Hey guys, I have a quick question. I added memory in my mother's computer I thought was compatible to hers but wasn't. When it booted up it had the 1 long beep than 3 short beeps. Now the memory she had in there isn't working. When the computer boots up it has a long beep with 3 short beeps. I assume that means it isn't reckognizing the memory. Could I have done something to cause that by putting in wrong memory? I am not sure the speed of the computer or anything. I know it is no more than an 600 mhz with win98. The memory would have been PC100 SDRAM. Any info would help. Thanks.

... take out ALL the memory and reinsert making sure you seat the module ALL the way till you hear the clips click... then they are inserted correctly... good luck

Thanks Tommy but I have already done that oh about fifity times. It still beeps the same. Any other ideas. Could I have ruined anything while inserting the other memory? Thanks.

That's odd 'cause usually the computer will adjust down to the lowest speed RAM. Do you still have the old memory sticks? If yes then put them (it) back in just to make sure that the PC can boot properly.

Need, I thought that was odd also. I think it was the same memory speed but I couldn't find the any info on the net to be sure. There are no markings On the sticks so I wasn't sure. I did put the old ones back in and still get the beeps. I even tried ones from another computer I had and I still get the beeps. Do you think this is coincidence that this happened this way? What started is I had to change the CMOS battery. I booted it up and it semed to be fine. I shut it down then added the memory I had and that's what happened. Now I can't get it to reckognize the original sticks.

It might be worth resetting the CMOS memory - find the motherboard manual, this should tell you where the CMOS jumper is (usually 3 pins with 2 shorted). Disconnect the mains, short the two pins that currently are not connected for a few seconds and then return to how it was.

Also, try booting (if you haven't already) with just one stick of ram at a time.

Does this ram work in other machines?

Be careful of static discharge, always try to equalise your static potential by touching a metal part of the case whilst working on the machine (or get a wrist strap).

Actually, I took the battery out since I didn't go back into the CMOS after putting the new battery in. Before I changed the battery it would come up with the CPU settings have changed press f1 to continue or f10 to go into settings. I just continued by mistake so I would think the CMOS would already be reset. The one thing I didn't try was making sure the memory I took out of another machine worked beofre putting it in. I will try that and see if the th eother computer boots up. I will get back to you with the results. It may be a day or two before I can do this so bare with me. Thanks for all your help guys.

Ohyeah, don't have the manual, it was bought used with no manual. I did try doing one stick at a time w/ no avail.

Ok, I feel like a dummy. One thing I never checked was the video card which was partly out. I assumed since I was messing with the memory that what it would be. I looked on the internet and even though the beeps didn't match up I decided to check that. Thanks for all your help.

Pulling the battery out of mobo will reset the cmos but takes much longer... like previous comment said.. use the jumper... its right by the battery usually... says CMOS on it if you can read that small... connect the 2 pins together for about 10seconds.. should be plenty... then put it back on the 1 pin like you found it... go into bios by pressing whatever key gets you in there and verify everything is back to default settings.. BUT here is the fun part... DON'T PUT THE MEMORY IN.. you should here a whole new set of beeps indicating no memory... this way we can rule out your motherboard and cpu as the problem.. good luck

Ps.. you didn't happen to nudge or try to take the cpu off by chance?if so that could also be the problem.. cpu not being seated correctly

Actually Tommy, if you read the previous post I found the problem to be the video card not seated properly. Thanks anyway for your input.

Here is a site that has beep codes and what they mean for future problems if you get any...
PC Hell: BIOS Error Beep Codes