WinXP memory help

[SxRxRnRx]

I recently ran into a problem I cannot find a solution for thru the M$ Knowledgebase or thru Search Engines, etc. I tried to upgrade my system from 512MB of RAM to 768MB and I started to get random errors to where my system would get to the Windows logo and then automatically reboot. I had 2 - 256MB PC133 SDRAM Dimms in my system, and I was adding a 3rd. All the RAM was the same brand (Crucial) CL2/PC133. I at first thought it was the Latency or another BIOS setting, so I turned all of them down. The problem still existed. So I replaced the new stick and the problem did not go away. I tried all the DIMM slots and ruled those out. Then I finally bought a 512MB stick and popped that in with only one other 256MB stick, and the problem still exists.

I thought it might be a Memory Bank issue, but now it seems like a WinXP issue. Anyone ever seen this before with WinXP or with RAM over 512MB. My system works fine with 512MB and below, but will not work with more than that. Here are my specs:

WinXP Pro w/ SP1
ECS K7VZA Rev3 Mobo (manual says 3 DIMM slots, for up to 1.5 GB total)
1.4 AMD T-Bird
GeForce4 Ti4200 64MB
SB Live 5.1 Sound
512MB PC133 CL2 SDRAM - trying to go to 768MB or higher (Crucial)
Creative 52X CDROM
Lite-ON 40x CD-RW

Some of the specific errors I got were: System automatically reboots either when the Windows Logo is displayed or desktop is displayed. Then it asks to go into Safe Mode or Last Config. System comes all the way up, then cursor stays as an hourglass and I cannot click on any icons or taskbar, keyboard does not work either.

Thanks in advance!

 

[bsobel]

It definately does not sound like a XP issue, sounds like a motherboard or memory problem (I know you went thru the different memory options). Did you check with the MB maker for known issues?

Bill

 

[amdskip]

Could also be power supply related.

 

[mikeford]

Look at the W98 ram thread that might be right next to this one.

Trouble over 512 MB is a known problem.

 

[TheOmegaCode]

Originally posted by: mikeford
Look at the W98 ram thread that might be right next to this one.

Trouble over 512 MB is a known problem.

Trouble over 512 is a 9.x problem. 2k and XP can handle more than 512 w/out tweaking...

 

[SxRxRnRx]

Thanks for the replies. I checked with ECS and there are no known issues. Do you think a 300w PS is not enough, should I upgrade? I thought it was either a mobo or memory issue, but I could not find anything on it. Could it be the memory controller on the mobo is faulty?

 

[Nothinman]

Did you run the memory through a few hours of memtest86?

 

[SxRxRnRx]

Nothinman,
I can't run any type of application, because once it gets to Windows it locks up. Is that a Windows or DOS app?

 

[Nothinman]

It's a bootdisk.

 

[igiveup]

Try booting into safemode. Press F8 early in the boot process, prior to the windows XP boot screen. If you can boot into safemode more than likely its not a core hardware issue such as bad ram. If you do finish booting into XP in safemode, uncheck the automatic reboot "feature" in My Computer's properties, on the advanced tab. Perhaps you can get an error message to come up and we can find out more information.

 

[gil11542]

Might try flashing the bios to the lastest version if you havent already, just a thought.

 

[Nothinman]

Might try flashing the bios to the lastest version if you havent already, just a thought

If he's got a bad stick of memory that's probably a bad idea.