Added RAM -- Windows won't load?

This is not my pc in system specs but this one:

Processor: Celeron 333Mhz Mendocino
Graphics: Nvidia Vanta 16MB (AGP)
Motherboard: Soltek SL-62C
Sound Card: Aztech AZT 2320 (ISA)

The motherboard has 2 slots for RAM and they only recognise 128MB each. Due to lack of parts, I had put in one stick of 512MB PC133 SDRAM.

The computer worked fine, the only 'problem' being that it recognised only 128MB RAM but I couldn't do anything about that.

Now I managed to get hold of a 256MB PC133 SDRAM, and put it in the second slot.

The computer POSTed, showing 264MB RAM.

Great.... but my happiness was short-lived.

Windows didn't load. I got the message:

Windows cannot start because \Windows\System32\Config\System is missing or corrupt. Boot from the XP disk and press 'r' to repair.

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I pressed the reset button to see if it happens again, and this time I got:

Windows cannot start because <windows root>\System32\ntoskrnl.exe is missing or corrupt. Please reinstall a copy of the above file.

Click to expand...

So I decided to repair windows, but I couldn't get Windows setup to run!

File \i386\ntkrnlmp.exe could not be loaded. The error code is 4. Setup cannot continue. Press any key to exit.

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.

So far it didn't cross my mind that my 2nd RAM module I inserted today could be the fault, because the messages I got mislead me into thinking my XP got corrupted.

However, I removed the 256MB module and the pc worked normally once again.

What I wanted to know is, is there any way I can get both RAM modules working together so I can get at least 256MB total (128+128) on this pc?
If I can do anything it's only through the bios since I can't get in XP with both ram modules inside the pc.

Could I have got the wrong RAM? Both 512 and 256 modules look exactly the same (168 pin, 2 notches, 3.3V), and both fit in the slots.

Jr, what do you mean 'rated for'?
Yes they've both got chips on both sides. Both ram sticks look like identical twins visually, the one which works is 512MB and the other one is 256MB.
I don't think they should be able to run at PC66? The motherboard FSB is 100 and I guess the 512MB one alone had been running at Pc100 being SDRAM not DDR...

To exclude compatibility problems between one stick and the other I tried running the pc only on the 'new' 256MB one.

It gave me the same errors I mentioned in my first post, ie it POSTS, read 131MB (obviously because of mobo limitations), I can get into the bios, then Windows doesn't load and I get the missing/corrupt files error asking me to do a repair of XP...

Does that mean that my new ram stick is defective? Shouldn't the pc not POST at all in the case of defective RAM?
Do I need to adjust something in the bios to get it working?

The size of it shouldn't be a problem I guess, if my 128MB per slot limited mobo was happy on one 512MB SDRAM, it should be happy with one 256MB SDRAM, no?

JrRacinFan said:

You have a 66mhz fsb Mendocino core. Some PC133 sticks do not like the PC66 rating.

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Not sure if I'm understanding. In the bios it says the multiplier of the cpu is 3x. Now if my cpu had 66mhz fsb wouldn't that mean my processor would be running at 198Mhz?
I checked with cpu-z, the processor is running at 334Mhz. If my multiplier is 3x doesn't that mean the fsb is 111Mhz?

Uhh? I think so? Or is the cache different?



Sorry you have to zoom to read...

The ratio is the multiplier isn't it?



Maybe you can see something here which I might have missed, even related to the RAM problem?

I wonder if I increase the multiplier and change FSB whether I can get that RAM to work......

I can use a multi up to 8x (which at my current 111 FSB will give me an 888Mhz processor... ) Nevermind just dreaming.

I'll be trying that out. I don't think that an FSB drop from 111 to 66 will be affecting speed negatively?

Anyway, so I get it that everyone's excluding faulty RAM in this case?

In that case I'll play around with the multiplier and FSB hoping to reach a combination which recognises my RAM...

It is a ZX chipset. The motherboard got 2 slots and can only recognise 128MB per slot, total of 256MB for the whole thing.

Right now I'm getting 128MB off one slot. Now if I can only get another 128MB off the other slot I'd be happy.

The pc runs okay on 128MB ram. Only problem is that XP takes like 8 minutes to load and some 5 minutes to shut down. Otherwise it runs very well for my 5 year old's games.

About finding a suitable mobo and changing everything, heck it's so difficult.

lemonadesoda said:

For $20 you could get a P3@1.0Ghz and 815 mobo.

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I might if I lived in some other part of the world...

If only I could find a socket 423 mobo I could set up for her a 1.6Ghz Pentium 4 with 1GB RAM which would be much better, but what'd be the point of buying a used one which could quit on me after a month? Recently I found a socket 423 mobo on ebay for ~$50 + shipping..... used....

Same goes for this little toy-pc of hers. As it is, it functions well (leaving apart long loading/shut-down times). If I spend money I could only get second hand stuff, which might not work or might quit after a couple of weeks. Apart from that, this is less than a PIII I guess, a celeron 333MHz goes somewhere between PI and PII doesn't it? Hardly worth any expense though I'd gladly give it my time because, uhh I love spending my free time that way, that's the reason... That's why I'm being stubborn in wanting this RAM stick to work to get me 256MB total, partly for my own satisfaction - it nearly works, I can get into BIOS after all...