HELP WITH INSTALLING MEMORY IN HP DESKTOP

added memory to our hp desktop computer 2004 with windows xp opperrating system. we were told our computer would just recognize it. Not the case, now we can't even get it to boot up. We get a reboot and select proper boot device message. Any help would be appreciated I i am really concerned we have lost all of our software and valuable memory!!

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This error means the computer can't find a proper device to boot off of. It's not really associated with RAM (if RAM is what you mean when you say 'memory'), but rather the hard drive. You can see what devices the computer is trying to boot from and in what order in the BIOS (which you get into by pressing the 'Del' key at a specific time while starting the computer. You will usually see a message telling you to press it, but if you don't, mashing the del key after starting the computer will do the trick).

If you do mean RAM when you say memory, check to make sure that you did not knock loose any cables inside the machine while you were installing the memory. If a cable is loose or completely disconnected on your main hard drive, the computer would not be able to see it and would be telling you to get a proper boot device.

If when you say 'memory' you are actually talking about hard drives, you should tell us exactly what you did inside the computer. Ie. take out old hard drive or not? What type of connection new and old hard drives use etc.

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Reply to spinny

Thanks spinny Yes when i say memory i do mean RAM. My husband was told this would be a very easy thing to do. He had no problems puting it in the computer. Just dont know how to get it to boot up for us now We did not do anything to the hard drive. please has this happened to anyone else

Message edited by madiesmom on 09-06-2009 at 04:17:43 AM

Reply to madiesmom

spinny wrote :

This error means the computer can't find a proper device to boot off of. It's not really associated with RAM (if RAM is what you mean when you say 'memory'), but rather the hard drive. You can see what devices the computer is trying to boot from and in what order in the BIOS (which you get into by pressing the 'Del' key at a specific time while starting the computer. You will usually see a message telling you to press it, but if you don't, mashing the del key after starting the computer will do the trick).

If you do mean RAM when you say memory, check to make sure that you did not knock loose any cables inside the machine while you were installing the memory. If a cable is loose or completely disconnected on your main hard drive, the computer would not be able to see it and would be telling you to get a proper boot device.

If when you say 'memory' you are actually talking about hard drives, you should tell us exactly what you did inside the computer. Ie. take out old hard drive or not? What type of connection new and old hard drives use etc.

Reply to madiesmom

If you put the old RAM back in does it boot up normally?

Reply to spinny

madiesmom wrote :

added memory to our hp desktop computer 2004 with windows xp opperrating system. we were told our computer would just recognize it. Not the case, now we can't even get it to boot up. We get a reboot and select proper boot device message. Any help would be appreciated I i am really concerned we have lost all of our software and valuable memory!!

Spinny has the answers:

Repeating: if you can boot into the BIOS,
your RAM is most probably working AOK.

It's not unusual for an older BIOS to modify settings
when it encounters a major change in hardware:
yes, this is "buggy"; but the good news is that
it's not "fatal".

So, boot into the BIOS as instructed, and
check the "Boot" priority. There, you should
see various options for "Primary", "Secondary"
boot device, and so on.

You'll want to make sure that the BIOS
is set to boot from your existing hard disk drive,
where your XP's C: system partition is located.

MRFS

Reply to MRFS

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