Dell Laptop Memory Advice

[jimmm33]

A customer brought in an Inspiron 2650 that was acting strange and locking up random. I ran Doc Mem memory test and it failed.

I called Dell because the machine is under waranty. They said they don't know about Doc Mem, but lets use Dell's memory tester. I d/led a Dell program and created 5 floppys and booted to them. Ran the memory tester and it passed.

Dell guy says memory is good. Doc Mem says it's bad. I have been using Doc Mem for about 3 years and I trust it.

I can't replace the memory because it's the on mobo. What can I do other than tell the customer he's SOL, and don't buy another Dell?

[DocPC]

I have the same laptop and I have 2 slots.....no memory is on the board. I got 2 256MB from Crucial specifically for my Inspiron 2650 and it works great.

If DocMem says it's bad, it most likely is.

My warranty just expired.......time to sell it!

[jimmm33]

The machine has a 64MB module under a panel underneath the machine. There is another 64MB somewhere. How can I get to it to replace it and test again?

Hey DocPC, do you use Doc Mem? Would it be possible to run it on your 2650 just for the heck of it?

[DocPC]

I have 2 slots under a panel on the bottom......I have replaced the 256 that came with it with 2 256 from Crucial.

Running DocMem probably won't tell us much, but I will do it when I get home.

[Sunshine]

Just for the heck of it, try running the Dell diagnostics a few times. Maybe the RAM is only flaky some of the time. As soon as you get an error message (hopefully) quickly call Dell back and tell them the memory failed. With any luck the memory will fail on you (that just sounds bad doesn't it?) and the RAM can get replaced under warranty.

I wish you well.