I just need help! I will ignore him, but I really need help before buying parts that maybe just end up being a waste of money.
Do you have any family or friends with computers that use same RAM type and are willing to allow you to borrow a stick of RAM to diagnose your system with?
If so, remove your RAM sticks and install one of theirs and see how your system behaves. I would suggest a minimum of 2GB for Win 7 Pro, or 3 or 4GB if you can borrow 2 sticks of theirs etc. Be sure to have an ESD Bag Handy or a RAM stick clam shell to place the sticks into ( original RAM stick packaging that will not create static and damage the devices, or a silver colored bag that is known as an ESD Bag to protect the memory.) Also either use a ESD wristband with a clip to chasis ground or keep one hand in contact with the chasis metal while reaching in to remove the RAM and install the RAM with the power cord unplugged from wall so that the motherboard has no power to the circuit that waits for soft power button to boot etc. ( There are some who say keep the system plugged in, but off when removing RAM, but I had a client come to me with a blown motherboard when he decided to unplug the RAM from the board with it plugged in and shut off and he decided to use a small flat headed screw driver to eject the RAM stick locking wings and accidentally dropped the screwdriver onto the motherboard and POP, he blew a hairline trace in the motherboard and that was the end of that motherboard. Had there been no power potential present even at low voltage as it was, he would have been able to fish out his screw driver and been fine )
**** If you do not feel confident in taking the risk of messing up a friend or family members computer through this process if you damage the RAM slot, somehow have a static discharge that damages their system etc, then I would suggest bringing your computer to a computer repair shop or a friend who knows how to fix computers and have them diagnose it further.
However there is one last process you can try by taking advantage of a warranty claim process to shotgun the issue in an attempt to fix it. This would be basically if you feel its a motherboard issue, and the warranty is still good for the board. Contact the board manufacturer and claim that the board is defective. Tell them that you know its the motherboard because you swapped out all parts and it points to the motherboard even if you havent because you dont have extra parts to do so. They give you an RMA# and information on how to ship it back for warranty replacement. You remove your RAM, CPU, and cards from the motherboard and ship it back and in say a week or two you see a replacement motherboard show up. You then install all the parts back into the motherboard carefully and see if its fixed or still a problem.
If fixed then your all set and it only cost you the cost of shipping the board back, usually less than $20 USD. If the problem remains, then contact the memory mfr and claim that its failing memtest86 and you know its bad RAM even though the RAM tested good with memtest86. Get RMA# and follow same process. You then are shipped back replacement sticks and then carefully install and see if the problem is gone or not.
Problem gone, your all set. Problem remains then target another part such as CPU or PSU or Video Card etc. Going thru this process you can swap out all parts inexpensively with replacements without buying all new parts to try to diagnose.
I have never had to do this, but when I worked as an Electronics Tech for Motion Control Systems, PLC's etc with Rockwell Automation / Allen Bradley we had some customers who were sneaky and I learned their troubleshooting tricks that they used to avoid costly repairs or replacements. One such customer took advantage of exploiting a warranty term to where if the product was going to expire from the warranty, they would ship it back claiming that it had a problem, and the replacement was issued a warranty term that exceeded that original term, so they were able to have their controllers covered by longer warranty terms and then when they failed no longer an expense to the customer and our company had to eat the cost etc.
Anyone going through this warranty parts swap option wil likely not see a problem with it unless they are repeatedly doing this to raise an eyebrow as to the pattern etc. And by you going through this process, its not really dishonest because you truely have a problem, and the companies make tons of money, so you sending back a part that may be good , claimed as bad is not going to hurt them and its an affordable process to follow and hopefully come to conclusion of what part was the problem and have a healthy system to work with!
