Computer question

[Shifter19]

Ok, I have been slaving over this for the past week, and havent had any good answers from yahoo answers.

First, here are the specs of my computer.
HP Pavilion 6740c
Windows 98se
667mhz
64mb SDRAM

Now onto the problem. I obtained the computer from a neighbor, (for free) and along with it he gave me two unused 128mb SDRAM cards. He didnt know how to use them, so he never tried putting them in. Last week, I decided to upgrade to Windows XP, but in order to do that, I would need to upgrade my RAM.
After removing the stock 64mb SDRAM card from slot 0, I inserted just one of the 128mb SDRAM cards into slot 0. After initializing boot-up, I entered BIOS to check the RAM card. BIOS read that there was 128mb RAM in the slot, so everything seemed fine. Then came the problem. AVG did a boot-up scan, and then loaded the log in window. Thats where it stopped. The computer froze for a second, then went into blue screen with a "fatal exception OD error".

I have rebooted, reseated, dusted, tried both cards seperatly and tried both 128mb cards at the same time.
Same result everytime. BIOS checks out ok, everything is all right then BAM, Log in screen to blue screen.

Thankful for any and all help!
thanks

[Squirlly]

This might sound like a stupid "Microsoft" answer but have you tried to put the 64mb chip back in an attempted a reboot?

-Tim

[fprandy]

Ok, Congrats on the new computer.

HP, IBM, Dell, Gateway, E-machines and Compaq all have their main boards manufactured to order. Memory that works in one computer, may not work in another. Clock speed must be compatable. You may have to get to the setup screen to adjust this. HP has a reputation for being a little special when it comes to memory. They do make great computers.

You can do a memory check at Crucial.com They have an easy to follow chart on the type of memory your computer needs. Check their chart against the 128 Ram chips and see how close they are.

From experience, 256 MB to run XP is the bare minimum. As long as you're not pushing it too hard, you should be OK.

Congratulations again.

[zlittell]

yeah sounds like bad ram you might wanna try the other stick... or it could be the wrong speed like fprandy said.

-zack-

[13pbstar13]

listen to fprandys advice he knows alot of about computers.

[Iram]

What's the speed on your RAM?

That machine was designed to run off 100MHz (PC-100) RAM. Due to the age, I suspect the previous owner desided to take the cheap approach and bought PC-66 (66 MHz) ram. If the machine is trying to overclock the ram, it would cause reliability problems like what you are seeing.

DISCLAIMER: I haven't been up to date on machines of that era since, well, sometime around 2001-2002.