Help my computer is being a bastard!!!!

[Mistress]

Ok, I have a major problem going on with my comp right now! I bought new RAM and its installed correctly, but now my comp wants to lock up on me. At first it was when I tried to open Paint Shop Pro, then I fixed that. I thought I had a faulty 128 MB so I bought a new 256 MB. I have about 640 MB right now with the new RAM. All of a sudden its locking up again only this time when I try to log into EQ.

Any idea what in the hell is going on? It's really starting to piss me off....

 

[Fly_On_Wall]

try reinstalling windows.
sounds like a memory leak

 

[Shy Tall Guy]

Any idea what in the hell is going on? It's really starting to piss me off....

I need more data; what version of Windoze are you running and what exactly is the nature of the lock up? Does it just freeze or is there an error message?

Details - I need details.

 

[Ferun]

wait mine does the same thing.... its a brandnew comp Athalon thunderbird 1.3gh 256 ram with windows 2k prof sp2 (service pack 2) and ever since i got the dammed thing its been locking up as mistress says... i can hear the cpu fan going and im pretty sure the HD is still spinning but i have to restart my comp for anything to work after... (ctrl, alt, del dosnt work then either) could it be a ram problem? i thought it was a cpu thing or OS but i upgraded from 98 to 2k nothing changed i just had to go through the trouble og downloading a buncha drivers and wasting my time.

 

[Tim1]

Now wait

Hey...how do you know your computer isn't being a "Bitch"? Your assuming it to be a "Bastard" Unless you have reason to know its a male..HHHMMMMMMM?

 

[lazarus UK]

Does it all go back to normal when you remove the new memory?

 

[sandy211]

New memory

I have heard that the memory must be matched. Not sure what it means but I was going to "add" 64 to my existing 64. The guru said that you would be better off buying a new 128 and installing it, then see if the 64 can be added to it. If it doesn't work, you have 128, if it does work you have 192K.


I am NOT a guru.

 

[Shy Tall Guy]

Re: New memory

I have heard that the memory must be matched. Not sure what it means but I was going to "add" 64 to my existing 64. The guru said that you would be better off buying a new 128 and installing it, then see if the 64 can be added to it. If it doesn't work, you have 128, if it does work you have 192K.

On some older computers you could only have equal amounts of memory in each slot, but on some it was not a factor; on the old P60 Dell I gave my kids it didn't matter, and that is a fairly old computer. In most computers nowadays you can have mismatched sizes in each slot; my computer (dual CPU Azus MB - 1 gHz) has 128 MB in one slot, and 256 MB in another slot and it has not problems with that.

 

[Shy Tall Guy]

wait mine does the same thing....

If I had to choose, I would suspect your problem is hardware, but again, there are no details; how does it lock up? Hard? When does it lock up? Randomly? At specific times?

Details - give me details.

 

[privy2u]

Comp Lockup!

Hiya Mistress: There are several possibilities but you should be able to narrow it down to a repair that won't costing you any more money!

First - Reloading windows may save the day. But it may only save the day and not the week. There is more going on here than the OS. If a re-boot of windows does make a temorary repair it is doubtful you have a hardware problem. You could also try re-installing paint or anything else that causes it to crash if you want.

Second - the CMOS on your motherboard may have trouble seeing that much ram! Try running either 256 or 512 mb and see what happens! Or, go online and download the latest CMOS for the board!

BTW - have you ever formatted your HD? And if so did you wipe out the MBR? Everytime you install a piese of hardware it is logged on the MBR and after awhile the record is so dense with conflicting or corrupted crap that the OS can start fucking up.
I just re-formatted this computer 2 days ago to solve a similar, but not the same, problem.

Tall Guy may have some input along these same lines!!


privy

 

[Wanderer D]

Sorry Fly, it sends cold shivers up my spine when somebody suggests reinstalling windows before doing anything else (same for formatting, etc).

Check your mb, Mistress. I posted a link to a known problem with EQ and >512mb ram.

 

[Draco]

WandererD, why does that make your head spin. It is quite often an easy fix. Specially if you run the setup IN WINDOWS. It will overwrite your installation while keeping all your previous hardware and software settings. Ask a Microsoft Technician and 90% of the time, thats what they will recommend.

Mistress, please post your OS. if you are running any of 95 or 98 you wasted good money on SO much ram. Only 2000 and XP (yuck) make any performance gains from having more than 256 meg of ram. 2000 gains an extra 10-15 % speed when moving from 256 to 512. XP is even more impressive (god, did I say that)
with a 20-30% gain depending on cPU size.

95 and 98 dont gain anything. Try taking the 128 (I'm assuming you have 2x- 256 chips and 1x- 128 chip) out and see what happens.

If you need further help, feel free to PM me.
Draco
A+/Net+ Certified Technician

 

[Mistress]

I run windows 98 second edition

See, that leaves me with three strips of ram that I am no longer using and if I have to take out more..fuck what waste. I'm going to keep trying to limit my memory in windows....to see when it will finally work!

 

[Wanderer D]

I just hate downloading all the patches again. That and the only time I reinstall Windows is when it or my hardrive is completely trashed. I've never had to reinstall Win98 over an already working copy of Win98.
I didn't realize it was a standard fix for some problems.

 

[Unclebill]

Mistress,

Before you reinstall Windows, I'd try something easier first.

Install one memory module and run the system to see if the lockup occurs. Swap modules until you've "tested" all three modules. If it's a bad RAM module, this will identify which one is bad.

Second, I've gotten info from a source I trust that Windows 95/98/Me acts wierd with more than 512 MB RAM. I would discount this as urbal legend from most sources, but this particular source I trust, so try using only 2 of the 256 MB modules.

Originally posted by privy2u
Second - the CMOS on your motherboard may have trouble seeing that much ram! Try running either 256 or 512 mb and see what happens! Or, go online and download the latest CMOS for the board!

I think what you're referring to is the BIOS, not CMOS. CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) is the type of RAM in which BIOS configuration data, date & time, etc., is stored.

Originally posted by privy2u
BTW - have you ever formatted your HD? And if so did you wipe out the MBR?

I believe that FORMAT does not access the MBR (Master Boot Record). FDISK can rewrite a clean MBR (NOT documented in DOS manual BTW) if there's reason to believe it's damaged but not normally recommended. If the MBR were damaged, it's likely the computer would not boot correctly since this is where the disk partitioning information is stored.

There is also a small program there that detects which partition is active and initiates the process to load the operating system on the active partition.

STRONG RECOMMENDATION: DON"T FUCK WITH THE MBR UNLESS YOU ARE SURE YOU HAVE A PROBLEM THERE AND YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING!

 

[Shy Tall Guy]

I just hate downloading all the patches again. That and the only time I reinstall Windows is when it or my hardrive is completely trashed. I've never had to reinstall Win98 over an already working copy of Win98.
I didn't realize it was a standard fix for some problems.

It is a standard recommended fix because it is the easiest one to recommend when you aren't the one that has to do the work. It may or may not fix the problem. If the problem is with something that is corrupted in the OS, then it might fix it.

If the problem is with some non-OS program being corrupted, then reinstalling the program might fix the problem.

Sometimes programs install old versions of DLLs or other components, that are shared by other programs, or even the OS (such as the MFC or VBRun DLLs) share, and this can cause problems that reinstalling the OS will fix because that may reinstall the proper version of that DLL. Then reinstalling the program will put you right back into the problem state.

All kinds of stuff happens, and reinstalling the OS may or may not help. I had a bad hard drive and some of my OS kept getting corrupted, and I would reinstall the OS, it would work for a while, then the OS would be corrupted again. Reinstalling the OS wasn't a fix, it just got rid of the sypmtom for a little while.

However, I have had to reinstall NT/W2K on other machines periodically because it or a program gets confused. I don't recomend this solution as a standard remedy because it takes quite some time, and at best may only be a temporary fix.

I recommend figuring out what the problem is and fixing it.

 

[fgarvb1]

Mistress

I think there is a 50/50 chance that your problem is ram related i read an article today about the, call it 512Mb ram barrier for windows 98.

I have also had your problem running just 64Mb ram. That leads me to ask how many programs do you have loading up and running in the background? How many do you have running that you only use weekly or monthly? It might help to remove some stuff from the startup menu.

From reading your posts indeed my money is on miss-matched ram or to much ram, Followed by to much running in the back ground causing a conflict (corrupted dll in one of those programs say, the last one you loaded onto your computer) most of this can be corrected if you don't have a stroke first. It could be a regestery problem (thats what happened to me last time). It has always easer for a dumb ass like me to reload windows.

Before i did anything rash i would run a scandisk and defragment program.

If everthing is ok from that point stop! If not take out that last stick of RAM which to hear you tell it is about when the trouble started. It's always a good ideal to disable programs you don't use alot from start up.

I know you don't want to hear it, But if all else fails it may be time to reload windows. If you do reload windows i urge you to do a clean disk reboot on account of, if you don't you might not wipe out what is causing your problem.

I know i'm not much help on this and only echoing what other people have said. that why i did not say it sooner.

Loads of luck to you and i willing to help if i can.

 

[privy2u]

I stand corrected

My bad Unclebill - I was refering to the BIOS and not CMOS

But - yes you can wipe the MBR clean on some systems using format but instead of using the the standard /s which identifies the hard drive as a system drive it is possible (on some systems) to use /mbr to wipe the record - I have done it a few times over the years when an overlay of the Win 95/98 OS continued to have problems. Every hardware change ever made is also recorded on the MBR and is often the cause of major headaches.

The max 512mb of ram on Win 95/98 is accurate as far as I have ever heard - that's why I recomended reducing the ram to an amount compatable with the cmos.


Good luck Mistress

privy

 

[Mistress]

It's working ok now on just 448 MB...so I have like 448 MB extra ram to put up. Anyways I'm thinking of taking out a new loan and just buying a Dell or something.

 

[Draco]

Sorry but you're slightly wrong...
The correct code is FDISK /MBR

Format doesn't touch the MBR (Master Boot Record)
Format deals with the FAT table. (File Allocation Table)

And the (format /s) switch is not standard either.
That creates a formatted and bootable partition (if its an active partition) The other switches are (/u=unconditional format)
( /q=quick) ( /v=label)

I hate how all the tech guru's recommend a format will cure everything. It wont do anything but blank your HDD.
Try running "c:\windows\sfc.exe" Its the Windows Sytem File Checker tool, it scans all windows system files and you can replace one from your cd if necessary.

Try a cache manager like Cacheman 5.1
www.outertech.com

Draco
A+/Net+ Certiied Technician
Systems Manager
D*T*L*W NZ Ltd

I also notice that I'm the only one who puts their credentials up for everyone to see.

 

[privy2u]

Congrats Mistreee

And Draco - Yep, I was just checkin! You gave the right answer - congrats to you also! hehehe


privy

 

[Weird Harold]

"mismatched" RAM

I have heard that the memory must be matched. Not sure what it means but I was going to "add" 64 to my existing 64. The guru said that you would be better off buying a new 128 and installing it, then see if the 64 can be added to it. If it doesn't work, you have 128, if it does work you have 192K

"Mismatched" RAM does not seem to be as big a problem with "s-100" RAM as it was with the older 72 pin RAM sticks and 486 CPUs.

What "mismatched RAM" means, is RAM that is from different manufacturers or different lot number from the same manufacturer. The RAM in each bank of memory had to be from the same manufacturing lot because half (or one quarter) of each memory address was stored on each stick of RAM in that bank. (some computers used two stick/bank, others used four.)

On newer systems that use "S-100" RAM sticks, where each stick of physical memory is one bank of logical memory, the mismatch problem is less noticeable. It can still cause problems when there is more than one bank of memory if two or more sticks push opposite sides of the allowable tolerances but it is much less common a cause than on older systems.

 

[Unclebill]

Originally posted by Draco
. . .I also notice that I'm the only one who puts their credentials up for everyone to see.

Hey, I posted mine for all to see.

 

[Draco]

Ok, before you rush out and fill your cases with Ram, check this chart to see if you need it. Some OS run faster the more you shove at them. WIN98 (A & SE) DONT. Win 2000 Pro will to a point,
and XP just loves it, the more the merrier.
This chart comes from Oct 2001 edition of APC mag.
Australian Personal Computer www.apc.com

Hope this helps.

Draco
A+/Net+ Certified Technician

 

[Draco]

Hey, I posted mine for all to see.

Yup, the world needs more "Liberal" PC Techinicans.
Good on you Unclebill.
I'm very liberal myslef.....LOL