[lynxafc]

right, I decided to have a go building a pc, nothing flash but just alittle more powerful than my old 3 year old system.

Skip forwards 3 months, It seems whenever I try to install anything from a CD/DVD I'm getting errors, the disc maybe scratched or a corrupted file on your hard-drive... I rebooted my computer god knows how many times thinking that would fix my problem but sadly no.

recently I tried the same disc on my old pc which installed fine, back to my other machine and the same errors again, So I went and bought a new CD/DVD re writer drive put that in my computer... same problems, I decided it must be my hard-drive which is corrupting my files or just messing up my installations so I went out and bought a new hard drive (1tb) only to find the same problems.

I am close to giving up now but a friend mentioned maybe a had 'bad ram' is this such a thing and could it be effecting my computer this way. Before I jump to get new ram I thought i'd ask on a tech forum with people who are experts and may actually come to my rescue. apart from getting new ram I can only change my motherboard and cpu then my pc has completely new specs altogether lol

MOTHERBOARD : AliveNF6G-VSTA
CPU : AMD 64 x2 4000+
RAM : 1gb DDR2 667mhz
HDD : 1TB HDD Serial ATA
PCI-EXPRESS : Nvidia 8500 GT 512mb

thanks in advanced.

[philthomas]

When you say install from a CD/DVD, can you be a bit more specific ..... i.e.

Are we talking about installing programs ? if so are they original disks and in good condition ?

Are you having ptoblems with both DVDs and CDs ?

What about Data CDs & DVDs .... can you read and write those, without problems ?

[lynxafc]

sorry,

these are original discs, I am trying to install office 2003 on XP pro. the disc installs fine on my old computer but seems to give off different error numbers everytime. it's the same thing when I try to install a game too. Universe at war is a DVD game which just stops half way when installing. but again this game on my old machine will install just fine.

i've only ever copied data to a dvd which worked fine. so i've had no problems there. I have 2 CD/DVD rewriter drives and they both seem fine, I couldn't have bought 2 bad drives.... could I?

steve

[philthomas]

Well ... I'm inclined to agree with your friend that it could be bad RAM. If you are getting varying error messages and no consistency in them, this is a clear sign.

Is this your mobo ? .... if so, dependant on whether you have 1 stick of RAM or 2 x 512mb sticks

Try in different socket if only 1

Remove 1 if 2 and try running with just 1 installed, if no better, swap them around.

If no better, grab a new stick from Crucial's website and use their scanner or advisor tools, to make sure you get the correct RAM that is compatible with your mobo.
Crucial are no t cheap, but they will refund, if their recommended RAM doesn't work properly.

HTH

[lynxafc]

thanks for the replies and some options for me to try. Yes that is the correct motherboard, and I have 1 stick of ram which I will try in a different socket (haven't tried that).

I will also look into crucial's website as well.

Thank you

[philthomas]

You're welcome ..... let us know how you get on

[lynxafc]

I don't want to jump the gun here but if I change the socket my RAM is in and it starts working fine does that mean it's the DIMM socket which is at fault and may require a whole new mobo?

again I don't wanna get ahead of myself but I just seem to look at everything negatively.

Steve

[lynxafc]

phil,

Your amazing man, I moved the ram too another dimm socket and tried installing Office 2003 and it installed without a fault!

So does this mean my dimm socket is damaged and i'm only able to use the other 3 now?

Phil thanks again. I spent weeks on this problem, buying bits of hardware and in the end I only had to move a £25 RAM chip to another socket

thanks

[philthomas]

Originally Posted by lynxafc

but seems to give off different error numbers everytime.

This comment was the tell tale .... as I have come across this behaviour many times, when bad RAM has been installed.
It's just something you remember, when you spend hours ,like you have, banging your head against the wal trying to figure out the reason. I dont suppose you will forget this another time either

It's possible that the dimm socket is damaged, but it might also just be a poor connector (thin maybe) that doesn't sit too well in some slots. It could also be a slight incompatibility or quirk, which allows it to work in one slot, but not in another ..... it's really hard to say. Often the same applies with PCI Cards that work in one slot but not another. The good point though is it seems to have worked, so dont worry why lol

I'm glad you have made some progress. If you didn't chuck the old HDD and DVD Drive, they may come in handy as spares or the HDD could be used as a back up drive, if you install it or put it in an external USB enclosure, so all might not be bad

Phil

[lynxafc]

thanks for the explanations phil. I'm so chuffed to have it sorted. But you are right, i'll never forget now. who knows, When I come to banging more ram in I may replace the mobo, I did keep the other hardware and i'll store them away safely as backups.

your a good guy phil, thanks for your time!

Steve, 1 satisfied customer!

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Case Closed

p.s - the game installed first time too!