Problem with memory upgrade

[Aragorn]

My friend's laptop is a 2-3 year-old Toshiba 5100. It only had 256MB RAM on it, so we bought another 256MB chip on eBay to slap in the other spot. My friend did that, but when he clicked "Properties" on My Computer, it showed the computer was only reading one chip. He swapped them around in a couple different positions and now with the original chip back in the original slot, the computer won't come on at all! Any ideas what damage could have possibly been done or what might be causing this? I've added a 2nd memory chip to several notebooks and never encountered anything like this before. How should I/we go about addressing the problem?

 

[Agent007]

Is the computer POSTing (beeping after about 15 seconds when you try to boot)?

 

[Aragorn]

No. It doesn't make a peep. I took both memory chips out and tried to start it and it did the same thing. Did my friend somehow arc the motherboard when he installed the 2nd RAM chip?

 

[Longhorn_Fan68]

Is 256mb the max memory allowed? It's prob. not, but it's a thought.

 

[Aragorn]

No. Even if so, that wouldn't explain the symptoms I described above.

 

[goofybevo]

I've seen that happen when a friend installed RAM and tried to force it in, and ****** up the slot. I had to replace his MB.

 

[Aragorn]

I'm thinking the MB may need to be replaced as well. Is there any way a bad chip could destroy the motherboard if it was inserted properly?

 

[goofybevo]

Not likely. The MB probably just got screwed up in the process of putting in the chip.

 

[TexasOwnzYou]

is the ram compatible with your model?


are you sure u didnt receive dead ram?

 

[Aragorn]

Yes, the RAM is compatible. I know what I am doing with computers and purchased a matching chip. How in the world would I know if the RAM was dead? I already explained what happened when my friend installed it and am trying to determine what the problem might be.

 

[Ignatius]

I'll bet you don't have it seated all the way. Try removing the original module and replacing it with the new one; there's an off chance your second carriage is bad on you mobo, but that's unlikely. It's a little risky to push down hard on it, but unless you had the bad luck to buy a totally fried module, that's the most likely answer...

 

[KMcCoy33]

I had problems similar to that when I put in one that was bad. I had to put the original back in slot one, boot it up (nothing would happen), and reboot twice before everything would run. It scared me at first since the laptop was pretty new, but it ended up being the chip that was bad and the computer finally booted with the original back in.

 

[Aragorn]

Strange. This one's not booting up even with the original back in. Since yours wouldn't boot after putting the new chip in, what do you mean by re-booting twice before it would come on?

 

[KMcCoy33]

I tried to boot the first time, it wouldn't. So then I removed the battery, took the old memory out and put it right back it. Then I put the battery back on and tried to boot it again. Then it worked. I think that is how it went anyway. I was a little nervous at the time so I was worrying and not really trying to remember what exactly I was doing.