A new member needs help.

[Ballistixx]

Hello Guys and Gals,

This is my first post on this forum. My name is Jason, I live on Maui, and I am 31 yrs. old.
I am pretty near "stupid" when it comes to computers.

Right now I am using a Gateway 7508GX laptop. It has a AMD Mobile Athalon 3400+ 2.18ghz cpu, 1gig ram, ATI Radeon X600 with 64mb ram, and a 4800rpm 80 gig HD. It has been really acting up lately, running programs very slowly and getting a lot of memory errors.

I have a new Gateway C-140 coming on the 17th, however I still hope to fix the 7508GX.

So can anyone here help me fix my 7508GX? Or perhaps a better question would be, Is anyone "in the know" willing to help a fairly intelligent, quick learning newbie.

So far I have run the Microsoft Memory Diagnostic tool on the laptop. It failed every single test of the six.
I then removed the ram stick that is accessible underneath the computer and re- inserted it. I ran the memory diagnostic once again with the same results, complete failure!
Is it okay if I remove the bottom memory module all together and run the test to further isolate the problems?

Where do I go from there? How do I get to the inner ram module? How do I tell if it is the memory on the motherboard? Can a computer even run Windows and programs with a damaged mother board (My computer still runs)?

Please hepl me if you are able to.

Thanks,

Jason

[glc]

You can run it with one module removed. The other module is removable too, but I cannot find anything on the Gateway site that shows how to get at it. If you pull the one module and everything tests good, you can either run it that way with 512k or (if it's off warranty) buy a replacement module from Crucial.com.

[sgtspector]

On my dell laptop I found the second (not user serviceable) module under the keyboard. If you are so inclined to delve that far into it give it a try. I would first look for repair info for that laptop on the Gateway website.

[glc]

I did look, sarge - it ain't there.

If the laptop is still on warranty, just call Gateway and let them fix it.

[Ballistixx]

The problem is, it is out of warranty.
Plus Gateway will not upgrade the non user replaceable memory module.

I would like to install 2gb of ram in it, but I have no way of telling if the problem is in the mother board. I would hate to buy the ram only to find out it wasn't the problem. Also I need to figure out how to disassemble the laptop to get under the keyboard where I believe the other ram module is.

If no one is able to directly help me here, can you please point me in the right direction? Not Gateway.

From looking arround I see people repair laptops much older than this one.

I wouldn't mind getting it repaired professionally but I live on Maui, and on this island you will have a hard time finding anything "professional" except hula dancers.

Thanks,
Jason

[Ballistixx]

I ran memtest and got 1500 plus errors in a little over one pass. Every single test.

If you were in my shoes, how would you proceed from here?

Thanks,

Jason

[glc]

Find a way to get at the other module.