Adding memory to a PC (1 Viewer)

[olley]

The old PC at the wife's shop has finally given up the ghost after 10 years of being on 24/7, (theirs a sticker on the power supply with the date,) after a bit of checking I think its the power supply, as I have another only slightly older machine I swapped the power supplies over and we are back in business.
As its running Win 10 on 2gig I thought I will upgrade the memory so bought 4gig, when it came I realised i had bought the laptop version sent it back and bought the right one, fitted it and for some reason the PC won't boot? Put the 2gig back in all good so sent back and given up, as they say if it works why fix it.

 

[Gellyneck]

The old PC at the wife's shop has finally given up the ghost after 10 years of being on 24/7, (theirs a sticker on the power supply with the date,) after a bit of checking I think its the power supply, as I have another only slightly older machine I swapped the power supplies over and we are back in business.
As its running Win 10 on 2gig I thought I will upgrade the memory so bought 4gig, when it came I realised i had bought the laptop version sent it back and bought the right one, fitted it and for some reason the PC won't boot? Put the 2gig back in all good so sent back and given up, as they say if it works why fix it.

Could be you've got too high a spec of DDR3 memory (assuming it's of that age) that the motherboard doesn't recognise? Check what spec it says on the existing RAM cards\s. Alternatively, if could be the motherboard only recognises up to 2Gb of RAM however that does seem low for a 10 year old machine. Check the mobo spec online, it should also tell you what spec of RAM it supports up to.
I guess Windows 10 will struggle with just 2Gb as that's the bare minimum for a 64bit machine (1Gb for a 32bit).

 

[Kannon Fodda]

For RAM upgrades and compatibility I have always used tools on the Crucial website. They are usually cost effective for the RAM itself.

Even if the RAM is compatible, it may be that the motherboard can't detect it properly without you going into the BIOS and resetting that.

It may not be what you want to hear, but a 10 year old PC is going to be that limited, not only by the memory, but also the CPU, hard disk and so on, that I'd seriously wonder if it is worth spending any money on it as any upgrade is a sticking plaster. Even the most basic of new computers will be far more enjoyable to use.

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[olley]

Its got 2gig of PC3 10600 CL9 memory from new, 2 memory slots and should be good for 8 gig, the memory from ebuyer was listed as the same so should have been ok, they didn't argue over the return I just paid postage.

 

[olley]

For RAM upgrades and compatibility I have always used tools on the Crucial website. They are usually cost effective for the RAM itself.

Even if the RAM is compatible, it may be that the motherboard can't detect it properly without you going into the BIOS and resetting that.

It may not be what you want to hear, but a 10 year old PC is going to be that limited, not only by the memory, but also the CPU, hard disk and so on, that I'd seriously wonder if it is worth spending any money on it as any upgrade is a sticking plaster. Even the most basic of new computers will be far more enjoyable to use.

KK its the shop computer, it does what she needs at a speed thats acceptable so why replace it? To be honest it doesn't need the memory upgrade, but its at home at the moment and I am bored.

 

[Gellyneck]

Its got 2gig of PC3 10600 CL9 memory from new, 2 memory slots and should be good for 8 gig, the memory from ebuyer was listed as the same so should have been ok, they didn't argue over the return I just paid postage.

Guess it was probably Kingston memory you tried?
Did you try and boot the pc with just the new RAM stick in it or just with both the old and new?

........ and I am bored.

Quickly followed by skint!

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[TheBig1]

more than once I have had to clean laquer off the gold pins of new memory to get a good electrical contact and the RAM accepted by the BIOS

 

[olley]

Guess it was probably Kingston memory you tried?
Did you try and boot the pc with just the new RAM stick in it or just with both the old and new?


Quickly followed by skint!

Tried both and in both slots would only boot with the old ram.
What did you clean the pins with TheBig1 ?

 

[TheBig1]

Tried both and in both slots would only boot with the old ram.
What did you clean the pins with TheBig1 ?

a circuit board cleaning eraser. slightly abrasive, just enough to remove the lacquer and shine up the contacts

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[olley]

so 100 grit sandpaper?

 

[Gellyneck]

so 100 grit sandpaper?

Only if fitted to a palm power sander! Don't use a full orbital one!

 

[Gromett]

I would second the Crucial recommendation. It is the retail arm of Micron who make the actual chips...

DRAM, Solid State Drive (SSD) & Memory Upgrades

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uk.crucial.com

The Truth about Memory Manufacturers

Learn the difference between true memory manufacturing companies and organizations that only assemble the modules & why it's an important distinction.

www.crucial.com

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[olley]

I downloaded Kannon Fodda Crucial link yesterday ran their program and have ordered another 4gig from their suggestion, I will clean the pins with 100 grit sandpaper using a palm sander as suggested.

 

[Kannon Fodda]

I have never heard of anyone needing to use abrasives to clean the contact pins on RAM chips, graphics cards of anything else that has to slot into a motherboard. The slots are normally a tight fit anyway so the pins make contact. If they don't make contact the slot itself is going to be a problem as something will have bent.

If you must clean then a simple CPU Heatsink type cleaner used to remove old thermal paste should be more than sufficient to remove any manufacturing film residue.

 

[Lenny HB]

Just upgraded my laptop from 4GB to 12 GB runs slightly quicker in Windows but like lightning in Linux.

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[Geo]

a circuit board cleaning eraser. slightly abrasive, just enough to remove the lacquer and shine up the contacts

You do know your talking to Olley
A grinder with worn disc
Or DA sander about 80 grit should do it mate

 

[TerryL]

I recently upgraded my laptop. First step was replace the hard disk with an SSD drive - simple enough job may need to buy an extra cable to clone the old hard drive to the new. Plenty of different sizes available, just make sure you get one the same or bigger capacity than the original. The improvement in performance was electrifying, from a 3 minute bootup to 25 seconds and everything running so much faster. Plus of course you've got a new disk drive so no need to worry for a while about disk failure.
I also doubled the RAM from 8GB to 16GB - didn't appear make that much more difference but I don't run RAM heavy programmes.

I've since done the same on an older netbook plus my more modern desktop. The SSD really does the job.

On all occasions I've used the Crucial website to check and advise about upgrades and never had a problem. They even have vids of how to do it.

 

[olley]

Would it help if I seated the ram with a gentle touch from my lump hammer?

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[dunnah01]

Would it help if I seated the ram with a gentle touch from my lump hammer?

May need the 14lb'er just to make sure

 

[olley]

May need the 14lb'er just to make sure

Decisions decisions which one to choose.

 

[Kannon Fodda]

Something tells me that upgrading the RAM is no longer the problem

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[dunnah01]

Decisions decisions which one to choose.
View attachment 401516

1st or 2nd from left all day - the rest will keep you warm with a log burner in winter and provide an income when weighed in for scrap in spring

 

[DBK]

I downloaded Kannon Fodda Crucial link yesterday ran their program and have ordered another 4gig from their suggestion, I will clean the pins with 100 grit sandpaper using a palm sander as suggested.

Don't even think of taking using 100 grit sandpaper, that's very coarse. As others have suggested, it shouldn't be needed but running the vacuum cleaner with a brush attachment over the slots may help.

Another thought, there are two types of RAM, registered and unregistered. From memory PCs use unregistered. Registered won't work if that is what you tried.

 

[dunnah01]

PC memory us more fraught than black water. My penny's worth is to make sure any RAM is matched in every respect and don't go any higher than the speed the PC was built to accommodate. The rest is physical fit is SODIMM, DDR2 , DDR3 etc need to be right

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[olley]

1st or 2nd from left all day - the rest will keep you warm with a log burner in winter and provide an income when weighed in for scrap in spring

7 and 8 from the left are family hierlooms from my blacksmith grandfather, I can't burn them no matter how cold I get.

 

[TheBig1]

7 and 8 from the left are family hierlooms from my blacksmith grandfather, I can't burn them no matter how cold I get.

I was looking at those and thinking that they look a bit work worn. The shafts are feathered down by years of hard work by the look of them

 

[dunnah01]

7 and 8 from the left are family hierlooms from my blacksmith grandfather, I can't burn them no matter how cold I get.

I"m all for heritage but surely the rechargeable ones would have been far better

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[mitzimad]

I was looking at those and thinking that they look a bit work worn. The shafts are feathered down by years of hard work by the look of them

many years ago we cleared a suitcase manufacturers workshop ,out they had been there a hundred years.
There were three men one bent the frame ,the next one spot welded the ends together and the last man tapped the weld flat his hammer was moulded to the shape of his hand and it was no more than a quarter of an inch thick between his thumb and finger.Rumour was he asked for a new hammer so the boss decided it was time to call it a day.

 

[TheBig1]

With today's throw away world, those of us who have fitted a new shaft to a hammer are getting quite rare now

 

[DBK]

With today's throw away world, those of us who have fitted a new shaft to a hammer are getting quite rare now

I was going to ask if you can still get the wedges to hold the head in place but a quick search on line suggests you can, so someone must be doing it.

On a vaguely related note I looked for a replacement pick axe handle recently, not a chance locally so ended up buying a whole new pick axe.

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