Ram Problem, beeping sound.. HELP!

yapper99 · 11-21-2008, 04:34 PM

I recently installed 2 gb of kingston ram in my 3 year old Toshiba M satellite laptop which has windows xp home (sorry I don't know the exact model number.. its not with me right now). Soon afterwards the computer started doing strange things such as beeping unstoppably while turned on (not during startup ) and it seemed like the alt key was stuck, i have run virus scans, anti spyware and everything and am fairly confident that there is no malware. (as it only started happening after installing the ram)

I took it to the place where they installed the ram (futureshop.. owned by best buy) and they said that after they installed the ram it somehow messed up the hard drive, they said i must back up all my data and must buy a new hardrive. Is this true or just a money grab, whats your advice?

Thanks in Advance,

keezel · 11-21-2008, 04:40 PM

Sounds like BS to me. I'll explain why I think that and you can decide if you agree.

Memory temporarily stores information which it drudges up from the HDD (like running a firefox session to browse the web). If it gets overloaded it may use the pagefile partition (in Windows) on the HDD to temporarily store whatever has not been used by the memory for some time. When this happens you'll notice the computer lagging and the hard drive clicking/spinning as the memory recalls whatever it temporarily stored there.

Let's say the memory was indeed bad (which is uncommon, but it happens). The worst it could do is corrupt some of the sectors on your HDD, and I have never seen that happen. This would not physically affect the HDD whatsoever - at worst it may need a sector repair.

I'd ask for a diagnostic or for some evidence before I fork over some cash. They need to diagnose both the memory and the hard drive to make a claim like that.

*Edit*

Also, beep codes are there for a reason. It's like the system board's way of complaining. Think of it like a baby crying. It generally cries because something is wrong. I'd try to take one stick out at a time and boot up with one stick, then the other to see which one the board is complaining about.

yapper99 · 11-21-2008, 04:46 PM

ok... so if i removed the ram.. how could i repair the bad sectors (would running the normal windows error checking work?). The computer was pretty slow so is there a way to fix it so the ram doesn't cause these problems, if not i would rather have a working computer...

keezel · 11-21-2008, 04:54 PM

AFAIK windows error checking does not do sector repair. I used to use Hitachi's drive fitness test. It'll scan the drive first, and if it finds bad sectors it then allows the option of running a sector repair. You can run it as a boot disc.

I'd play around with the memory first though to decide which of the two is screwed up. It may just be that the board doesn't like the memory for some reason. Perhaps it's the wrong speed for the board?

yapper99 · 11-23-2008, 12:27 PM

Lol.. thanks a lot keezel.... so i went to futureshop and they told me that there was no way to fix the harddrive and that it was gonna die very soon.... i asked them if they had bothered to try and repair the bad sectors and they said no, telling me that doing so is pointless and doesn't help....i told them to remove the bad ram... and at my house i repaired the bad sectors myself... so far the computer is working fine... saved myself some money!

Thanks!

**grimx133** · 11-23-2008, 06:24 PM

Futureshop isn't a good place to buy parts. It's fine for appliances, software, tv's and stuff, but that's about it. Oh yah, I will buy blank discs on sale sometimes. I happened to be on their website this morning, looking for DS games for my nephews, and they had some survey thing, so I took it. Don't think they're going to like my ratings much. You are much better served buying any components from an online vendor such as www.newegg.ca The kids working there really don't have much of a clue, it's a box store, good for premade stuff, and that's about it.

Mcninjaguy · 11-23-2008, 09:23 PM

yea I get angry when I walk around futureshop and If I hear them giving stupid advice I really just want to kick them in the nuts. I try to help people if they are being given bad advice!

here's a good site to keep on your bookmarks
http://www.pchell.com/hardware/beepcodes.shtml

11-21-2008, 04:34 PM	#1 (permalink)
yapper99 Registered User Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 12 OS: XP Media Center	Ram Problem, beeping sound.. HELP! I recently installed 2 gb of kingston ram in my 3 year old Toshiba M satellite laptop which has windows xp home (sorry I don't know the exact model number.. its not with me right now). Soon afterwards the computer started doing strange things such as beeping unstoppably while turned on (not during startup ) and it seemed like the alt key was stuck, i have run virus scans, anti spyware and everything and am fairly confident that there is no malware. (as it only started happening after installing the ram) I took it to the place where they installed the ram (futureshop.. owned by best buy) and they said that after they installed the ram it somehow messed up the hard drive, they said i must back up all my data and must buy a new hardrive. Is this true or just a money grab, whats your advice? Thanks in Advance, Last edited by yapper99; 11-21-2008 at 04:35 PM.

11-21-2008, 04:40 PM	#2 (permalink)
keezel Registered User Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Atlanta Posts: 11 OS: Ubuntu (Intrepid Ibex); XP	Re: Ram Problem, beeping sound.. HELP! Sounds like BS to me. I'll explain why I think that and you can decide if you agree. Memory temporarily stores information which it drudges up from the HDD (like running a firefox session to browse the web). If it gets overloaded it may use the pagefile partition (in Windows) on the HDD to temporarily store whatever has not been used by the memory for some time. When this happens you'll notice the computer lagging and the hard drive clicking/spinning as the memory recalls whatever it temporarily stored there. Let's say the memory was indeed bad (which is uncommon, but it happens). The worst it could do is corrupt some of the sectors on your HDD, and I have never seen that happen. This would not physically affect the HDD whatsoever - at worst it may need a sector repair. I'd ask for a diagnostic or for some evidence before I fork over some cash. They need to diagnose both the memory and the hard drive to make a claim like that. Edit Also, beep codes are there for a reason. It's like the system board's way of complaining. Think of it like a baby crying. It generally cries because something is wrong. I'd try to take one stick out at a time and boot up with one stick, then the other to see which one the board is complaining about. Last edited by keezel; 11-21-2008 at 04:42 PM.

11-21-2008, 04:46 PM	#3 (permalink)
yapper99 Registered User Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 12 OS: XP Media Center	Re: Ram Problem, beeping sound.. HELP! ok... so if i removed the ram.. how could i repair the bad sectors (would running the normal windows error checking work?). The computer was pretty slow so is there a way to fix it so the ram doesn't cause these problems, if not i would rather have a working computer...

11-21-2008, 04:54 PM	#4 (permalink)
keezel Registered User Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Atlanta Posts: 11 OS: Ubuntu (Intrepid Ibex); XP	Re: Ram Problem, beeping sound.. HELP! AFAIK windows error checking does not do sector repair. I used to use Hitachi's drive fitness test. It'll scan the drive first, and if it finds bad sectors it then allows the option of running a sector repair. You can run it as a boot disc. I'd play around with the memory first though to decide which of the two is screwed up. It may just be that the board doesn't like the memory for some reason. Perhaps it's the wrong speed for the board?

11-23-2008, 12:27 PM	#5 (permalink)
yapper99 Registered User Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 12 OS: XP Media Center	Re: Ram Problem, beeping sound.. HELP! Lol.. thanks a lot keezel.... so i went to futureshop and they told me that there was no way to fix the harddrive and that it was gonna die very soon.... i asked them if they had bothered to try and repair the bad sectors and they said no, telling me that doing so is pointless and doesn't help....i told them to remove the bad ram... and at my house i repaired the bad sectors myself... so far the computer is working fine... saved myself some money! Thanks!

11-23-2008, 06:24 PM	#6 (permalink)
grimx133 Mentor Hardware Team Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Canada eh Posts: 3,144 OS: xp mce sp2, xp pro sp2, windows 7 beta My System	Re: Ram Problem, beeping sound.. HELP! Futureshop isn't a good place to buy parts. It's fine for appliances, software, tv's and stuff, but that's about it. Oh yah, I will buy blank discs on sale sometimes. I happened to be on their website this morning, looking for DS games for my nephews, and they had some survey thing, so I took it. Don't think they're going to like my ratings much. You are much better served buying any components from an online vendor such as www.newegg.ca The kids working there really don't have much of a clue, it's a box store, good for premade stuff, and that's about it. __________________

11-23-2008, 09:23 PM	#7 (permalink)
Mcninjaguy Temporarily Banned Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Posts: 10,422 OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit My System Blog Entries: 1	Re: Ram Problem, beeping sound.. HELP! yea I get angry when I walk around futureshop and If I hear them giving stupid advice I really just want to kick them in the nuts. I try to help people if they are being given bad advice! here's a good site to keep on your bookmarks http://www.pchell.com/hardware/beepcodes.shtml