RAM -.-Follow

So this desk top I use has 512mb RAM.
It is about 5 years old now, and I just never got around to upgrading the RAM (It can support 2GBs of DDR)

I woke up early today to check some stuff (WoW related) and when I woke the comp up (I leave it on for updates and stuff) it was on a black screen telling me something was up with the RAM.

I hit F1 to boot normally, and then right clicked on My Comp, went to properties and sure enough it is telling my there is only 384mb RAM.

So uh . . . I don't know what to do to get it to recognize the rest (it is just 1 stick on RAM).

Not sure how long this has been an issue, but I got the error today.

I roll with XP sp3, and I did read that SP3 can mess up your RAM? But I know a few weeks ago it picked up the 512mb (as I was looking for possible upgrades to buy) and I was on Win XP sp3.

Any help? thanks.

Edited, Dec 25th 2009 11:20am by Sandinmygum

It sounds like the stick of ram you have went bad. To be certain though, shut down the pc and unplug it. press the power button you should get a momentary light. open the case and remove the stick of ram from it's slot. blow or preferably blow canned air into that slot to clear any dust. reseat the stick and then power up the pc. If the pc doesnt power up listen for any post beeps and give us the system spec of your pc ie who made it, type of cpu etc.

Btw while you have the ram out and in hand write down any numbers brand name modle etc you might find as it may help determining what type of ram you have and what you will need in order to replace it with.

If the pc was playing the games you wanted, at an acceptable frame rate and wasnt giving you any other problems other than the recent ram issue, I personally wouldn't swap pc's but I would start saving towards a newer better model. Of course I am also guessing you wouldnt have to pay 3 to 400$ for 2gb of ram, if that were the case you would be way better served buying a new pc. I suppose for me the breaking point would be around 125 to 150. if I could repair it for that price or cheaper I would, more than that I'd look at an entry pc from someone in the 500$ range. Ibuypower.com and cyberpowerpc.com both have models that would easily perform for that price.