Definite Memory Problems; Unsure how to proceed

[Jordan1829]

Hello Everyone. Been awhile since I've been here. Been able to solve most of the problems I've encountered on my own since my first post in the hallowed halls of the techsupportguy forums.

Alas, I am in some dire need of help for a problem I've been having. I've checked other posts on here as well as other websites, but none of them seems to address my problem specifically, so forgive me if you have to repeat yourselves.

I've been having randoms BSoDs and hard hangs, most notably during gaming and while using browsers, but also less frequently whenever I'm just eating and chatting to a friend. I'll just be sitting there starting at my desktop and a Page Fault error will pop up and the system will lock. These problems have ranged from blue screens describing to page faults to what seems to be the monitor shutting off and going completely black. Can't even shut down the computer by going through alt-f4 or the start menu via macros, so it's not a monitor problem. NOTE: It also crashes in safe mode.

This doesn't happen at all on some days, but on others it seems as if it occurs 5-6 times in a row.

I started by doing a system restore and updating all of my drivers, but it hasn't helped. I thought that I might have some memory problems, so I went ahead and I ran windows memory diagnostic and it reported that there was a hardware problem with my memory. I have not run memtest86 yet, though.

Another notable thing is that whenever I ran the system utility checker to update my system specs for the website, it only detected that I have 2 gigabytes of RAM, but I actually have a total of 4 gigabytes in 2 cards.

I'm unsure of how I should go about dealing with this problem, especially since I'm currently in Eastern Europe for a year studying abroad. Any help or advice on whether its fixable or I need to shell out some cash for a new stick of RAM would be much appreciated.

Thank you for your time.

I've gone ahead and attached 2 of the minidump files from today as well.

 

[Jordan1829]

Forgot to mention that it is a laptop and that I am using a desktop cooler at all times. Temperature is not a problem whatsoever.

 

[crjdriver]

Temp can still be a problem even with a cooling pad. Post your cpu and system or mb temp.

Next what does the bios show for installed ram; ie 2gig or 4gig? I would go ahead and run memtest and see what it says about your memory.

One VERY fast way to see if you have a hardware problem or a software/windows problem is to boot the system with a linux live type CD. If linux also has problems, then you most definitely have a hardware problem. The are a LOT of linux versions to choose from however I use parted magic for all types of tasks.
http://partedmagic.com/doku.php

 

[Jordan1829]

Tech Support Guy System Info Utility version 1.0.0.2
OS Version: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium, Service Pack 1, 64 bit
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU Q 720 @ 1.60GHz, Intel64 Family 6 Model 30 Stepping 5
Processor Count: 8
RAM: 4096 Mb
Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce GT 230M, 1024 Mb
Hard Drives: C: Total - 463473 MB, Free - 195731 MB; D: Total - 13161 MB, Free - 2195 MB;
Motherboard: Quanta, 363E
Antivirus: Microsoft Security Essentials, Updated and Enabled

Also, BIOS shows that only 2GB of RAM is on the system. I am also positive that when I ran DXDiag a little over a week ago it read 4 GB.

 

[Tanis]

If the BIOS is only reporting 2GB of RAM then that would lead me to believe the problem is either with a specific RAM slot in the machine or a specific RAM module.

You could do a quick and dirty test by trying to boot with just one stick in the first slot, see if it boots.
Then try the same stick in the 2nd slot and see if it boots.
After doing that, do the same with the other stick on its own, by a process of elimination you may be able to identify a faulty slot or module (faulty slot will have boot problems regardless which RAM module is in it, a faulty module will produce boot problems in either slot). This isn't a definitive test and may produce iffy results if it is an intermittent fault, but it quick and doesn't costs anything so a good place to start.

Crashing the same in safe mode tends to lean a little more toward a hardware fault than software as only very basic drivers are loaded, again it's not foolproof though.

What is the exact make and model of the machine?

 

[Jordan1829]

Thanks for all the help! Computer is an HP Pavilion dv6 Notebook PC

On a side note, ever since the computer has been detecting that there are only 2 GB (which was earlier today, probably. I had a series of crashes before I checked it out again), there have been no BSoDs or crashes of any kind.

No access to a small screwdriver to open the PC up at the moment, but I will definitely try to go and buy one tomorrow and try that out. Thanks a ton for the input!

 

[Jordan1829]

Alright. Trial by error shows that either both of my memory modules or my first RAM slot is completely screwed.

I'm currently running with only one of my RAM modules in the 2nd slot and I haven't had any problems so far. Will continue to monitor it and give any updates.

If the RAM slot is indeed the problem, do you know how much it might cost to get it replaced? I don't want to go along and end up paying much more than it should be.

 

[crjdriver]

If the RAM slot is indeed the problem, do you know how much it might cost to get it replaced? I don't want to go along and end up paying much more than it should be.

It means a new mb. Usually this costs far more than a new laptop.