so, after much consideration i decided to pick up 512MB ddr1 and add to my existing 256MB

same manufacturer, same speed, only trouble is, windows won't start.

tried only the new memory and windows freezes at some point during boot.

the old ones work like a charm.

anyone have any ideas ?

so does it POST at all or is it giving off some beeps? If it's beeping what kind of beeps, meaning long, short, short, or longggggggggggggggg. I'm horrible at describing things but if it isn't single beeping then something is wrong.

Do this for me. If the computer POSTS with no errors basic memory functionality has been tested. If there are errors however, I need you to do this step. Go into the BIOS and there should be a menu that's going to either be advanced or chipset setup. Select bios or setup defaults, save, exit and reboot. If this works, it was a BIOS conflict. If the problem is still there it might be a faulty piece of ram but some other steps need to be taken before we can assume this.

no beeps at all. when using both cards the pc freezes just when it should show the windows loading screen.

when using the new card i get an error about some files beeing corrupted. i know those aren't corrupted since i can post now (using the old card)

EDIT : what does the "posting" mean ?

well I don't know what to do if it's actually Posting and messing up right before it goes to windows mode. There is a special word for when the computer goes from POST to loading from windows but it's been forever since I've had to think about it.

Whenever you load the piece of memory into the bank, your computer should do a count of memory size at the beginning of post. See if it adds up to how much ram you bought.

The only thing that I would try if my computer was doing that is load the ram into a different computer to see if it's the ram or if it's something else.

no beeps at all. when using both cards the pc freezes just when it should show the windows loading screen.

when using the new card i get an error about some files beeing corrupted. i know those aren't corrupted since i can post now (using the old card)

EDIT : what does the "posting" mean ?

POST stands for Power On Self Test. The computer does some basic tasks to see if everything checks out. But since the POST is so quick it doesn't really do a real "in depth." test of things. I wish you had one of those PCI cards that shows you were the computer freezes up at (it shows the post number and is very easy to diagnosis things). I'm hoping Jmac sees this because he has way more real world experience then I do. Most of my suggestions come from a little experience but mostly book/school steps/procedures.

if it helps, i tried safe mode and with the new memory it freezes when loading a specific file.

memory is brand new, but i will try it on someone else's pc

bios always shows the correct values for the memory.

well just because the memory is brand new doesn't mean they couldn't have accidentally sent you a faulty piece of ram. Or it could have gotten some static whenever you installed it and messed up. Did you have yourself grounded whenever you installed the memory? Usually you just have to glide your finger across the chasis a couple times and you're gtg.

I dunno what to tell you man, I was kind of hoping that POST would help us out and it's been to long for me to remember what to do if it's whenever it switches from POST to insert book word here part. The only other thing I would say is test it out somewhere else and if it works there is a hardware conflicting problem.

well just because the memory is brand new doesn't mean they couldn't have accidentally sent you a faulty piece of ram. Or it could have gotten some static whenever you installed it and messed up. Did you have yourself grounded whenever you installed the memory? Usually you just have to glide your finger across the chasis a couple times and you're gtg.

I dunno what to tell you man, I was kind of hoping that POST would help us out and it's been to long for me to remember what to do if it's whenever it switches from POST to insert book word here part. The only other thing I would say is test it out somewhere else and if it works there is a hardware conflicting problem.

yes, touched the case a few times. also, removed power before installing.

cheers for the replies so far. i'll try to go into the bios settings and try them out on another pc tomorrow.

What level of Dance Dance Revolution are you having problems with?

level 2.5

anyway, went today to the shop and got my replacement memory.

everything works fine

thanks for the replies Chris