Friend's rig isn't working after installing new RAM...help?

[smirkus]

A friend of mine has some pentium computer that was built by a company with supposedly crappy tech help. He wanted to upgrade from 512 to 1gb of ram, so went to some website to match his computer to the right ram, he bought it and popped it in. The ram (dunno what kind it is really, but can get that info) was also ordered for his brother's identical computer and his computer immediately read it and it worked, so the ram is the right type.

He says he didn't ground himself but 'felt no static shocks' when installing it. But, he restarted his computer, and it says there was some system error, to please insert the system disk (Windows XP) he does this, and it gets ready to reinstall windows, but then tells him that it cannot read his HD. Since putting this ram in he has never gotten out of DOS.

He has tried removing the new ram and restarting, taking out the old ram, every combination of ram in ram out, but same thing. So, it seems like he somehow corrupted his hard drive, or damaged his computer hardware some how....did the ram do it?? I am sure he was careful installing it and everything. Another note if this helps, but there was a bit of dust in his case, and it was only opened once or twice within the 2 years or so he has hd it before this incident. Thanks for any help diagnosing this problem!

 

[sirheck]

has he unplugged the power cord and tried it or just turned it off
also power down wait unplug the cord open the case andtouch
the prongs on the power supply pull all of the mem out and install just one
stick and try

 

[cowboytech]

back to basics; check all cables to be sure they are seated properly(communication and power) check motherboard settings (hard drive and ram)

 

[cowboytech]

Start over and do a base post test; you know, nothing but= power supply, mother board cpu and its cooling fan, ram, keyboard and mouse and something for video. See if it posts like this

 

[Lan]

Start over and do a base post test; you know, nothing but= power supply, mother board cpu and its cooling fan, ram, keyboard and mouse and something for video. See if it posts like this

I agree, it's more likely that a connection was bumped or something. You also say that there was "some system error." What was that error exactly? Because if it isn't booting into the OS, it is likely that either a) the bios isn't finding the hard drive, b) the hard drive itself is corrupted, or c) some other possiblity that escapes me right now.

To me this says hard drive problem, not RAM at all, especially if it worked fine in that other computer.

 

[Grimmy]

He says he didn't ground himself but 'felt no static shocks' when installing it.

Ummm... Just a side note on ESD.

From what I remember from the A+ Cert Book, when you feel the static discharge from touching something..
that is appr: 3000 volts.

When you hear the popping sound of static electricity, that is appr: 6000 volts.

When you actually see the arc of it.. that is appr: 9000 volts.

So your not going to feel anything, even if you discharged 500 volts.

If you handle a component that is rated to only handle 2.6 volts, and unknowingly zapped it with 100-300 volts, you may have problems later on with that component.

Just saying that ESD can be undetected by sense of feel. So when handling them.. you need to be careful.

 

[maxwellmelon]

" But, he restarted his computer, and it says there was some system error, to please insert the system disk (Windows XP) he does this, and it gets ready to reinstall windows, but then tells him that it cannot read his HD. Since putting this ram in he has never gotten out of DOS."

sounds like u unplugged or knocked loose the hard drive cable. un plug and plug back in both ends. I bet the hard drive currently is not showing up in the bios. the only other end is if he messed with the bios settings is to go into bios go to drive section and make sure its on auto config for all the drives ports