I can't get Vista Ultimate 64 Bit Edition to work with my RAM

Update: I recently tried to update Vista with Windows6.0-KB929777-v2-x64.msu, but that didn't work. Anyone?

It's set to auto in the BIOS. I have read that changing the voltage might help, but I don't know what I should change it to.

first off, your roommate is wrong. now that we have that out of the way, if this is the ram that you're running:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820145590

it is rated to run at 1.9v which is higher than the 1.8v that the bios will default to, so try to raise the voltage to 1.9v to see if that helps the problem. run memtest to see if you still get memory errors at that voltage. if it's still crashing, then i would consider RMAing those sticks because you might have bad ram.

So, memtest says RAM is fine. I upped the voltage to 1.9 and still got no go. I even changed my values to 4-4-4-12 and it didn't seem to budge. This is highly perplexing.

As pointed out, set your memory to the proper voltages and timings. If the spec says 2.1 volts, then set it for 2.1 volts.


Also, your roommate is wrong - I have four 2GB sticks in my system, and it runs just fine.

Ran Memtest for 8 hours while I slept. It went through 6 successes with 0 failures. I think the RAM is fine. Back to the drawing board.

All right, I'll do my best.

Imagine I have two sticks of RAM in. They are now in Channel A mode, so they should be considered primary and in their proper pairing slots. I press the power button. I get a single beep (YAY POST CODE!). Then my monitor goes through the BIOS screen, I see a flash of code related to OS booting, and I am presented with a screen: Do you want to load Windows Vista or an earlier version of Windows? I pick Vista, thinking "Oh, I should have all of my problems solved. By all rights, this should work even though I have struggled through ACPI compliant errors, and general 0X00001 error codes or whatever it said."

What I get is a real quick flash of a BSOD and then it reboots. If I try to go with Vista again, it asks if I would like to boot in Safe Mode or any of the other options indicating Windows didn't boot properly. Rather than opting to once again open my case and pop out a stick of RAM, I decide to boot into XP (an earlier version of Windows of course). XP loads fine (loads quickly) and I then type this post to you.

Theoretically, in this choose your own adventure, I stop instead to turn off my PC, unplug it, and pop out a stick of RAM. I then restart my computer and go again to the OS choosing screen. I pick Vista. I get the Vista loading screen, and everything loads fancy dandy. I am soon sitting at the Vista 64 Bit Ultimate edition welcome screen! Hooray! ... minus my 2nd stick of RAM.

Now, I've run Memtest. I put my RAM in priority slot A1-A2. I've changed the voltage and specs on my RAM. There is nothing functionally wrong with my RAM. There is also nothing functionally wrong with Vista, it just doesn't like that -one- extra stick of RAM. I have installed Microsoft's supposed patch for the issue, upgraded to SP1, and done just about everything else I can think of all to no avail.

Does this explain to you enough? I can't give the exact error code because when Vista is loading up it BSOD's way too quick for me to see what it is doing.

I all ready did as I pointed out earlier

I should add that I did it with the one 2 gig stick in, meaning that I got into Vista and installed the update, then shut down, then installed the other stick, then booted up again to no avail.

just curious, what PSU are you using? i just wanted to cover all bases and get as much as info as possible in trying to think of the solution....

well, i hope that the bios updates and drivers work for you, but i'm honestly beginning to suspect your PSU as the culprit. here's my logic:

1) your PSU is a Tier 5 model, which are more prone to power issues, fluctuations, and burnout, etc
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forum [...] p?t=108088

2) even the reviews on the newegg link of the PSU are less than favorable (not that you should put too much weight in PSU reviews on newegg)

3) you got an "ACPI compliant" error when trying to install, ACPI is a power standard for modern computers, this may very well stem from PSU issues

4) you've ruled out pretty much most other hardware as the problem since your ram tested good, and everything seems to run fine under XP

5) vista boots fine with 1 stick of ram, when you add the other stick in, you're adding more load onto the psu (aks using more power), which might be causing the issues with BSOD in vista.

So what i'm suggesting for you to do, if the bios update and drivers don't work, is try going out and buying an appropriate PSU at your local computer superstore to "test". If it works, then you can keep that PSU, or return it and buy one that you want. If it doesn't solve the problem, then let us know and we'll go back to the drawing board....

there could be a difference in the way Vista uses power as opposed to XP (ie, different ACPI driver, etc) Also, Aero puts more strain on your video card than XP's GUI does, since it's "3D" accelerated. I can't pinpoint to what it is exactly, but it's just a hunch on my part. but i've been wrong before =)

congrats!