im stumped!!! any ideas??

[Philup_Bowls]

about 6 months back i built a pc out of old parts i had around... it's always been stable untill about a week ago..

specs
asus a7a266 (bios 1009)
amd xp1600 not oc
generic pc2100 1 stick 512mb


ok 2 issues actually... first issue while in windows i noticed it sayd i only have 256mb of ram... that's not right, i have 512... so i booted into the bios and it sayed 256mb there also... so i cleared cmos, didnt help... took ram out reseated it, that didnt help either... i have only 2 dimm slots for ddr ram and 1 i ruined with a screw driver taking off the heatsink so that only leaves 1 slot left.. so why would it only display half my ram??? it sayed 512 when i built it... only thing i can think of to do is a bios update but why should i when it worked when i built it..

ok issue 2 might be a cause of issue 1 but who knows... the last 2 weeks my pc is always hard locking up or rebooting itself... when it reboots itself it wont post.. i have to turn the switch on the actuall power supply off for 15-20 minutes before it will post and boot windows... same with the hardlockup, hit reset it wont post... hold power button untill it shuts of, turn back on it wont post.. have to turn switch off of power supply for awhile unitll she will post again... i think my voltages are kinda low that are causing the lockup.. think my powersupply is starting to die.. i am work so i'll have to supply the voltages later and tell me what you think...

 

[Balrog]

Welcome to the Forums!

Check\replace your CMOS battery as that could be the cause of both issues, a low CMOS battery can cause all kinds of flakiness, I got my last one at Wal-Mart for $2.25.

Do you just damage the pins\contacts on the RAM slot or did you bust a chunk out of it? I've repaired mangled contacts with a needle and gently pushing them back into place.

Regards, Balrog