trouble installing RAM

[knownote]

I have an older desktop, a dell dimension 2300, with one 256 SD RAM stick. I bought another 256 SD Ram stick to add. It went in fine physically, and when I turned on the computer after installing, it showed the screen that memory had changed and it said 512 checked OK. Then windows starts up, and right when it starts to come on, it re-boots and says 'windows failed to load properly, a current hardware change may be the problem'. I then try to choose 'start windows normally' and it does it again.

What did I do wrong?

[knownote]

BTW, I took out the new ram stick and it says 'memory size changed' but eventually will boot up like normal without the new stick.

[Chewy]

can you return the new stick?

[photo_angel2004]

Are you sure its the same type of ram?
you may want to compare the 2 ram sticks to make sure they are the same type.

[Chewy]

we would need to match up the ram sticks very closely, very complicated.

use everest and this page

http://www.crucial.com/store/listparts.asp?Mfr%2BProductline=Dell%2BDimension+%2F+Dimension+XPS&mfr=Dell&tabid=AM&model=Dimension+2300+Series&submit=Go

and possibly a trip into bios, I see lots of shops drop the ball with this

[knownote]

According to the manufacturer's 'configurator', I've got a compatible Ram stick for my system.
It's a dell dimension 2300, with an existing 256mb ram stick, and I'm just trying to add another 256 stick. http://www.pny.com/configurator says it should take part # 256S100/133.

I don't know if I can take the stick back or not, but I want to make sure it's the right one before I summize it's defective.

It fits well into the slot.

[knownote]

Should I have to change any bios setting or anything? I always though with ram it was supposed to just automatically recognize and run it.

[Chewy]

your bios may set for cas 2 and the other stick is cas 3. let's stop guessing or supposing,

http://www.majorgeeks.com/download4181.html

download this program and under computer/overclock use the quick report
to attach this part

CPU Properties:
CPU Type AMD Athlon 64
CPU Alias Venice S939
CPU Stepping DH-E3
CPUID CPU Name AMD Athlon(tm) 64 Processor 3000+
CPUID Revision 00020FF0h

CPU Speed:
CPU Clock 2519.71 MHz
CPU Multiplier 9.0x
CPU FSB 279.97 MHz (original: 200 MHz, overclock: 40%)
Memory Bus 251.97 MHz

CPU Cache:
L1 Code Cache 64 KB (Parity)
L1 Data Cache 64 KB (ECC)
L2 Cache 512 KB (On-Die, ECC, Full-Speed)

Motherboard Properties:
Motherboard ID 63-1408-000001-00101111-063005-K8T800P$A0036001_BIOS DATE: 06/30/05 17:34:14 VER: 08.00.09
Motherboard Name Asus A8V Deluxe (5 PCI, 1 AGP, 4 DDR DIMM, Audio, Gigabit LAN, IEEE-1394)

Chipset Properties:
Motherboard Chipset VIA K8T800Pro, AMD Hammer
Memory Timings 2.5-4-4-10 (CL-RCD-RP-RAS)
Command Rate (CR) 1T

SPD Memory Modules:
DIMM1: Micron Tech. 256 MB PC4000 DDR SDRAM (2.5-4-4-10 @ 250 MHz) (2.0-3-3-8 @ 200 MHz)
DIMM2: Micron Tech. 256 MB PC4000 DDR SDRAM (2.5-4-4-10 @ 250 MHz) (2.0-3-3-8 @ 200 MHz)

BIOS Properties:
System BIOS Date 06/30/05
Video BIOS Date 04/08/11
DMI BIOS Version 1014.008

Graphics Processor Properties:
Video Adapter ATI Radeon 9600 XT (RV360)
GPU Code Name RV360 (AGP 8x 1002 / 4152, Rev 00)
GPU Clock 500 MHz (original: 500 MHz)
Memory Clock 297 MHz (original: 300 MHz)

[knownote]

Version EVEREST v2.20.405
Homepage http://www.lavalys.com/
Report Type Quick Report
Computer DININGROOM
Generator Owner
Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition 5.1.2600 (WinXP Retail)
Date 2006-07-23
Time 18:09


--------[ Overclock ]---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CPU Properties:
CPU Type Intel Pentium 4
CPU Alias Northwood, A80532
CPU Stepping B0
Engineering Sample No
CPUID CPU Name Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 1.80GHz
CPUID Revision 00000F24h

CPU Speed:
CPU Clock 1794.64 MHz (original: 1800 MHz)
CPU Multiplier 18.0x
CPU FSB 99.70 MHz (original: 100 MHz)
Memory Bus 132.94 MHz

CPU Cache:
L1 Trace Cache 12K Instructions
L1 Data Cache 8 KB
L2 Cache 512 KB (On-Die, ECC, ATC, Full-Speed)

Motherboard Properties:
Motherboard ID 08/26/2002-i845G-LPC47M1-6A69VM3EC-00
Motherboard Name Unknown

Chipset Properties:
Motherboard Chipset Intel Brookdale-G i845GL
Memory Timings 2-3-3-6 (CL-RCD-RP-RAS)

SPD Memory Modules:
DIMM1: Kingston KVR133x64C3SS/256 256 MB PC133 SDRAM (3.0-3-3-6 @ 133 MHz) (2.0-2-2-5 @ 100 MHz)

BIOS Properties:
System BIOS Date 08/26/02
Video BIOS Date 04/09/20
Award BIOS Type Phoenix-Award BIOS v6.00PG
Award BIOS Message (BIOS A02)
DMI BIOS Version A02

Graphics Processor Properties:
Video Adapter Intel 82845G/GL/GV Graphics Controller
GPU Code Name Brookdale-G (Integrated 8086 / 2562, Rev 01)
GPU Clock 200 MHz



Motherboard (BIOS A02)
Motherboard 08/26/2002-i845G-LPC47M1-6A69VM3EC-00
Motherboard DMIMOBO: MiTAC International Corp. Dimension 2300
Motherboard DMISYS: Dell Computer Corporation Dimension 2300

[Chewy]

now take out that stick, put the other in and let's see it's specs

[knownote]

I'm leaving the house for the evening, I'll replace that stick with the new one tomorrow after work and see if the computer will post with it. If it does, I'll e-mail the specs.
thanks for the help so far!

[Chewy]

the original ram(if that's what was in) is wrong

the cas doesn't match the settings

after seeing the other stick we probably get both working fine with a bios
setting or two

[knownote]

I contacted the manufacturer, and EVEN THOUGH their website said this was the right stick, it's NOT. So I gotta take it back and hope to get my money back.

thanks for all the help anyway!