Dell 8600 problem

I have an old dell 8600 I was prepping to sell or give to a friend. All of a sudden I would get a memory error after about 5 minutes of operation and then it would shutdown. Then it started to boot but would say the memory had changed and go to the bios setup on startup. I swapped the upgraded memory to the stock memory and now with either the stock memory or the upgraded memory, it gets about 1/3 of the way through the XP startup bar then shuts down with no options. Anyone have any idea what is going on? I bought it with 1 gig of memory then about a year ago upgraded to 2 gigs and have had no problems till now...

Is it dead?

Thanks!

 

something is amiss, have you tried using just one stick? My first guess would be a faulty slot, try booting up with one stick, and if it works try the same stick in the other one, if both slots work while one is empty, my next move would be a format and clean install.

 

yeah I treid on stick per slot using all 4 dimms to no avail...
I wanted to do a clen install but cant get that far...

 

on both slots?

 

yes I tried it on both slots with both sets of ram... Any thoughts on a cheap way to fix it to give to a friend or is it dead???

Thanks!

 

Just to clarify things, you tried one SINGLE module in ONE slot, leaving the other(s) empty, switched around to all possible combinations and it still doesnt not work properly at all?

From re reading your post, it might be your C-MOS battery, due to the bios reporting your memory had changed when it has not, a bad battery give you a forgetful C-mos, though I would think you could still load windows normally, if your not afraid to open her up and play with her insides, it could be worth trying. Dells support site should have step by step directions on how to dismantle it. I've never personally changed a battery on a laptop motherboard, but I cant imagine it being any different from a desktop once you get to it, good luck

 

I agree with Iceman0124 that you shoud try replacing the battery first.

It looks like it's very easy to replace.

Here's the link to the Dell site for the battery location:

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins8500/en/8500/sm/reserve.htm#1123661

 

Thanks guys, I found one for $30 and ordered it, (most places want over $70!) I'll let you know the results!