Windows Hangs after Memory Upgrade...

  • Thread starter Thread starter Steve
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Steve

I have an Intel D850MV motherboard using PC800 RDRAM. It
worked fine until I decided to upgrade the memory from
512MB to 1GB. After doing the upgrade Windows will no
longer boot up. It starts too and I see the Windows logo
and then it just hangs with a blank screen. The
motherboard seems to recognize the memory fine. The
problem seems to only be with Windows XP Pro. I even
booted from a Linux cd and it ran fine, and saw all 1GB of
memory. Thanks for your help, please send a copy of your
reply to my email at (e-mail address removed).
 
"Steve" said in news:[email protected]:
I have an Intel D850MV motherboard using PC800 RDRAM. It
worked fine until I decided to upgrade the memory from
512MB to 1GB. After doing the upgrade Windows will no
longer boot up. It starts too and I see the Windows logo
and then it just hangs with a blank screen. The
motherboard seems to recognize the memory fine. The
problem seems to only be with Windows XP Pro. I even
booted from a Linux cd and it ran fine, and saw all 1GB of
memory. Thanks for your help, please send a copy of your
reply to my email at (e-mail address removed).
Click to expand...

I will NOT e-mail you. If you have the time to post here then you have the time to return here.

Put memtest86 on a DOS bootable floppy (see www.bootdisk.com to make one) and run it against your memory. My guess is you bought one memory stick and then a long time later added another memory stick but their specs don't match, something much more important with RDRAM.
 
"Steve" said in news:[email protected]:
I have an Intel D850MV motherboard using PC800 RDRAM. It
worked fine until I decided to upgrade the memory from
512MB to 1GB. After doing the upgrade Windows will no
longer boot up. It starts too and I see the Windows logo
and then it just hangs with a blank screen. The
motherboard seems to recognize the memory fine. The
problem seems to only be with Windows XP Pro. I even
booted from a Linux cd and it ran fine, and saw all 1GB of
memory. Thanks for your help, please send a copy of your
reply to my email at (e-mail address removed).
Click to expand...

I will NOT e-mail you. If you have the time to post here then you have the
time to return here.

Put memtest86 on a DOS bootable floppy (see www.bootdisk.com to make one)
and run it against your memory. My guess is you bought one memory stick and
then a long time later added another memory stick but their specs don't
match, something much more important with RDRAM.

===========================

Nice tool! I tried to get it from www.bootdisk.com but could
not easily figure out with which of the more than two dozen
disks it was included. Here is an alternative download location:
http://www.memtest86.com.
 
"Pegasus (MVP)" said in news:%2313JXT%[email protected]:
message "Steve" said in news:[email protected]:

I will NOT e-mail you. If you have the time to post here then you
have the time to return here.

Put memtest86 on a DOS bootable floppy (see www.bootdisk.com to make
one) and run it against your memory. My guess is you bought one
memory stick and then a long time later added another memory stick
but their specs don't match, something much more important with RDRAM.

===========================

Nice tool! I tried to get it from www.bootdisk.com but could
not easily figure out with which of the more than two dozen
disks it was included. Here is an alternative download location:
http://www.memtest86.com.
Click to expand...

memtest86 is its own product. You get it separately. The bootable floppy images at www.bootdisk.com are only that, bootable floppy images. They let you create DOS bootable floppy when you don't have a copy of DOS or Win9x/ME to create one (Microsoft knows about them and doesn't care since all you get are the loader and kernel files and nothing else of the OS, and they even recommend this site in one of the KB articles).
 
"Pegasus (MVP)" said in news:%2313JXT%[email protected]:
message "Steve" said in news:[email protected]:

I will NOT e-mail you. If you have the time to post here then you
have the time to return here.

Put memtest86 on a DOS bootable floppy (see www.bootdisk.com to make
one) and run it against your memory. My guess is you bought one
memory stick and then a long time later added another memory stick
but their specs don't match, something much more important with RDRAM.

===========================

Nice tool! I tried to get it from www.bootdisk.com but could
not easily figure out with which of the more than two dozen
disks it was included. Here is an alternative download location:
http://www.memtest86.com.
Click to expand...

memtest86 is its own product. You get it separately. The bootable floppy
images at www.bootdisk.com are only that, bootable floppy images. They let
you create DOS bootable floppy when you don't have a copy of DOS or Win9x/ME
to create one (Microsoft knows about them and doesn't care since all you get
are the loader and kernel files and nothing else of the OS, and they even
recommend this site in one of the KB articles).
==========================================

I suppose I got confused when you recommended in your first
reply to put memtest onto a DOS boot disk. The version of
memtest at www.memtest86.com creates its own boot disk -
it does not require a DOS boot disk.
 
Well, you are right, I did buy the original memory
probably over 3 years ago, it's Kingston Value RAM,
KVR800X16/256, and the new memory I just bought today and
it's the exact same part number as the original memory. I
did that on purpose because I thought that would avoid any
kind of problems, but I guess I was wrong. I ran the
memory tests and it took a few hours, because I configured
it to run all tests, but it didn't find any errors. Do
you have any other suggestions? Thank you for your time...
-----Original Message-----
"Steve" said in news:1461201c413dc$83a92610 [email protected]:

I will NOT e-mail you. If you have the time to post here
Click to expand...
then you have the time to return here.
Put memtest86 on a DOS bootable floppy (see
Click to expand...
www.bootdisk.com to make one) and run it against your
memory. My guess is you bought one memory stick and then
a long time later added another memory stick but their
specs don't match, something much more important with
RDRAM.
 
Well, you are right, I did buy the original memory
probably over 3 years ago, it's Kingston Value RAM,
KVR800X16/256, and the new memory I just bought today and
it's the exact same part number as the original memory. I
did that on purpose because I thought that would avoid any
kind of problems, but I guess I was wrong. I ran the
memory tests and it took a few hours, because I configured
it to run all tests, but it didn't find any errors. Do
you have any other suggestions? Thank you for your time...

then you have the time to return here.
www.bootdisk.com to make one) and run it against your
memory. My guess is you bought one memory stick and then
a long time later added another memory stick but their
specs don't match, something much more important with
RDRAM.
Click to expand...

Try booting in Safe Mode.
 
I know for a fact that Windows 2003 is very finicky, or lets say,
buggy, when it comes to memory sticks, and it sounds like XP is too.

Try taking out both sticks and starting the computer. It should
squeal a bit. Turn it off. Clean out the slots with contact cleaner
and clean the contacts on the sticks and put both of them back in.

If that fails, you could try changing a few bios settings - one at a
time. Don't forget to write down what you are doing. Plug and play
OS from what ever it is to the opposite. Memory timing - to the next
slower option.

In the end, you may simply have to try going back to the store and
swapping the chip you have for another. Also, of course, check
Kingston's website and whatever support it offers for answers.

Mike
 
OK, I'll try taking out the new sticks and see if it
works like it did before, and then I'll try cleaning the
contacts, but if that was the problem when why does the
motherboard recognize the memory, and why does Linux boot
up and recognizes all of the memory? Intel doesn't have
very many bios settings that you can change, and I don't
see any for the memory. I sent an email to Kingston, but
I haven't heard back from them yet. Thanks for your help.
 
"Pegasus (MVP)" said in news:u1GkXl%[email protected]:
I suppose I got confused when you recommended in your first
reply to put memtest onto a DOS boot disk. The version of
memtest at www.memtest86.com creates its own boot disk -
it does not require a DOS boot disk.
Click to expand...

Never had to use memtest86. Only have heard it extolled by other users. I have diagnostics that I bought that can run off a floppy.
 
"(e-mail address removed)" said in
Well, you are right, I did buy the original memory
probably over 3 years ago, it's Kingston Value RAM,
KVR800X16/256, and the new memory I just bought today and
it's the exact same part number as the original memory. I
did that on purpose because I thought that would avoid any
kind of problems, but I guess I was wrong. I ran the
memory tests and it took a few hours, because I configured
it to run all tests, but it didn't find any errors. Do
you have any other suggestions? Thank you for your time...
Click to expand...

Diagnostic tests seem to find the devices that are flagrantly defective. Some are just marginal and something like Windows will put more of a load on the device. I had an memory stick that Windows NT4 didn't like. Repeated and prolonged diagnostics, like what you do for burn-in, never found it was bad. Eventually I took it to someone that had hardware testers that measured all sorts of timing and it was found right at the end of what was acceptable; i.e., it was very marginal. RMA'ed it and the new memory stick worked great for over 3 years (until I sold the box).

Remove your old RDRAM module and use just your new one to make sure Windows likes it.
 
OK, I'll try taking out the new sticks and see if it
works like it did before, and then I'll try cleaning the
contacts, but if that was the problem when why does the
motherboard recognize the memory, and why does Linux boot
up and recognizes all of the memory? Intel doesn't have
very many bios settings that you can change, and I don't
see any for the memory. I sent an email to Kingston, but
I haven't heard back from them yet. Thanks for your help.
Click to expand...


I've seen the recommendation that maximg-out the memory slots may
require sloting the memory timings slightly, which makes sense to me.

Unfortunatly it looks like you've got a mobo that has few user settings.
I've seen Inel boards like that.

I'd lash-up a small fan blowing on the memory chips to see if
that makes a difference. If id did I'm not sure what I'd do,
but at least I had a working system.
 
OK, are you ready for this one? Well, I removed the old
memory and just used the new memory and I still had the
problem, so I removed the new memory and just put the
original old memory back in and it still didn't work. So
something happened to my computer by putting the new
memory in and Windows insn't even working with after I
restored it to the exact way it was before I installed
the new memory. I even tried booting into safe mode, and
also using the last known good configuration, and nothing
works. So, does anybody know what I can do now? Thanks..
-----Original Message-----
"(e-mail address removed)" said in
time...

Diagnostic tests seem to find the devices that are
Click to expand...
flagrantly defective. Some are just marginal and
something like Windows will put more of a load on the
device. I had an memory stick that Windows NT4 didn't
like. Repeated and prolonged diagnostics, like what you
do for burn-in, never found it was bad. Eventually I
took it to someone that had hardware testers that
measured all sorts of timing and it was found right at
the end of what was acceptable; i.e., it was very
marginal. RMA'ed it and the new memory stick worked
great for over 3 years (until I sold the box).
 
"Steve" said in news:[email protected]:
OK, are you ready for this one? Well, I removed the old
memory and just used the new memory and I still had the
problem, so I removed the new memory and just put the
original old memory back in and it still didn't work. So
something happened to my computer by putting the new
memory in and Windows insn't even working with after I
restored it to the exact way it was before I installed
the new memory. I even tried booting into safe mode, and
also using the last known good configuration, and nothing
works. So, does anybody know what I can do now? Thanks..

flagrantly defective. Some are just marginal and
something like Windows will put more of a load on the
device. I had an memory stick that Windows NT4 didn't
like. Repeated and prolonged diagnostics, like what you
do for burn-in, never found it was bad. Eventually I
took it to someone that had hardware testers that
measured all sorts of timing and it was found right at
the end of what was acceptable; i.e., it was very
marginal. RMA'ed it and the new memory stick worked
great for over 3 years (until I sold the box).
Click to expand...

Clear the CMOS. It detects the memory settings but I hear some only do it once, like when it notices a change (actually I thought this was a problem in detecting a change in the CPU but may SPD on the memory doesn't get read every boot). Short the 2-pin CMOS Clear jumper on the motherboard, or remove the CMOS battery for a minute. However, record any customized settings in BIOS so you know what they were.
 
Well, this motherboard doesn't have a clear CMOS setting.
It has normal, configure and recovery. Normal is normal
mode, configure brings up a maintanence menu in the bios,
and recovery the bios recovers data from a recovery
diskette. The maintanence menu gives me the option of to
Clear all Passwords, Clear BIS Credentials, PCI Latency
Timer, and Video Memory Cache Mode UC or USWC. That's
it. I tried to Clear the BIS Credentials, but that didn't
make a difference, and the CMOS didn't change from how I
had it configured before, so it didn't clear the cmos.
So, I put the jumper back and chose Load Setup Defaults,
but that didn't make a difference either, I still have the
same problem. I really appreciate you sticking through
this with me and trying to help. Take care...

ftp://download.intel.com/support/motherboards/desktop/d850m
v/qrg.pdf

ftp://download.intel.com/design/motherbd/mv/A6514501.pdf

-----Original Message-----
"Steve" said in news:14a2301c414a3$95549670 [email protected]:

Clear the CMOS. It detects the memory settings but I
Click to expand...
hear some only do it once, like when it notices a change
(actually I thought this was a problem in detecting a
change in the CPU but may SPD on the memory doesn't get
read every boot). Short the 2-pin CMOS Clear jumper on
the motherboard, or remove the CMOS battery for a minute.
However, record any customized settings in BIOS so you
know what they were.
 
"Steve" said in news:[email protected]:
Well, this motherboard doesn't have a clear CMOS setting.
Click to expand...

Then you'll have to use the second suggestion of removing the battery so the CMOS charge drains off. My guess is that you probably only need to yank the battery for a minute although I've seen servers that could hold a charge longer than that. I doubt you would need to leave the battery out longer than 10 minutes.
 
Well, I left the battery out for about one hour, and I
guess it worked because it lost the time and date, but it
kept the rest of the CMOS settings. Shouldn't everything
have been reset (lost) besides the date and time? Anyway,
I still have the same problem, it didn't resolve it. Is
there anything else you suggest I can do? Thanks...
-----Original Message-----
"Steve" said in news:14f1901c414c7$06c50880 [email protected]: setting.

Then you'll have to use the second suggestion of removing
Click to expand...
the battery so the CMOS charge drains off. My guess is
that you probably only need to yank the battery for a
minute although I've seen servers that could hold a charge
longer than that. I doubt you would need to leave the
battery out longer than 10 minutes.
 
"Steve" said in news:[email protected]:
Well, I left the battery out for about one hour, and I
guess it worked because it lost the time and date, but it
kept the rest of the CMOS settings. Shouldn't everything
have been reset (lost) besides the date and time? Anyway,
I still have the same problem, it didn't resolve it. Is
there anything else you suggest I can do? Thanks...
Click to expand...

You don't lose ALL settings. They should revert to a default value. The values in CMOS are copied from the BIOS EEPROMs. If the contents of the table saved in CMOS has been corrupted, usually you'll get notification on bootup but I have seen where it got corrupted and the user was never informed. Some BIOSes are setup to let you save YOUR values into their EEPROMs which can then be selected when you need to restore the CMOS copy. You see an option to Save and Exit (which just updates the CMOS table) or to Save EEPROM Default (which writes the values into the BIOS so they then become the "new" defaults). In the latter case where you burn your new defaults back into the BIOS' EEPROMs, clearing the CMOS will only fix a corrupted table there and won't give you the factory standard BIOS defaults since you changed them in there. My old AOpen AX6BC mobo was like that. It could Load Setup Defaults to get the factory presets) or Load EEPROM Setup (to get my saved customized settings). If I screwed up and changed the settings which screwed up my system, I cleared my CMOS and used Load Setup Defaults. If instead the problem was the battery went dead and I replaced it but the CMOS got cleared, then I'd reload my working and customized set using Load EEPROM Setup. So after clearing your CMOS copy of your BIOS, make sure you loaded the factory set of default settings. I'll presume this is what you did.

What anti-static safety precautions did you take in handling the memory stick and also when working on your computer? Hopefully you didn't zap something with ESD (electrostatic discharge).

Did you inspect the insides to make sure you didn't yank a cable that causes the problem (so even returning it to its prior state of using the old memory module would still exhibit a problem of not booting up)?

Of course with all this focus on the memory changes, it might not be a memory problem at all. You say you can boot to the Windows logo screen but then it hangs with a blank screen. Well, that's probably about when Windows is loading drivers. Drivers are given the same level of privilege as is the kernel so if they screw up then they take the entire OS with them. Have you checked to see if you can use the Recovery Console mode to get into the OS (but without the overhead of all the drivers and GUI)? Have you tried booting from the Windows installation CD and running Repair? You say you can get into Linux okay. You say memtest86 with its bootable floppy ran and reported no errors. So it looks like the memory is probably okay hardware-wise.
 
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