Will bad RAM damage components?

[xraycatj]

I recently took my eMachines (now deceased) into a repair shop for repair. The first thing they told me was that the RAM stick I just bought was bad, that it had errors. After removing the supposed bad stick, I had the same problem - no boot. I took it back and they told me that the HDD is bad.
My question is: Can I try installing this stick into another computer without causing damage to see if it really is bad? If there's a boot problem and I remove the stick will the computer boot normally afterward?
thanks.

[ski]

Hmmm....I wonder why the repair shop did not remove the "bad" RAM module to check if the system would boot up? Were they just guessing as to the cause of the "no boot" problem?

To answer your question, bad RAM normally will not damage other components. But you never know what will happen with computers.

[xraycatj]

yeah it seemed kinda iffy when I asked them what exactly happened with the RAM and they couldn't describe what the problem was. The tech said he found errors with the stick and ASSUMED that was what caused the boot problems. Anyway I got another hour of labor free from the shop so it's cool I guess.

[Force Flow]

I had a stick of RAM one time where one of the gold contacts had fallen off. As a result when I turned the machine on, both the RAM and the motherboard fried--scorch marks and all.

[kamikazi_tom]

xray it seems to me like you may want to look into a more skilled repair ship for your computer. If a tech can not "explain" bad RAM to the customer and you are paying them, then you are being ripped off horribly.

[Force Flow]

Not necessarily, Tom. Sometimes components simply just fail. It could be because of flaws in the hardware, overheating, static electricity, or half a dozen other reasons. While you can determine what the problem is doesn't always mean you know exactly what caused it.

It's entirely likely that the tech simply ran memtest86 on the RAM, but never actually attempted to boot into Windows since it seemed you were only exhibiting symptoms of a RAM-related issue at first.

[ITlover]

Originally Posted by xraycatj I recently took my eMachines (now deceased) into a repair shop for repair. The first thing they told me was that the RAM stick I just bought was bad, that it had errors. After removing the supposed bad stick, I had the same problem - no boot. I took it back and they told me that the HDD is bad. My question is: Can I try installing this stick into another computer without causing damage to see if it really is bad? If there's a boot problem and I remove the stick will the computer boot normally afterward? thanks.

Can u give configuration of your computer?

Which OS , HDD and RAM are you using,what is there model and brand?

Try booting your computer in safe mode and see what happens.

It is right that the repair shop should have checked all the hardware devices for you but if they donot do it, then you have to do it yourself.

What error messege do you get when you try to boot your computer?

[ski]

Originally Posted by Force Flow It's entirely likely that the tech simply ran memtest86 on the RAM, but never actually attempted to boot into Windows since it seemed you were only exhibiting symptoms of a RAM-related issue at first.

That would be similar to an automotive mechanic telling me that a bad spark plug appeared to be causing my car's engine to run roughly, but not replacing it and taking the car for a test ride. Needless to say, I would be looking for a different mechanic in an eye blink.

[xraycatj]

lets see....
Windows XP, emachines with FIC am37 MB (http://www.emachine-upgraders.info/d...eta/am37.shtml) Had an OEM 60GB seagate HDD and an older 10GB HDD I installed many months ago as a storage drive. worked without any problems.

I purchased a 1GB stick of 400Mhz PQI memory thinking it would be faster but realized its full potential couldn't be used but would still be backwards compatible. It worked great for three weeks and initially passed memtest86 without any errors. Then one day I took out the older of the two HDDs and played around with the HDD jumpers of the OEM. after reassembly it wouldn't boot, said something about "drive does not exist" or something.
When i hook up the OEM HD to my IDE to USB cable and try to access files from another computer it never completes installation (Plug-n-Play)
can i run memtest86 without a HDD?

[oryx]

Originally Posted by xraycatj can i run memtest86 without a HDD?

Yes, it's normally run from a bootable floppy or CD.

[Force Flow]

Originally Posted by ski That would be similar to an automotive mechanic telling me that a bad spark plug appeared to be causing my car's engine to run roughly, but not replacing it and taking the car for a test ride. Needless to say, I would be looking for a different mechanic in an eye blink.

The analogy doesn't quite match up. In this case there was a problem with the RAM, from what xraycatj said. The tech took care of the RAM issue, but didn't think to look at the HDD because that was an entirely seperate issue.

That would be like replacing the brake pads on a car if you heard them grinding, then later finding out that you need new windshield wipers because they didn't work when a bird decided to do its business on your windshield an hour later after fixing the brakes.


xraycatj, what exactly did you do to the jumpers when you were "playing" with them (or even the drive itself)?

[Hpro]

Originally Posted by Force Flow I had a stick of RAM one time where one of the gold contacts had fallen off. As a result when I turned the machine on, both the RAM and the motherboard fried--scorch marks and all.

I Only once saw a Board fry when wrong Ram was inserted....

Usually on 80% of all computers it doesn't matter if the Ram is bad or not . Todays motherboards Except PCCHIPS will not boot and eventually give a ERROR BEEP or another sound if Ram CPU or Motherboard failure is Detected..

Greetings Guys
hpro

[ski]

Originally Posted by Force Flow The analogy doesn't quite match up. In this case there was a problem with the RAM, from what xraycatj said. The tech took care of the RAM issue, but didn't think to look at the HDD because that was an entirely seperate issue. That would be like replacing the brake pads on a car if you heard them grinding, then later finding out that you need new windshield wipers because they didn't work when a bird decided to do its business on your windshield an hour later after fixing the brakes.

You're apparently forgetting that xraycatj stated "After removing the supposed bad stick, I had the same problem - no boot. I took it back and they told me that the HDD is bad." Hence, the HD was not an entirely separate issue, which makes my spark plug analogy an exact match to his situation.
Now if xraycatj stated "After removing the supposed bad stick, I had a different problem", then your brake pad/wwiper analogy would apply.

[TwoRails]

Originally Posted by ski That would be similar to an automotive mechanic telling me that a bad spark plug appeared to be causing my car's engine to run roughly, but not replacing it and taking the car for a test ride. Needless to say, I would be looking for a different mechanic in an eye blink.

that is interesting... (just small-talking) but that would actually be up to you: there is one charge to diagnose the problem (the spark plug), then a completely different charge to do the engine tune up / plug replacement... or is the shop suppose to cover repairs in the same cost of the diagnosis?

[xraycatj]

I had two IDE HDDs, a 10GB and a 60GB, installed in my computer with both jumpers set to cable select. this worked as it should have for a long time. I decided I didn't like the loud ticking of the old 10GB HDD so I took it out and set the jumper of the 60GB to 'master.' It was done with great care, nothing was dropped or shocked. I turned the computer back on and got: "DISK BOOT FAILURE, INSERT SYSTEM DISK AND PRESS ENTER"

I then tried other jumper settings and IDE cable positions and got the same message and proceeded to the shop.

[Force Flow]

Alright, were you running a dual-boot system at any time? Are you sure about which drive the Operating System was installed on?

[xraycatj]

no dual-boot system. the OS (WinXP) was on the 60GB HDD. The 10GB was originally the boot drive in a 10 yr old compaq with Win98.

possibly useful info: I deleted everything off the 10GB and tried to format it but it would never format. It worked fine reading and writing files. It wasn't really even needed for extra storage space...just kinda sat there for a few months.

also if it helps: when the 10GB HDD was taken out of the old compaq, no files were deleted before it was plugged into the eMachines, the Win98 OS was still on it. It worked fine this way with the other HDD and still worked when I deleted everything. It just sat there, empty, not being used for a few months.

[Force Flow]

With the 60GB drive, make sure you have it plugged into the end of the IDE cable; not the middle.

[xraycatj]

should the jumper be set to master, or cable select?

[flanzig1]

Cable Select

[xraycatj]

well this is unexpected. I just plugged the 60GB HDD in to my laptop using my IDE-USB cable and it works! I saved all my kids' pictures and 30GB of music successfully. I wonder why it didn't work with the other two computers I tried it on. So the HDD still functions but not the OS?

[ITlover]

Originally Posted by xraycatj well this is unexpected. I just plugged the 60GB HDD in to my laptop using my IDE-USB cable and it works! I saved all my kids' pictures and 30GB of music successfully. I wonder why it didn't work with the other two computers I tried it on. So the HDD still functions but not the OS?

There must be something wrong either with the power or data cable of your computer.
Try using a new data cable to plug your HDD into Motherboard and make sure that the HDD is plugged into Primary Master Cable.