This is sort of a continuation of a question I had that kind of got buried: Horrible installation problems.

My issue was that my computer that I had built had problems installing newer games. The computer would complain about files being corrupted, unopenable, or it would just freeze up and then tell me to try again.

I have succeeded installing a few games after trying a few times, and going into the CD and extracting files and stuff like that, although I am not sure if it was that that did the trick.

However, the most expensive game I bought, BF2, still never works. I have tried multiple copies, and they all dont work.

Someone told me it was a RAM problem, and I have 2 sticks of 512 RAM.

I upgraded my computer once. Before the upgrade, I had only 1 stick of 512 RAM, and I had this problem. After adding another stick and reinstalling my operating system, I still have the same problem. Thus, I am led to believe that if it is indeed a RAM problem, it must be my first stick that is broken.

My question was: can I take out the first of the RAM sticks, and try to install the game with only one RAM stick, and then put the other one back in?

I'll never understand why people think reinstalling the OS will fix a hardware problem...lol!

Test your RAM with Memtest86. Download the memtest program & use it to create a bootable floppy, then boot off the floppy & let it run at least one complete series of tests. If any errors are found, replace the RAM. Test the sticks one at a time. If they both check out OK, run the test again with both sticks installed.

http://www.memtest86.com/#download0

Thank you very much,

I did, and it reported no errors. Now what can I do?

(I have that awful feeling that this is one of those really deep problems only some expert programmer can fix.)

Another that might be worthy of mention is that it seemed that it was mainly files that needed to be extracted that messed up the installation. I am not 100% sure about this however. Another thing is that it always failed after I changed the disk from 1 to 2.

You did it already? A complete series of tests usually takes about 30 minutes...so if you tested like I suggested, 30 min for one stick + 30 min for the other + 30 min for both = 90 min. It's only been 35 min between our responses?

I actually started testing the RAM before I made the post. Sorry about the white lie.

It took me about 40 minutes to carry out the test, but I only tested once. It seemed as if it tested both sticks, as it said I had 1024 Mg of RAM, not 512 and 512. Is this correct?
If not....
How do I test 1 at a time? Do I have to manually take out 1 stick?