RAM Issues

[purplebunny]

Just to preface, I'm really not sure if this belongs here, or Retardoland. It's such a great topic for a first post. (Long-time lurker, though.)

Since 512 MB of RAM just wasn't cutting it anymore, and there was a sale on laptop memory, I upgrade the laptop I use for Simming to 1 GB last night. Or tried to.

Inserted the new card in the slot (and yes, it was the appropriate sort, right speed, etc.). Computer wouldn't start. Removed it. Computer wouldn't start. Put in the new card only, computer worked fine, but only at 512 MB.

Not only that, but it was crashing when we loaded the Sims (fatal error), and we determined it was either memory-related or buggy download-related as removing the Downloads folder (which is sitting at exactly 1 GB of content atm) fixed the error.

My husband poked and prodded at the laptop a bit more today and discovered the reason that the old memory card wasn't working was because when we were fiddling with it, the connections got orange juice on them from when I spilled OJ on the laptop a year and a half ago.

So yeah, when your RAM chip starts acting up... check for OJ before you do anything else.

 

[Aggie]

Sound advice.  Was it at all fixable?

[purplehaze]

Here's how I fixed the connections on one of my sticks: I rubbed it gently with an eraser. I read it somewhere; and since I had nothing to lose, I tried it and it worked. Your milage may vary.

[witch]

My techie-ex always does that - in fact taught me to do it for contacts on all sorts of cards. So I have a rubber in my toolbox.

[jsalemi]

So I have a rubber in my toolbox.

That has a WHOLE different meaning here in the States.

[SaraMK]

LOL, jsalemi. I'm aware of both meanings, but even so, it took a second to process what witch meant. And if it were not in context (if purplehaze's post did not exist) it would have been really puzzling, since I rarely remember which country MATY members are from. Context... makes so much difference. It's an example of how the words that are written are not all you need (or all that you mind uses) for full understanding.

[witch]

Yes, a rubber in my toolbox and a condom in my drawer. Or used to have many condoms in my drawer until my son and his friends - and I - used them all up as water balloons one mad summer's day.

[purplebunny]

Well, my husband has had to clean off more orange juice several times since then, but the system does finally appear to be stable. Just in case, we ordered some more RAM at an uber-cheap price.

I am not allowed to drink orange juice anywhere near the laptop when I'm doped up on cold medicines anymore... even almost two years later it's haunting me.

[Leticron]

While in times of AIDS and other STD, it's definitely a good thing to have a rubber in the tool box (what kind of tools btw?? )
I tend to go the chemical way meaning rubbing alcohol 70% (Isopropyl-alcohol or so...I just pick it up in the local Dollar store)
It is an excellent grease-remover plus the 30% Water content dissolves sugary residues (like in OJ) perfectly without damaging any material (careful with extremely shiny plastic surfaces, LCD Screens and optical lenses, like with all Alcohols) I use that stuff for decades since it's top choice for removing residue on the heads of VCRs and other Tape machines.

-le

[RainbowTigress]

My dad told me not to use isopropyl alcohol to clean things because it leaves a residue.  He worked with tape recorders and various other types of electronics and always used denatured alcohol to clean the heads.  This is before PC's were really popular, but I would assume the same would go for any type of electronics.