Hi, my laptop stopped booting up recently. It just beeps repeatedly before finally showing the standard Windows failure screen which offers start up in Safe Mode etc. The beeping suggested a h/ware problem so I ran memtest86 (a RAM testing program) and it showed numerous failures. As it is a laptop I only have easy access to the memory expansion slot, so my question is: Is it possible to insert a new memory card in the expansion slot and then set the laptop to ignore the motherboard RAM which is faultly ? If so, how would I do this? Thanks.

OK, it's a Compaq? What, precisely, is the model number? Skip

Hi Skip, The laptop is a Compaq Presario 721, it has a 1.1 GHz Duron processor, 128Mb RAM, a 20 Gig hard drive and is running Windows XP home edition. It just stopped booting up recently and after trying multiple suggestions from Compaq tech support I decided to do a Factory Restore which also failed. I then tried a RAM tester (memtest86) which suggested that there are memory problems. As there is currently only on board RAM present I thought I could verify that the RAM is faulty by inserting a new RAM card in the expansion slot and disabling the on-board RAM. Is this possible? Or is there something else I should try ?

Can I assume you live in the UK and it's a 721UK model? At any rate, I couldn't find much information about the onboard memory on a 721 except that it's apparently 128Mb soldered on the mainboard. If so, it doesn't look good for a home fix. It might be time to get some estimates on a mainboard or look for an identical machine for parts. I'd also try Compaq tech support again to see if you can find a hardware tech who'll listen to your problem instead of reading generic "fixes" off a scripted screen. Skip

Yes, it is a 721UK and when I open the cover on the RAM expansion slot I can see 4 Hynix 206A chips soldered to a PCB which I assume is the motherboard. So I agree, replacing soldered down parts is probably beyond my abilties but what about my plan of trying to get the laptop to ignore the faulty on-board RAM and putting a new card in the expansion slot? Is this definitely not possible, will the machine always try to use the on-board RAM if it is physically present ? This of course introduces another possibility, what if it wasn't physically present? I'm pretty sure I could remove the hynix chips with a soldering iron, it's the replacing correctly part that I think would defeat me.

Hi, my laptop started giving me a memory error 010. Recently. It starts to load before finally showing the standard Windows failure screen which offers start up in Safe Mode etc. the error suggested a ram problem so I ran IBM PC-Doctor for DOS (an all hardware testing program) and it showed numerous failures with onboard ram. As it is a laptop I only have easy access to the memory expansion slot, but I also have the case open to check the ram. So my question is: Is it possible to insert a new memory card in the expansion slot and then set the laptop to ignore the motherboard RAM that is faulty? Or can I remove the ram from the mainboard and just use an expansion card? If so, will the Video card still work using ram from memory expansion card. I work in an IT department but this it the first time I’ve come across this problem. Is it possible? I have an IBM 1200 series (Type 1161 43m) 64Mb ram onboard.