My computer was working fine. But now when I turn it on, it starts up, gives me two short beeps. I went to an AMIBIOS (that is the BIOS have have) websight and two short beeps is... "A memory parity error has occurred in the first 64K of RAM. The RAM IC is probably bad" Also the bios can't detect the hard drive or the CD-ROM drive while booting, even though I can go to BIOS setup and the drives show up there. My question... will I need to swap out the motherboard, or can I pop and replace the RAM IC?? I haven't opened the case yet to look at the motherboard. I suspect the RAM chip would be soldered to the board. Any input would be appreciated. Thanks, ~Surf
Ok, first of all, is this a computer you built yourself(or someone built for you), or is it an OEM product (from Dell or Gateway or whatever)? Second depending on the age of the computer, your memory may be obsolete and therefore much more expensive than DDR2 or DDR3 memory which is the current standard. You need to find out what KIND of memory you have (the chips are slotted, not soldered to the board). It is often difficult to tell what kind of memory you have unless there is a sticker on it with that information. If you have a computer parts store nearby, take your memory chip to them to see if they can match it up. If you have memory that is no longer available, it may be time to upgrade! if that is the case, you will likely have to replace AT THE MINIMUM, your CPU, motherboard and memory. Check out my step-by-step guide to building a pc. you may find some useful information there.
depending upon the type of RAM, RAM usually arrive as DIMMs (Dual Inline Memory Module) they are not usually soldered in except in some laptops i presume to identify the RAM type use PCWizard or SIW or another hadware ID util you prefer
