BSOD and constant reboots after memory upgrade.

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Bobby Jones

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Feb 11, 2014
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Hello. I recently bought a pair of new RAM modules but when I put them in my computer and started it up I got into Windows and then got BSODed. After that, my system would generally reboot during the loading process. Occasionally it'd let me in Windows long enough to see it is recognizing the new memory, but seems to resent my doing anything with it and will force reboot if I do. Starting in safe mode or last known good seems to slightly raise the chances of this, but by no means are my new memory modules actually working correctly. Oddly, if I start in safe mode and just sit there it seems fine for a while, but it doesn't like me looking at my hardware.

Putting the old memory back in seems to work fine, else I couldn't make this post. That said I just got these and I want them to work.

My computer: http://reviews.cnet.com/desktops/emachines-t6520-media-center/4507-3118_7-31466280.html
Old memory: 512 MB/PC 3200 x2 (the system default).
New memory: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1527022&CatId=1600 x2

These are exactly the same except for 512 MB > 1 GB each right? So what's going on?
 
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HillBillyAsian

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Apr 4, 2013
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check to see if there isnt a bad module, start by just placing one stick (new one) in and turning it on and see if it still happens, if it does take that stick out and place the other new one you have and retest it, if it works fine then you just have a bad stick of ram
 
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Bobby Jones

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Feb 11, 2014
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After some testing I found out this:

Memory 1 works in slot A and B, I think I had to retry once because it wasn't in fully.
Memory 2 works in slot A and B, but took a bit more effort to get right.

When I try both together I get constant problems. The bluescreens are for random things like usbport.sys that seem unrelated and the restarts are semi random but I determined are tied to Trillian and Firefox somewhat. Safe mode helps a little but not much. If I make sure Trillian doesn't come on and be very careful what Firefox does I can barely do stuff, it took a few dozen attempts to make this post.

I grabbed this error code and saved it one of the times, it's different each time.

BCCode : 10000050 BCP1 : F6CC9888 BCP2 : 00000001 BCP3 : 80545329
BCP4 : 00000002 OSVer : 5_1_2600 SP : 3_0 Product : 256_1

Edit: Now the bluescreens are starting to say page fault in non paged area or something like that with random programs or services. Again it seems fine with just memory 1 in, but if I put both back in the problem will likely return.
 
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Bobby Jones

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Feb 11, 2014
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Ok, this is strange. I used memtext86 on just 1 by itself, no errors. Then 2, no errors. Then both and it did 5 passes (I fell asleep), no errors. And then I let it boot up and waited a while and.... I seem fine. It hasn't been that long, but usually it'd crash by now. I'll wait a bit more to be sure but I think it's fixed even though all I really did was take em out and put them back in a lot.

As for the bios thing, I couldn't find the option for that. I seen hard drives and boot first and various other things, no memory.

Edit: Although Firefox did crash right after posting this message and I've been seeing that a lot lately, only with this site.

Edit again: A little after saying that the chain crashed returned, most seeming tied to Firefox. Starting it in safe mode seems to work but watch it start again right after saying that.

HitmanPro did find some malware (in a PowerISO update that must have downloaded when I was making the memtest86 boot disc without my knowledge or consent), removing it didn't seem to help. Spybot S&D seems to evoke the crashes as well, one time it did it either right before or right after it finished.
 
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Bobby Jones

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Feb 11, 2014
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After much more chain crashing and jumping in and out of safe mode I got cpuz to work. PC 3200 is 400 MHZ correct? It's detecting my memory as half that and single channel (should be dual). How do I fix this?
 
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Bobby Jones

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Feb 11, 2014
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I'm not seeing it. F4 and F5 do nothing, Del does nothing. F2 says it goes into bios at the machines logo but most of the stuff there is like boot order, and I see nothing that looks like memory. What exactly am I seeking?

Edit: Change of direction. That is bios but eMachines limited it to near uselessness. So how do I unlock it?
 
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Bobby Jones

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Feb 11, 2014
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From what I'm hearing OEMs tend to lock most settings out of BIOS, and that's my problem now. I've been all over the BIOS screen you get at with F2 and there is nothing about memory timings or anything. I have found a few downloads that say unlocked bios but given that 1: Many bios/drives/etc are scams/malware/etc 2: Messing with bios is generally a bad idea even if the files are legitimate. I haven't done anything.

I've had just one module in now for a little over 24 hours, no problems at all, it works the same as it did when I had a pair of the older modules. But if I put both new ones in at the same time the problems start again.

Also Firefox was chain crashing (even with a single module) but that went away when I uninstalled/reinstalled/reset it so I'm guessing that was an unrelated problem? I dunno. Might be malware, might be my computer is objecting to 2 GB of memory (for some reason). At least that's the only reason I can think of why 512 x 2 is fine, 1,024 x 1 is fine, but 1,024 x 2 isn't. Perhaps my mobo won't accept 2 gb without an update? I'm guessing at this point and am not gonna do anything unless someone more knowledgeable says.
 
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Bobby Jones

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Feb 11, 2014
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For some reason it didn't notify me when you responded. I just checked again. There is an advanced chipset option on the front page, and it does say DRAM timings in the short description at the bottom. But there are only 3 options there and none pertain to memory. A few mention PCI slots but that isn't it is it? There's also an advanced tab, I don't see it there either.
 
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Bobby Jones

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Feb 11, 2014
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10,510
After some testing I determined what it was. One of the modules works fine by itself but not when installed with another module (new or old). Not sure if this is due to defect or compatibility, but I'm getting a pair of Crucials and then getting a refund on the PNYs once I receive them. I'll post back when the new modules arrive but there's nothing more that can be done for now.
 
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