Weird RAM problem only with XP!

Hi, there.

I put a brand new stick of 512MB PC3200 400MHz RAM in my Desktop PC - which is dual-booting XP & Ubuntu. In XP, the 'egg timer' just runs and runs and I can't access any programs. Now, if I boot over into Ubuntu - everything works perfectly - no problems at all!

I tested the stick overnight for 11 hours, using Memtest 86, and it came up as error-free. I'm a bit stumped on this one. Any ideas?


Many thanks,

David

 

Can you get into safemode?

 

Yes, big Bro - I can get into Safemode.

EDIT: I notice that there is only one short 'beep' on start-up (there normally are 2).

 

I may have been a bit impatient. I just tried leaving the 'egg timer' to run for a couple of minutes - and, hey presto - it turned back into a mouse pointer. It seems okay now and is running normally. I'm just left wondering why the 'lag' on getting past the splash screen.

 

Sometimes a service may take a longer time to start up, but anything that's set to start when the OS loads could cause the delay.

 

Have you checked the Windows Event Viewer?

 

maybe a rootkit is building a backdoor on the sys32 files check out the starting programs by using an application like winpatrol and also check the registry

start -> run -> write "regedit" when the application is launched select the adress i give from the file root


hkey current user\software\microsoft\windows\currentversion\run

if any suspicious names are listed (other than system applications like cftmon etc.) just delete without hesitation

 

Thanks, guys.

Some helpful info given. Everything seems to be running perfectly now - but I will checkout your suggestions for future reference.

David.