Hi,
I have a Dell Vostro 230. It was working ok, but was consistently using almost all of its RAM (2GB) and was quite slow. So, I went and bought a new 4GB RAM kit (http://bit.ly/10Yein7). I am not a hardware expert, but I've installed RAM many times before (I've even built my own HTPC from scratch), and was careful during the process.
After the new RAM was installed, I tried to power on the computer and it wouldn't start at all. There was a faint, clicking noise coming from the power supply (like a very quiet metronome) when the computer was connected to power. I've read that clicking noises are usually the HDD, but I'm pretty confident it was coming from the PS. I took out the new RAM and tried to power on the computer with the old RAM, and that did not work either. So today, I went and bought a new 700W PS, thinking that maybe I had overpowered the old 550W with the new RAM. I'm pretty sure everything is reconnected properly and yet still nothing happens when I try to power on the computer
I'm not sure how I go about finding out what the problem is now. Maybe it's just the case's power button? But how do I test anything without power? Are there any common mistakes people make when changing out power sources and reconnecting components? Could I have ruined the motherboard when changing the RAM? If it's the RAM itself that is defective, or even a fried HDD, wouldn't the computer still power on?
Let me know if you need any other information. I can list the components more specifically if that would help. Thank you very much.
I have a Dell Vostro 230. It was working ok, but was consistently using almost all of its RAM (2GB) and was quite slow. So, I went and bought a new 4GB RAM kit (http://bit.ly/10Yein7). I am not a hardware expert, but I've installed RAM many times before (I've even built my own HTPC from scratch), and was careful during the process.
After the new RAM was installed, I tried to power on the computer and it wouldn't start at all. There was a faint, clicking noise coming from the power supply (like a very quiet metronome) when the computer was connected to power. I've read that clicking noises are usually the HDD, but I'm pretty confident it was coming from the PS. I took out the new RAM and tried to power on the computer with the old RAM, and that did not work either. So today, I went and bought a new 700W PS, thinking that maybe I had overpowered the old 550W with the new RAM. I'm pretty sure everything is reconnected properly and yet still nothing happens when I try to power on the computer
I'm not sure how I go about finding out what the problem is now. Maybe it's just the case's power button? But how do I test anything without power? Are there any common mistakes people make when changing out power sources and reconnecting components? Could I have ruined the motherboard when changing the RAM? If it's the RAM itself that is defective, or even a fried HDD, wouldn't the computer still power on?
Let me know if you need any other information. I can list the components more specifically if that would help. Thank you very much.
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