INSTALLED 1 GB MEM STICK AND NOW COMPUTER WON'T START?

I would recommend a fresh install of Windows. Back everything up with the 1GB installed, turn off PC, install the second stick of RAM and then go straight to installing Windows.

What operating system?

It sounds like a speed issue, in the difference between the 4200 and 5300.

hello

several beeps in a system is caused by a memory issue -- If you've recently added or tried to add additional memory to the computer and have started getting these beeps. Remove all new memory you've added to the computer. If the computer works fine after removing the new memory you're encountering either an incompatibility or defective new memory.

Sometimes when the computer is moved and/or over time a memory stick can become loose causing the computer to be unable to read the memory or get errors as it's reading it. Try fixing this issue by opening the computer removing each of the memory sticks you have in the computer and then placing them back into the computer.

If reseating the memory did not resolve the issue try swapping the location of the memory. If you have only one stick of memory in the computer try moving it to another slot and then boot the computer.

If you have more than one stick of memory try removing all but one stick of memory and boot the computer. If this does not resolve the issue try removing that stick of memory and try one of the other sticks of memory.

the specs can be found at this link
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/dim4600/en/4600i/sm/specs.htm

the system you have is upgradable to 4G of RAM, and this RAM must be installed in equal pairs
so if you have 4 slots to insert memory in (assuming you will retain the 2 256M) , you must install the other slots by 2 512M, 2 1G or 2 2G DIMMs -- make sure you isntall exact same DIMMs, dont mix memory makers or specs, other than what Dell specifies

memory type must be
PC2700 (333-MHz) or PC3200 (400-MHz) DDR SDRAM
(non-ECC)

i hope this helps --

if you shut it down open the case you wil see 1 or 2 memory cards standing up in sockets off of the motherboard.
there is a white clip on either side of the memory card you pull them back away from the memory card and that corner pops up do same for the other side after you get 1 out you can try booting up to see if it boots up if it does chances are that memory stick is good.
then pull that 1 out and try the first 1 you took out to see if it boots up on that stick if it does not boot then memory is bad.
if it is bad you will need to buy another stick of ram if memory serves me you can get a set of 2 matching cards for around $35 dollars.
If you have vista on it you can run mem test goto start then in the search box type in memory and click on Memory Diagnostic Tool and it will ask to run mem test now or the next time you start computer up.

The new RAM module could be faulty or the second memory slot is faulty.
Try removing the original 1Gb memory module and inserting the new memory module in its place to see if the computer boots up normally. If it doesn't then then new memory module is faulty.

format the memory stick

Hello


1. Make sure that your computer supports 1Gb on 1 slot.

2. If you touched the chips with your hand you might have BURNED the chips with static electricity from your hands.

3. But before you start panicking check if you have moved the video card, if you did the PC won't show up anything and will halt at start up.

3. One last thing you might do to get the computer booting up again is to remove the CMOS battery for say 1 minute and then put it back in place to reset CMOS just in case. Then plug in your old memory in place turn off replace and try the new one. turn off try install both (never touching the chips on the RAM) and turn on again.

Hope that this helps :)

1 gb is the enough mem for the computer u have, u may check the virus and install fresh virus free windows for getting full performace of your computer.

This laptop can support up to a max of 1 GB of RAM , so if you buy 1 stick of 1 GB of RAM you need to take out the 768 MB and just put the 1 stick of 1 GB RAM, or your other option is to buy a 256 MB of RMA so your computer will still have a max of 1 GB of RAM and that would be cheaper and you can still use your old RMA on your laptop , this is the lin for the complete specs of your laptop http://www.dealtime.com/xPF-Compaq-Refurbished-COMPAQ-P4-M-1-8GHZ-256MB-30GB-14-1-TFT-CDRW-W-XP

Hope that helps...........