So after deciding to wait for a better PC, I got some RAM for my own. About 1 gig worth, in one stick. All right, so the stick I bought is a PNY PC3200 DDR-400/333/266 1 gig stick. I bought this after doing a scan from Crucial.com (only works in IE) which shows how much RAM your PC has and what speed the RAM stick is. I wrote down all of the information and went to Best Buy and after talking with one of the Geek Squad guys. After installing the thing, which wasn't that hard and it went it rather easily, I started up the computer, and my RAM amount wasn't showing when I checked it through right clicking my Computer, going into the general tab, etc. It still says I have 504 MB of Ram. I then guessed I put the ram stick in upside down or something, and tried putting it in on the other side, kinda like changing batteries to the - or + side. After reloading, it still wasn't detected. I did another Crucial scan after this, and it said I only had 512 mb of ram as well. But what confuses me: The guy at Best Buy said the PC wouldn't even boot up when the RAM isn't installed correctly. My PC comes on fine, but it seems to be slower for some crazy reason. I'm going to be doing more on this as I was cut short to have to go to work today, but if anyone has any ideas, please respond. Thanks Oh, and the Crucial report: 512MB DDR PC3200 EMPTY (other slot) Each memory slot can hold DDR PC3200,DDR PC2700,DDR PC4000 with a maximum of 1GB per slot.* *Not to exceed manufacturer supported memory. Maximum Memory Capacity: 2048MB Currently Installed Memory: 512MB HP - Compaq Pavilion a1000n series Desktop/PC. I'm thinking of just returning what I got to Best Buy (if I can) and buy the recommended ones from Crucial.com.
Hmmm. Nevermind, guess my RAM installation skills leave a lot to be desired. It actually required quite a bit of force to get those things in ALL the way, and I heeded something AWS once told me "Never ever EVER force something in" so that kept me back for a long time. But now I'm glad that I have 200% more RAM!:dance:
Mr. Casual "force" is a special term here, since you do need to push it in. But let us just say, push it more firmly, but not hard as such.
Open the clips, rest the stick in, apply even pressure down until the clips\tabs close into the notches on the sides of the stick.
Well, I was being extremely careful not to break anything, but after reading reports of the RAM not working and testing to see if the 1 gig piece would work by itself, I pulled out the old 512 stick and put the 1 gig one in, but it wasn't in all the way. The PC, however, came on, then suddenly stopped. For a second I thought I fried everything and said a few choice words. I tried this several times, starting for a second, then stopping. I gave up and put the 512 stick back in but it didn't work. At this point I really really thought I destroyed my PC. Then I put it in maybe halfway or so, and the PC would pulsate by going on and off, on and off. After tinkering with it more I was applying pressure to the tip, and the clicker thing went into place. I applied a lot of pressure, carefully, to the other side and the other one clicked into place. I then did this with the 1 gig stick as well, and presto! 1.5 gigs of ram! You should have seen me earlier today, before I went to work. I wouldn't look out of place wearing a Darth Vader helmet saying "YOU HAVE FAILED ME FOR THE LAST TIME HEWLETT PACKARD!":lol: EDIT: Oh, and I also thought the clip things were supposed to be manually closed.
Hewlett Packard has failed me too many times: One internal HD crashed in 2003, an external OneTouch II 300GB HD failed in 2006, an HP Pavilion f1703 monitor has a blackout issue (check out this thread; so many users had the same issue yet Hewlett Packard decided to fuck us over).
