Mourning the loss of our friend, WhitPhil.
There's no such thing as a stupid question, but they're the easiest to answer.
JoinTour
Login
Search
 
Hardware
Tag Cloud
access audio black screen blue screen boot bsod connection crash dell desktop drivers dvd email error excel firefox hard drive hardware hijackthis internet keyboard laptop malware monitor motherboard network networking outlook problem ram recovery router safe mode screen slow sound spyware tdlwsp.dll trojan upgrade vba video virus vista vundo windows windows 7 windows vista windows xp wireless
Search
Search for:
Tech Support Guy Forums > Software & Hardware > Hardware >
Solved: Slew of Problems - monitor, memory, external audio

Tip: Click here to scan for System Errors and Optimize PC performance
[ Sponsored Link ]

Closed Thread
 
Thread Tools
Untold Prophecy's Avatar
Computer Specs
Member with 75 posts.
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Experience: Beginner
13-Sep-2009, 11:48 AM #1
Exclamation Solved: Slew of Problems - monitor, memory, external audio
I thought I'd post this here since it might be a hardware problem. Anyways, my computer has been running extremely slow lately, more so than usual. I haven't really changed anything however. My computer has been crashing lately, giving me a "Memory Management" or "Driver IRQL Not Less or Equal" BSOD. I'm not sure what to do. This usually happens when running an audio program, since it takes the most memory to run, so it might be my external audio interface, however, I've had the BSODs while not in the program.

Also, my Dell 15" monitor has been whiting out regularly, rendering it useless until the screen comes back. Turning it off then on is no help. It's usually a gamble when it will work or not. It's also got a straight vertical yellow line on it. Kind of like a dead pixel, but a whole line of them. It's not my video card, since my video card runs both of my monitors.

Comp specs:
Dell Dimension 2400
Windows XP SP 3
Intel Pentium 4, 2.2Ghz
2GB Ram (Kingston)

EVGA GeForce 6200, 256MB (PCI)
Acer 21" + Dell 15"
Untold Prophecy's Avatar
Computer Specs
Member with 75 posts.
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Experience: Beginner
13-Sep-2009, 09:38 PM #2
No one wants to help me?
Triple6's Avatar
Computer Specs
Moderator with 27,372 posts.
 
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Canada
Experience: Computer Engineering Tech
13-Sep-2009, 09:50 PM #3
Lets start by testing your RAM, download and burn the ISO image of Memtest86+ from here: http://www.memtest.org/
Let it complete several passes and see if it passes or fails.
Untold Prophecy's Avatar
Computer Specs
Member with 75 posts.
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Experience: Beginner
13-Sep-2009, 10:02 PM #4
Currently running it. there's already a red line... Then again, I'm not really sure what I'm looking for. I'm not very tech savvy.
Triple6's Avatar
Computer Specs
Moderator with 27,372 posts.
 
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Canada
Experience: Computer Engineering Tech
13-Sep-2009, 10:02 PM #5
Thats a failure. If you have more then one stick, try testing them one at a time.
Untold Prophecy's Avatar
Computer Specs
Member with 75 posts.
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Experience: Beginner
13-Sep-2009, 10:04 PM #6
Should I let this test complete before testing the individual sticks? Or can I just shut this down and try testing them?
Triple6's Avatar
Computer Specs
Moderator with 27,372 posts.
 
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Canada
Experience: Computer Engineering Tech
13-Sep-2009, 10:05 PM #7
Nope, no need to let it complete if its already showing errors.
Untold Prophecy's Avatar
Computer Specs
Member with 75 posts.
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Experience: Beginner
13-Sep-2009, 10:09 PM #8
Just so I know, what does this mean? I have to get a new stick of ram? Why would a stick fail?
Triple6's Avatar
Computer Specs
Moderator with 27,372 posts.
 
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Canada
Experience: Computer Engineering Tech
13-Sep-2009, 10:12 PM #9
Its electronics, all electronic will eventuality fail. If you more then one stick of RAM you may be able to take out the faulty one and run with the good stick, performance will be lower because you'll have less RAM until you replace the bad stick. If you have only one stick of RAM then you'll need to replace it.
__________________
Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience
Untold Prophecy's Avatar
Computer Specs
Member with 75 posts.
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Experience: Beginner
13-Sep-2009, 10:14 PM #10
On an interesting side note, the 15" monitor still has a dead pixel line while in the boot menu and the mem test.
Triple6's Avatar
Computer Specs
Moderator with 27,372 posts.
 
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Canada
Experience: Computer Engineering Tech
13-Sep-2009, 10:15 PM #11
That could be an unrelated problem, or part of the memory issue. Have another computer to try the screen on?
Untold Prophecy's Avatar
Computer Specs
Member with 75 posts.
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Experience: Beginner
13-Sep-2009, 10:18 PM #12
Just plugged it into this lappy. Still has the dead line. That's what I'm calling it from now on.

In addition, my computer did not even boot with one of my sticks of ram. That's probably the faulty one, but it makes me wonder why my computer would still report 2GB of ram if one of the sticks where faulty enough to not start the computer.
Triple6's Avatar
Computer Specs
Moderator with 27,372 posts.
 
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Canada
Experience: Computer Engineering Tech
13-Sep-2009, 10:20 PM #13
According to the documentation: http://support.dell.com/support/edoc...m_en/specs.htm

The system can hold a maximum of 512MB of RAM per slot with 4 slots for a total of 2GB's. So that means you must have 4 sticks of RAM in there. You just have to pinpoint which one is faulty and remove just that one piece and the computer will still have 1.5Gb of RAM. I'd be removing one stick at a time or removing 3 of them and testing individually.
__________________
Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience
Untold Prophecy's Avatar
Computer Specs
Member with 75 posts.
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Experience: Beginner
13-Sep-2009, 10:24 PM #14
That documentation is strange/wrong. I've only got two slots, both with 1GB of ram in them. My computer booted up, testing the second (believed faulty) stick now.
Untold Prophecy's Avatar
Computer Specs
Member with 75 posts.
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Experience: Beginner
13-Sep-2009, 10:28 PM #15
Also, I'm running the test, and it's gotten to Test #4 without any errors. The other stick got this far as well. Could it be the slot that is faulty?

Nevermind, Test #4 finished, gave me an error. Oh well, time to put in an old stick.
Closed Thread Bookmark and Share

Tags
bsod, memory, monitor display problems

THIS THREAD HAS EXPIRED.
Are you having the same problem? We have volunteers ready to answer your question, but first you'll have to join for free. Need help getting started? Check out our Welcome Guide.

Smart Search

Find your solution!



Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
WELCOME TO TECH SUPPORT GUY! Are you looking for the solution to your computer problem? Join our site today to ask your question -- for free! Our site is run completely by volunteers who want to help you solve your computer problems. See our Welcome Guide to get started.

Thread Tools


You Are Using:
Server ID
Advertisements do not imply our endorsement of that product or service.
All times are GMT -5. The time now is 01:06 AM.
Copyright © 1996 - 2009 TechGuy, Inc. All rights reserved.
Powered by vBulletin, Copyright © 2000 - 2009, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Powered by Cermak Technologies, Inc.