installed memory and computer no longer boots

[sharpwitz]

3 weeks ago, I installed 2 gb of Crucial memory on a Presario V6000 laptop.
It is the correct type of memory and I did the install on site. After installation, I booted the computer and made sure that 2.0 gb was recognized. Client is happy with work completed and I leave with payment.

2 weeks later, client calls me to tell me that her laptop won't boot.
I tried testing the power jack with a multimeter but my positive lead can't make its way down the jack and I did not have a paper clip around. Nonetheless, when I plug the power jack into the adapter, the adapter will light up blue, however, I can't seem to power the computer on.

Not sure how to explain this to the client. I am sure she's thinking I broke her computer.....

Help please.

 

[NickCat11]

Is there power at the tip of the adapter? Does the ac adapter light on the laptop light up when you plug in the adapter? Does the computer attempt to power on at all when pushing the power button or does nothing happen at all?

 

[sharpwitz]

installed memory and not comptuer won't boot

Q : Does the ac adapter light on the laptop light up when you plug in the adapter?

A: Yes


Q : Does the computer attempt to power on at all when pushing the power button or does nothing happen at all?

A: Nothing happens at all.

 

[NickCat11]

The easiest thing to try first is a power down cycle. I've had luck with this a small number of times so it's worth a shot before starting to break everything down.

Unplug the ac adapter and pull out the battery. Once finished, hold down the power button for 60 seconds and then let go. Leave the battery out and plug in the ac adaptor and then try to power on. Let us know if you have any luck with that.

 

[sharpwitz]

memory and frying the motherboard

Can installing memory fry a motherboard?

I made sure that I grounded myself before the installation. Also, the computer worked fine after I had installed the memory. I can't explain whey it would fail 2 weeks later?

 

[rusty.nells]

Can installing memory fry a motherboard?

Sure, it's possible. Two weeks after the fact is unlikely though. Unless the memory is bad or loose, the current problem is probably not related.

 

[NYJimbo]

Can installing memory fry a motherboard?

I made sure that I grounded myself before the installation. Also, the computer worked fine after I had installed the memory. I can't explain whey it would fail 2 weeks later?

As Rusty said, yes its possible to fry a mobo when installing. However once you are done, that's it. Your actions then cannot cause it to fry later.

You must isolate this problem to eliminate your work as a possible problem, so first try to reseat the ram and if that doesnt help then either install new, known-good ram in the machine and see if it boots or take out that ram and put it in another machine and run memtest86+ for 5 minutes to see if its ok.

Right now you are questioning your work and that can affect how you look in front of the customer and what you think about your abilities with future clients. Its important to prove to yourself and your client that the ram and your work 2 weeks ago is not the issue.

Always remember the client may have done something and is not telling you everything because you are the poor sap who had your hands in the machine 2 weeks ago, so might as well blame you.

 

[MrUnknown]

I am with everyone else in this thread. If you did damage anything, it wouldn't have worked immediately after. It is very well possible that the customer will blame you for the damage eventhough you had nothing to do with it, that's business.

 

[studiot]

Always remember the client may have done something and is not telling you everything

Rules of servicing.

1) If it's possible to do it wrong, a client will do it.

2) If it's impossible to do it wrong, a client will still do it.

3) A client will never tell you all the story.

4) A client will not even tell you the correct half-story.

5) Even when faced with the evidence a client will deny that evidence.

I had a client once whose machine wouldn't boot. I noticed that the hard drive jumper was set to slave, but he was adamant that ' The case has never been opened'. Needless to say moving the jumper back to the correct pins started the pc immediately. That client preferred to pay the 2.5 hours fee it took me to realise the fault rather than admit someone had moved the jumper.

I also came across a client who bought the wrong memory modules to install himself and 'cut them down to size with a hacksaw' when they wouldn't fit.

Having said all that you are right to be professional about your work and to be prepared to redo faulty work or replace faulty parts without argument.
A small percentage of things go wrong in every industry and walk of life, you should just budget for this in overall pricing. The important thing is to keep the percentage below an acceptable level.

 

[ITMAN]

I have installed faulty memory before without knowing, and YES it completley screwed the motherboard.

For this reason, even if I buy branded new memory, I ALWAYS test the memory, once installed BEFORE booting to windows.

 

[NickCat11]

Like others have said, test the memory although I still don't think the memory is the issue here. It's been 2 weeks, if something were to happen, it would have happened right away imo. As long as you installed them correctly, which I am assuming you did, then you need to start troubleshooting in other areas.

In regards to it frying the board, yeah it's possible but I would say it's very rare. Especially for it to do it 2 weeks later.

 

[Doctor Micro]

If all you did was upgrade the memory and it worked fine for 2 weeks, there's no way anything you did 2 weeks ago caused the problems the customer is having now. You have a totally separate and new problem. The customer may leap to mistaken conclusions since the memory upgrade was fairly recent and you were the last tech person to have had your hands in it, but there's no way this is your fault.

 

[NickCat11]

@Sharpwitz--did you fix the issue or determine the cause? I hate when threads get abandoned without any final answers.

 

[atlanticjim]

@Sharpwitz--did you fix the issue or determine the cause? I hate when threads get abandoned without any final answers.

I have to agree with you NickCat11.
Perhaps we need some "Follow-up moderators" to contact the OP and get the resolution and then close the thread, marked "resolved" or some such thing.

[have to give the mods something to do now that they have gotten rid of the rabble-rousers]