Before I start describing, I'd like to mention two things up front.

My machine is moving slower than a snail. It all started after I tried to install new RAM. Before I go any farther, let me mention a few things up front.
1) I'm certain that I got the right type of RAM.
2) The problem became worse after I put the old ram back in.
3) I am certain that the RAM is seated correctly.

This is what I have done so far.
The machine didn't want to install the new RAM. It said that I was missing some files (something about a kernal?). So I put the old RAM back in, and tried tried to do a repair installation. The first time I did this I got a command prompt. I wasn't even in safe mode! Didn't really know what to make of it, but I ran chkdsk /p. It said there were errors it couldn't fix. So I ran chkdsk /r. Three or four hours later, this finally completed and the machine booted up normally.

I shut 'er down, and put new ram back in, and tried again. This time the machine didn't even start.

Reinserted the old ram.

Machine started, but I got the "Windows has failed to start" error. So I tried the repair installation thing again. It took forever to complete, and it had trouble copying a couple of the files. Actually it didn't complete at all. It got stuck at the "Saving Configurations" part. So I rebooted and tried again. This time it had no problem copying the files, and the process went faster. But it got stuck at the "saving configuration" point again. Powered down, tried again. Got stuck again. Meant to try a third (fourth?) time, but forgot to hit the F9. Surprisingly Windows started--sorta. It gave me this screen that said that installation would be complete in 39 minutes. 18 hours later it finally finished, but its running very, very slowly. Even in Safe Mode Command Prompt. This is one slow machine! I ran microsoft's memory tester and it didn't find any errors.

I could take this to a repair shop but that wouldn't be any fun. Plus they charge an outrageous amount for simple repairs. And, the last time I took it in, I came out with a custom made piece of malware. (It took the people down in the "Am I infected" and HJT forums something like three weeks to get to the bottom of it).

So anyway, HELP!

Katherine

I wouldn't bet on that, just cause it fits and the general specs seem compatible doesn't mean it will work, even experienced experts have troubles finding compatible ram everytime

more of a plug and pray process

you need to dig around in bios and try to get things working better

I got the same error yesterday wouldn't you know. I got a bluescreen while internet browsing that said something about a kernel error and when I shut it down and restarted it said windows cannot start and when I ran both chkdsk /r and /p they both said there were irreparable problems. That's quite a coincidence. I think our hard drive is dying even though its only 2 years old... was running very slowly the day before. BTW when the BIOS starts up I get a loud clicking noise oh no!!!! Sounds like pencils tapping on a desk about every 1/2 second. This computer is so messed up.

When you were installing the new ram did you turn off the computer, unplug it from the wall, and properly ground your self to the computer case before touching anything? You may have caused a static discharge which is memory's worst enemy. What kind of computer do you have and what kind of memory did you purchase?

Try running a memtest86 you might just have some bad RAM, or your timings might not be set correctly, I have seen a couple pcs with this problem, they boot jsut fine once the correct timing were put in.

Definitely run MemTest, but I'd also get a diagnostic from the manufacturer of the hard drive to check the drive also.

Yes. I am very careful with this computer. I always keep myself grounded with one of those bands that clips to the case.

Actually I finally got this fixed early Friday morning. I'm still not entirely sure what happened, but it appears to have been hardware (one of the sticks is bad), software (corrupt files), and BIOS (I have no idea, I just selected the "optimize settings" option).

But to answer your other questions, I have a home built machine. Has a (Biostar) M7VKQ motherboard, and an Athlon 1700+ processor. It uses standard 168 pin SDRAM DIMM. I purchased two 512MB sticks. One of which does not work. Sending it back this afternoon.

Kat

glad to see you have eliminated the problem.

Glad to hear it all worked out, thanks for posting your solutions it will help other members in the future