Memory problems?

Hey

I've been having a lot of problems with my desktop for the last month or so.. It started when my winxp sp2 crashed and when I restarted the computer it was telling me that there were hard disc problems. Simple fix, I figured, I got a new hard drive, installed ubuntu (with some difficulty) and eventually had my computer running again. Then I started getting more crashing, this time with a new hard drive and different OS. Ran memtest, and half the screen was red with errors when I got back from work a few hours later.

My question - did my ram go, or my mobo?

Ram: Corsair XMS 2 x 1gig
MOBO: Asus A8n32SLI deluxe
proc: A32 4400+ X2

I'm getting sick of how much money this little problem is causing me because I'm trying to prep my impreza for autocross season at the same time, but can't if all my money is going into failing to fix my computer.

Thanks a ton in advance!

Cruiza

Do you remember what test did fail in memtest?

Most of the time it is the memory that fails.

I don't know if you done this but check if memory is running rated voltage and not auto setting.

To expand on what meionm said, make sure that both your CPU and memory are running stock speeds and voltages. If you still get errors in Memtest, it is almost definitely a memory problem. I'm sure there are rare occasions where a bad mobo can cause Memtest errors, but it's much more likely that your memory has gone bad. This is actually quite common--I've had to replace 4 or 5 sets that have gone bad over the past few years.

To explain the "hard disk problems" that were reported after your system crashed: memory instability often leads to corruption of your file system. Often this corruption will affect key operating system files, so when the OS tries to boot the next time, it will report something about hard disk file corruption. Just to be clear, this situation has nothing to do with your hard drive going bad.

Thanks a lot for the quick replies guys - I'll order a cheap stick or two and hopefully that will do the trick until I have the cash to replace it with performance ram -- I don't remember what happened in memtest because it was just crashed when I got back to the computer, and I'm not too familiar with the program so I didn't know where to look.

Should both hard drives be fine with new ram? Or am I going to have to reinstall the OS's?

cruiza120 said:

Should both hard drives be fine with new ram? Or am I going to have to reinstall the OS's?

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Physically, the drives are probably fine. Whether the operating system files are okay is a different story. You can run a boot-time checkdisk run in WinXP (right-click on the OS drive/partition in Windows Explorer, go to Tools, and select Check Now... under Error-checking). If Windows is still acting flakey, you can try a repair install using the XP CD. I'm not sure about Ubuntu.

And one other thing - is there any chance that newegg will swap it with a new set for it being defective? Although I doubt it, I bought it 2 years ago. Never OC'ed the ram

Ubuntu I'm not really concerned about seeing as I don't have any important files on the new drive, just needed to be able to use a browser and everything for school while winxp(and thus the other drive) were on the fritz.

The thing is, both will work when the drives are cooled down, and occasionally just by touching the ram/mobo I can get ubuntu's boot to follow through. Don't have multiple sata 300 cables on me, or I'd give a shot at running both of them and not just the new drive.

cruiza120 said:

The thing is, both will work when the drives are cooled down, and occasionally just by touching the ram/mobo I can get ubuntu's boot to follow through. Don't have multiple sata 300 cables on me, or I'd give a shot at running both of them and not just the new drive.

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With faulty memory, behavior can be completely unpredictable. Don't jump to any conclusions until you get a working set.

I believe Corsair has a lifetime warranty on their memory modules. Go to the Corsair support forums and make a thread about your Memtest errors. The RAMGUY (he's the official Corsair support guy) will probably extend an RMA offer to you if he's satisfied that you've thoroughly investigated the problem.

cruiza120 said:

And one other thing - is there any chance that newegg will swap it with a new set for it being defective? Although I doubt it, I bought it 2 years ago. Never OC'ed the ram

Click to expand...

It all depends. First of all you are talking about memory from 2 years ago. Newegg might not let you do rma since it is over a year. If they did and had same memory in stock they would probably replaced with it. If they didn't they would probably give memory of equal value.

Wow, thanks a lot for everything, guys