Hey i have this old pc and im giving it to my little cousin so i figured stright forward to put in a dvd burner and more ram(256).. the dvd install went fine but the ram kept failing the memory test and after lots of messing with it i could get it to boot but it would eventually fail by either freezing or just powercycling on its own.. the Motherboard only has 2 slots for ram so i was using the new 256 and a 64. I knew this had something to do with the ram as everything worked fine with just 2 64 sticks.. so i tired switching the slots and mixing and matching the ram every way possible and trying the 256 on its own.. still kept failing.. so i thought it might be an issue with the ram so i took it back.. i just got the other new stick and its still doing the same thing.. the 64 sticks are pc 100 and the 265 is 133.. as im told the 133 should work on its own or with the 100 it would just run at 100 not 133. im nore sure what else to try.. this Mother board says it can handle a max of 512 ram which im under. i figured it might be a bois issue at this point but cant fine anything different then what i have and i dont want to take the Bios step unless its going to work.. the PC is a Compaq 7479 with an VIA Motherboard... i think the model is VT8501.. the current Bios verison is Compaq 686S4.
thanks in advance

Hello unsungzero,

Welcome to PHF.

From what your describing, If I have read your post correctly. The 256mb RAM fails the full post testing when you switch your PC on, and then crashes whilst you are using the PC's. Looks very much like you have a faulty stick?

If the PC switches on, with a single beep, and shows the extra memory is available, then the PC has accepted the memory.

Welcome to PCHF unsungzero!

i'am unsure about your problem but hoepfully someone will post an answer soon to help.


Oops looks like madmonkey (thanks madmonkey) beat me to you! (posting at the same time).

thx guy,
yeah madmonkey i figured it was a bad stick of ram but this is the 2nd stick ive gotten.. sometimes during memory test it will only get to 128mb then stop counting and freeze at 128 like tis going to boot but never does.. others it would count to 312 and then give a memory error.. this is usually when it would allow me to boot but then freeze the pc in use.. and if i take the 256 out it works great.. does the bios tell the 133 ram to run at 100 speed or it is in the stick its self.. cuz if the bios has to tell it to im wondering does this verison of the biso acutally know what to do with 133 ram?

Your system will automatically detect the PC100, and run the 256mb at the same speed.

Also, it looks like there is not been a BIOS update for your system, altough it looks like these motherboard supported the 133's since the time of their release.

I have in the past receive a faulty batch of memory sticks, and had to send them back to the manufacturer. Do you have another PC you could test this RAM on?

Also, you can download this memory test which will allow you to do a thorough test of your memory, if you can take it past the BIOS stage.

Memtest86

^ Extract, and then run install.bat. For this you will need a blank floppy disk. Reboot, and the memory test should begin automatically.