- and then EVEREST will show the 3.0 or 3.5 GB amount on the Computer / Summary page, instead of the 4 GB total RAM.
If you want to check the actual, physical memory amount, you can go to the Motherboard / SPD page for the installed memory module details.

If things are all working now, I suspect that you zapped something with
a static charge. I don't know where you physically are located, but
winter time in the northern part of the U.S. leads to very low relative
humidity, which in turn vastly increases the danger of static discharge.

 

[Tim Slattery]

I know that some versions of Windows mis-report large amounts of
installed RAM (even though the system actually is using all of the
installed RAM).

Look here: http://members.cox.net/slatteryt/RAM.html

The 4GB physical address space in a 32-bit machine must be used to
address system RAM as well as video RAM and other registers and memory
presented by PCI expansion boards. Only the address space left over
after assigning addresses to these other assets can be used for system
RAM. So, although you can install 4GB RAM in a 32-bit machine, you
can't actually use all of it.

 

[JClark]

It seems that the only change to your system is the hard drive - so I'd
suspect that as the cause. Try running the free diagnostic utilities from
the hard drive manufacturer's website to see if the drive has failed.

- John

RE:
Hard drive diagnostics.

I will do that today. I suspect however that the HD is OK, since the
system is working fine now after restoring from the Ghost sector
backup.
Thanks for the suggestion.

Jack

 

[JClark]

you zapped something with
a static charge.

That seems to be the best hypothesis. I asked my local computer guy
and he came up with the same suggestion. I'm in FL but it's been
unseasonably cold and dry here. I guess I just don't know enough about
the system to be able to understand why the OS got blitzed with my
tinkering. Need to read up on it.
Thanks. I'll review the referenced article on memory.

Jack

 

[JClark]

Look here: http://members.cox.net/slatteryt/RAM.html

The 4GB physical address space in a 32-bit machine must be used to
address system RAM as well as video RAM and other registers and memory
presented by PCI expansion boards. Only the address space left over
after assigning addresses to these other assets can be used for system
RAM. So, although you can install 4GB RAM in a 32-bit machine, you
can't actually use all of it.

HI Tim.
I read the Slattery article referenced. Makes sense. But I
(supposedly) have 4GB of RAM installed, and my system applet shows
only 2.25. So I'm still suspecting that there may be something wrong
with the RAM.
Need to check with the vendor.
Thanks.

Jack

 

[Tim Slattery]

I read the Slattery article referenced. Makes sense. But I
(supposedly) have 4GB of RAM installed, and my system applet shows
only 2.25. So I'm still suspecting that there may be something wrong
with the RAM.

So something's eating 1.75GB. I agree that's far too much to be taken
up addressing other things. Something's wrong somewhere.