I am trying to upgrade the memory to 2GB. The computer will not boot with both new modules inserted (2 Crucial 1GB modules PC2-4200). It will boot with 1GB installed in either slot as long as the original 256MB module is inserted in the opposite slot, but will not work when both 1GB modules are inserted. There are 2 slots and the maximum is 2GB for this computer. I was told to update the BIOS which did not work. I am currently using 1 of the 1GB modules and the 256MB module that came with the computer.
I have a Toshiba Satellite A105.

Apparently there is some kind of conflict between your Crucial memory modules and chipset on the motherboard. I guess you’ll have to use different memory brand, try Kingston instead.
I just checked witch 1GB memory modules Toshiba lists for Satellite A105 laptops. The mention the following brands: Samsung, Hynix, Elpida.

I have the following symptoms with my laptop. When I press the power button it lights up and I hear the fan and a single click sound, but nothing appears on the screen and it does nothing else. To power it off, I have to hold down the power button for about 10 seconds. Things I’ve tried so far: Removed & replaced existing battery; removed & replaced existing hard drive… still nothing. Please help!

That could be memory failure. Try reconnecting the memory module, moving it into the empty slot. If both memory slots are occupied, remove modules one by one and test the laptop with each one separately.
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I have a HP pavilion ze4900 & it has broke again (and I think it’s my ram).

This has happened to me before, where I would just have my computer on & running with programs and a blue screen with white text appears.

and it looks like:
http://www.nilpo.com/pub/images/Windows_XP_BSOD.png

Last time, someone repaired my computer by replacing a ram stick (256mb)

Right now i have 2 (256mb); one that was replaced & one that came with the computer

- the blue screen of death has come back again. At this point, what should I do?

- if i were to replace the ram, would you recommend upgrading up to a 512mb? (for one slot)

First of all, you have to find out what is causing this blue screen. It’s possible that the memory module is bad again or you might have a faulty memory slot on the motherboard.
According to Crucial.com your laptop has two memory slots and this will help you to narrow down the problem. You’ll have to test both memory modules installing them one by one into each memory slot. You can test memory with Memtest 86+, make sure to test each module 3-4 times, so it fails or passes a few times in a row.
Install module 1 into slot 1 and run the test, then install the same module into the slot 2 and run test again. Repeat the same with the second memory module. If both memory modules pass the test in the slot 1 but fail in the slot 2, you have a problem with the slot 2. If module 1 passes the test in both slots, but module 2 fails in both slots, the second module is bad. You got the idea, right?
If you have bad memory, replace the module. You can buy a bigger one. It looks like each slot will take up to 1GB DDR PC2700 module.
If you have bad memory slot, you have two options. First, replace the motherboard. Second, use the same motherboard with only one memory slot occupied. I would go with the second option.

I have a problem with my Laptop. I have got a Compaq Evo N1020v and recently bought a new PC2100 512MB Memory Module. I replaced my current 256MB one with the new one and it works perfectly. When I insert the 256MB in the second slot the memory increases to 768MB but while working after about 30 minutes the computer freezes, the mouse pointer even freezes and Ctrl + Alt + Del, does not do anything, it stays frozen. I thought that it might be that the memory is not compatible with each other so ordered another 512MB from MemoryX. After inserting the new one, the computer works for about 30 minutes then freezes. After changing BIOS Settings nothing helps. What I have noticed is after the first time I restart after it has frozen, the computer already freezes at the login and does not get further, after another restart the computer freezes before even getting to the login. After taking out the one 512MB the Laptop works perfectly again. Could you please help me as I don’t know what is wrong.

I think there is a problem with the memory slot on the motherboard. Here’s what you can try to narrow down the problem. Run the laptop with each memory module in each memory slot. If the laptop works fine with both memory modules installed into the slot A but freezes with both memory modules installed into the slot B, most likely the slot B is bad. Also, you can narrow down the problem by running memory test utility, I usually use Memtest86+. I linked to this utility in Useful Links.
If both memory modules passes test in the slot A but fail in the slot B, the slot B is defective.
Unfortunately, in this case you’ll have to replace the motherboard or use it only with one memory slot occupied.

I have a toshiba m35-s456 which i bought 9/04. Was working fine till one day “windows cannot start because file missing or corrupt.” figured hard drive failing, took it out, set it up as usb drive to transfer what data i could before it died (which is readable but slowly)… bought replacement hard drive and installed it, restoring with the original toshiba dvd. This is xp (not yet sp2, would have to get that after restore to bring it back up to speed.) seemed okay for just a few minutes and then began frequent shutdowns with blue screen of death… i assume it’s motherboard issue as this is now with new hard drive, which says it doesn’t need a separate driver itself. Am I way out of this extended warranty by now? Help. Thanks

You can get this error message because of faulty memory module. Test memory with Memtest86+. If you have two memory modules installed, remove them one by one and test the laptop with only one module in place. Try different memory configurations, for example, module 1 in slot A, module 1 in slot B, module 2 in slot A and module 2 in slot B. Find out which memory module or memory slot is causing the problem. Replace the module if needed.
If you have only one memory module, try moving it into a different slot, just in case if you have a faulty memory slot on the motherboard.
Anyways, I think it might be just a faulty memory module.

I have a Sony PCG-FX101 Laptop - standard memory was 64mb. I upgraded this sometime back by installing an additional 256mb module. This worked fine for a long time, but recently combined with some OS issues on my laptop, only the 64mb module is recognized.
I have swapped the modules around and both work in the same slot fine - I therefore suspect that 1 slot on the board is faulty / disabled.
Is it possible for 1 slot to become disabled? If it is faulty, I’m assuming there is little that can be done?

You cannot disable/enable the memory slot, at least I’ve never seen a laptop with such “feature”. Try cleaning the faulty memory slot with an alcohol wipe, maybe the contacts inside got dirty or oxidized. A while ago I got an email from a guy with exactly the same problem, one of his memory sticks disappeared. He cleaned up the memory slot and the problem was fixed. If cleaning the memory slot will not help, probably it’s bad and you are right, there is not much that you can do. The motherboard has to be replaced.

My Dell Inspirion 8100 notebook won’t boot up. It gets the blue ‘Dell’ picture (always present at start of boot) and then screen goes black with an ‘unsupported memory module in Socket 1 was detected’ it says to remove the memory module and reboot. I tried. It does the same either way. I recently started using a VZ Access card from Verizon Wireless for Broadband access to the internet. It worked great for 2 weeks. I’m assuming where I push that pc card in is the socket 1? Can you tell me what to do? All the help online says to download ‘this test’ or ‘that test’ and go from there. But I can’t boot up the system, so I can’t download a dang thing! I am at a friend’s computer now. But the culprit is sitting on the floor next to my foot. I’d appreciate any ideas of help you could offer. I depend on this bugger for a lot of things; I’m ready to toss it out a window!!

I think you might have a faulty memory module. The socket where you push the PC card is not the Socket 1. I think the notebook is complaining about the Memory socket witch you can access if you remove the memory cover on the bottom of the notebook. Try reseating the memory module, remove it from the socket and install back. Make sure the memory contacts are clean and not oxidized; clean them with an eraser if they oxidized. Try moving memory from one socket to another. If you have two memory modules installed, remove them one by one and test the notebook with only one module installed. Find out which module is bad.

I have a Toshiba satellite A55-s306, and I bought new RAM for it just recently. It’s a 512MB memory stick, and I know it’s the correct type of RAM because I checked about a dozen sites and they all recommended me the same one. The problem is no matter what slot I try to install it into, with or without the original RAM in the computer, when I try to boot the computer up it beeps rather loudly, and nothing happens. The screen stays black. I’ve had some computer savvy friends- those who have constructed computers before- look at it and they can get the computer to start trying to boot up, but then it stops. I was wondering what this could be indicating? Is it possible that the new RAM I received a static shock, and that’s why it’s not working? The computer works fine as soon as I take the new RAM out. Nobody I know can explain this and I’ve looked everywhere for an explanation online and I can’t seem to find it.

Usually a notebook beeps on startup when it cannot detect any memory or installed memory module is bad. It looks like your new RAM stick is bad and you should replace it. Is it possible that you buy a new memory module and it comes bad? Yes, it is, I’ve seen it a few times before. If the notebook boots fine with the old memory in both slots and it fails to boot with the new memory in both slots, then nothing else could be wrong but the new RAM.

Here’s some information for people who has Toshiba Satellite A55-S306 notebook.
According to the Toshiba specification, the maximum amount of RAM you can install into this machine is 1GB in both slots (slotA+slotB). So if you already have 512MB installed into the slot A, you can install 256MB or 512MB (but not 1GB module) into the slot B. The memory type is PC2700 DDR333. Both memory slots are accessible from the bottom of the notebook if you remove the RAM cover, as it shown on the step 2 of this disassembly guide. This disassembly guide is for Tecra A2 notebook, but it would be exactly the same for Satellite A55.

I recently (only a few months ago) bought a new Acer Aspire 3003 laptop and it has been running fine. Recently it stopped working and will not boot. When I turn it on, the power buttons lights up (green) and CD/DVD drive spins, the fan runs for a few seconds and then stops and the hard disk light will flash a few times.
I have heard that these are common symptoms for broken memory. I haven’t changed the memory in the laptop, I haven’t even opened the case at all, but why has it now stopped working. People have said to me that it may be the memory that has gone bust. If so, does that mean that I have to change the memory, and if so, how? If it is not the memory but the memory socket on the motherboard, does that mean I have to replace the motherboard?

Isn’t it still under Acer warranty?
I would also recommend checking the memory module first. When a memory module goes bad, a laptop acts exactly the way you described above. I cannot explain why a memory module goes bad, it’s like a light bulb, you turn it on and it doesn’t work anymore. I’m not familiar with this model and not sure if it has onboard memory (integrated into the system board) or it connects to the motherboard through the socket. If onboard memory goes bad, you’ll have to replace the motherboard. If the memory socket goes bad, you install it into the second socket and use it this way or you’ll have to replace the motherboard if you want to use both sockets. It’s possible that the memory module just not seated properly, it got dislocated when you moved the laptop. In this case reseating the memory module can fix the problem. To reseat the memory module, remove it from the socket and install it back. On most laptops you can access the memory modules through a hatch on the bottom (for example, Toshiba Satellite 6100 step 3). Some laptops have a memory socket located under the keyboard (for example Toshiba Satellite A25 step 5), and you have to remove the keyboard to access it.

Thanks for making your site; it has some very useful information. Unfortunately I have an error for which I could not find a solution on your site.

I have an M35x-s149 Toshiba laptop. One day it started acting up… I turn on the power button, and the power management system powers up CD-ROM etc has sustainable power. However nothing appears on the screen. No Toshiba graphic appears, not even the backlight. Also the wireless internet connection will not activate, and finally I noticed where normally the green HD light would be blinking rapidly, it  will now only blink a couple of times upon pressing the power button then cease to flash until I power off again.

I’ve tried plugging the laptop into an external monitor. No display. And I’ve checked the cooling fan outlet and it doesn’t appear to be clogged.

Any ideas what the problem might be? Is it a burned out hard drive? I would have thought at least the Toshiba graphic would appear if the HD was burnt out. Would appreciate any advice you might have.

You are right; it doesn’t look like a burned hard drive. When a hard drive goes bad, you still should get some video on the screen. I think that you might have a failed memory module. Very often a failed memory module causes a laptop not to boot with symptoms like yours – power LED lights normally, DVD powers up, hard drive LED flashes a couple times, but that’s it. Nothing will appear on the screen and the backlight will not light. If you have 2 memory modules, try to remove them one at a time. If you have only one memory module, try to reseat it. Try to move the memory module into a different slot, because the memory might be good but the memory slot on the system board has failed.