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Installing new ram fried the computer? Help!

C

cw42

Diamond Member
I was installing a new stick of ram in my PC, and now it won't post. The monitor doesnt turn on, and there are no beeps whatsoever. It's a Dell 4550, P4 2.4b, not sure what kind of mobo.

I tried putting the original RAM back in, but that dosn't work. Then I tried resetting the bios, no go. Any other ideas I can try?
 
Death has a point. Did you pull the power plug before doing this? Turning off the computer does NOT turn the power off. There's still standby voltage in the motherboard until you pull the power plug. If, while you were working in there you just dropped a screw on the wrong place, you could have damaged the mobo.

Put the original RAM back in, and make sure it's fully seated. Check to make sure the video card is fully seated - pressing down on the RAM sometimes pops a card out of it's socket. Check all the cards. Also make sure the power supply cable to the mobo is securely connected.

It's easy to accidently loosen something when you're working in there. There's a cable that plugs into a header somewhere on the front of the mobo that's the wires from the front panel controls. If you knocked it loose, the power switch may be disconnected.

It's possible you may have cracked the motherboard. It's not too hard to do if the mobo is poorly supported under the ram sockets and you press too hard. Been there, done that.

Does this computer have diagnostic LEDs on the back (most of the better Dells do). They'll be labelled A B C D. It's a diagnostic code you can lookup on Dell's website that will tell you where in the POST process the computer is failing.

If all else fails and the computer is under warranty, call Dell. I would recommend you don't mention that it died after installing the memory...
 
I did not put the RAM in while running... (cmon with 2000+ posts i couldn't be that dumb 🙂)
When I did these things, I unplugged the PC until the mobo lights went out.

The diagnostic LEDs were all unlighted, meaning everything was "fine".

Dell warrantly ended last year.

Looks like i'm sh!t outta luck here, and may have to replace the mobo myself.
 
Originally posted by: cw42
I did not put the RAM in while running... (cmon with 2000+ posts i couldn't be that dumb 🙂)
When I did these things, I unplugged the PC until the mobo lights went out.

The diagnostic LEDs were all unlighted, meaning everything was "fine".

Dell warrantly ended last year.

Looks like i'm sh!t outta luck here, and may have to replace the mobo myself.
Click to expand...


Yikes.

Have you tried all the memory slots?

Have you checked the MB for obvious signs of damage (burn marks, leaking capacitors, etc)?

Otherwise, I dunno.

Good Luck :cookie:
 
Originally posted by: cw42
I did not put the RAM in while running... (cmon with 2000+ posts i couldn't be that dumb 🙂)
When I did these things, I unplugged the PC until the mobo lights went out.

The diagnostic LEDs were all unlighted, meaning everything was "fine".

Dell warrantly ended last year.

Looks like i'm sh!t outta luck here, and may have to replace the mobo myself.
Click to expand...


i bet the ram isnt in correctly have u pushed it down till the two things lock in?
 
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