Odd PC Behaviour

[antimatter]

Well, lately I've been having some computer trouble (which is part of the reason of why I haven't been posting in a while), and I can't figure out why it's happening.

 

I upgraded my RAM, so now I'm up to a measly 1.5 GB. This is where I started getting trouble. After I put in the chip, I turned on my computer and it gave me a message saying 'Diskette Drive 0 Failure'.

After about 5 seconds, this message goes away. The first day I upgraded RAM my computer was running faster than I had ever seen it (I could actually run BioShock on all high settings, and getting at least 40 FPS). The day after it was significantly slower, and the day after that more slow, and today I can barely run BioShock on medium settings.

So the first of my problems is how disturbingly slow my computer has become.

I de-fragmented twice, and it hasn't really made any noticeable difference, I cleaned out unused registry entries (no difference), and I'm not really sure what to do next, or why it's slow in the first place.

 

Well, that's about all for now.

It's good to be back on SFN

[Sayonara]

Moved to Computer Help, welcome back.

[foodchain]

Well, lately I've been having some computer trouble (which is part of the reason of why I haven't been posting in a while), and I can't figure out why it's happening.

 

I upgraded my RAM, so now I'm up to a measly 1.5 GB. This is where I started getting trouble. After I put in the chip, I turned on my computer and it gave me a message saying 'Diskette Drive 0 Failure'.

After about 5 seconds, this message goes away. The first day I upgraded RAM my computer was running faster than I had ever seen it (I could actually run BioShock on all high settings, and getting at least 40 FPS). The day after it was significantly slower, and the day after that more slow, and today I can barely run BioShock on medium settings.

So the first of my problems is how disturbingly slow my computer has become.

I de-fragmented twice, and it hasn't really made any noticeable difference, I cleaned out unused registry entries (no difference), and I'm not really sure what to do next, or why it's slow in the first place.

 

Well, that's about all for now.

It's good to be back on SFN

 

Does the ram have the correct mhz for your motherboard, or work with the cpu clock?

[doG]

Did you add RAM in an empty slot in addition to your existing RAM? Sometimes mismatched RAM can cause peculiar errors. You might take out the new RAM and see if things go back the way they were.

[insane_alien]

it could be a RAM problem, try reseating it(taking it out and putting it back in) and see if that helps. if not, download the ultimate boot cd http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/download.html and burn it to disc.

 

boot it up and run memtest 86+, go to the cinema/tv and watch a movie, if it hasn't thrown up and errors by then then it is not a RAM problem.

 

try the usual virus scans and such.

[antimatter]

To answer questions:

 

Does the ram have the correct mhz for your motherboard, or work with the cpu clock?

 

It has the correct MHz, and is supposed to work with the clock.

"Supposed to"...

 

it could be a RAM problem, try reseating it(taking it out and putting it back in) and see if that helps. if not, download the ultimate boot cd http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/download.html and burn it to disc.

 

boot it up and run memtest 86+, go to the cinema/tv and watch a movie, if it hasn't thrown up and errors by then then it is not a RAM problem.

 

try the usual virus scans and such.

 

I will try removing it and seeing if the errors go away.

I did two virus scans, and it got nothing. No malware, spyware, greyware, etc.

 

Did you add RAM in an empty slot in addition to your existing RAM? Sometimes mismatched RAM can cause peculiar errors. You might take out the new RAM and see if things go back the way they were.

 

I have four slots for RAM, and since two were used, I put it in the third slot, so I don't really know what you mean by 'mistmatched'

[Sayonara]

Your board probably supports dual-channel RAM, in which case you can have two or four slots in use, and they must each have equivalent sticks placed in them.

[doG]

I have four slots for RAM, and since two were used, I put it in the third slot, so I don't really know what you mean by 'mistmatched'

 

Mismatched or mixed RAM is RAM from different manufacturers. Sometimes RAM from different manufacturers does not run reliably together even if it has all of the same specifications.

[antimatter]

So because I bought RAM from a different manufacturer it's running slowly now?

But it worked perfectly the day I installed it...

[Cap'n Refsmmat]

Do you know if your operating system considers all of that RAM accessible?

 

I'd agree with insane_alien -- run a memory test on it.