PC stuck at windows logo and ram question

comcom · 18 Sep 2023

I am using 4 pieces of ram KVR1333D3N9/2G screenshot https://i.imgur.com/cDAqeJb.png

My PC is stuck at windows 10 logo, I removed first ram and then switch on my PC again and it is still stuck, I removed the first ram and second ram and then switch on my PC again and the windows repaired itself and successfully load into windows again.

I want to replace my ram because I think the 2 rams I removed have problems, not too sure so just replace to be safe.

Q1. Can I replace my 4 existing rams with 4 pieces of KVR1333D3N9/4G 4GB 2Rx8 512M x 64-Bit PC3-10600 CL9 240-Pin DIMM screenshot https://i.imgur.com/U4iaDvh.png

Q2. Can my motherboard ASUS P7P55D-E PRO support 4 pieces of KVR1333D3N9/4G
ASUS P7P55D-E PRO Memory Upgrade - Motherboard Memory seems to say it can? I am not too sure.

Q3. Is the pc stuck at windows logo because the 2 removed rams are faulty?

Thanks

dalchina · 18 Sep 2023

There are on-line tools available to ensure you are using/purchasing compatible RAM.

E.g.
Crucial System Scanner | Memory Upgrade Scanner | Crucial | Crucial UK

TechnoMage · 18 Sep 2023

"Q3. Is the pc stuck at windows logo because the 2 removed rams are faulty?"

Possibly, but are they the same as the other sticks, or are they different?

I know it's time consuming, but to check your ram, you need to test it one stick at a time, with memtest 86+.

I saw one answer with reference to Crucial.com , where you can get a little program that will tell you exactly what ram you need for your PC. Crucial is possibly the #1 ram seller in the world, and the ram that they say will fit your PC, will be the best.

I've used Crucial for years, to buy the very best ram for customer's PC's.

Good Luck,
TM

farrellart · 18 Sep 2023

Why do you think it's the RAM? What is your PC and how old is it? If it's bad RAM you would in most cases get a BSOD.

My initial thought was a corrupt install/ssd or update.

MS released a security update around 9 months ago that wanted to update/check the bios for newer Secure boot setting...this, then and now pauses the loading of Windows by approx 2 mins where it looks like it has crashed. I was aware of this update and just left it alone whereby it eventually loads with some complaints in the Event Viewer log.

This is where forced updates can be designed to kill off older, but totally capable, hardware using Win10...IMO.

comcom · 18 Sep 2023

"are they the same as the other sticks, or are they different?"
They are the same sticks

"Why do you think it's the RAM? What is your PC and how old is it? If it's bad RAM you would in most cases get a BSOD."
4 rams was working fine for many years on this motherboard. PC 13 years old. Suddenly one day during using windows, windows stuck whole monitor turned white (cannot remember if it had blue screen or not) the it either auto restart or I manual power down then power on, then during start up it stuck at the windows logo. I tried power off and then power on repeat many times it is still stuck at windows logo.
4 rams inside PC, switch on PC and stuck at windows logo, then I tried these steps.
Removed first ram (3 rams left inside PC), switch on PC and stuck at windows logo.
Removed first ram and second ram (2 rams left inside PC), switch on PC and windows loaded past the windows logo and did some windows repair during start up and successfully load into windows.
So I think second ram is faulty, first ram might be faulty too.

Berton · 18 Sep 2023

Most of the computers I've worked on the last 10 years or so have had a built-in hardware diagnostic for various things including RAM that can be reached usually by pressing/holding down F2 when turning the computer on. A plus for diagnosing RAM is mismatched modules won't even boot but the speed of 1333 and 26xx doesn't seem to matter, works at the slower speed. The various DDR models don't interchange. DDR1/PC1 and DDR2/PC2 modules for old machines are getting hard to find. From reading some postings on various sites, those offerings on E-Bay may be the only but not the best way to go. Working with 4 memory slots may be 1, 2, 3, 4 but some may be 1, 3, 2, 4 and most will be colored such as 1 & 2 are black and 3 & 4 are white, some may be white & blue. Those boards with only 2 slots usually are white or black. Nearly all BIOSes will boot with only 1 module. Empty slots will kick up an error, usually beeps.

farrellart · 19 Sep 2023

comcom said:

4 rams was working fine for many years on this motherboard. PC 13 years old. Suddenly one day during using windows, windows stuck whole monitor turned white (cannot remember if it had blue screen or not) the it either auto restart or I manual power down then power on, then during start up it stuck at the windows logo. I tried power off and then power on repeat many times it is still stuck at windows logo.
4 rams inside PC, switch on PC and stuck at windows logo, then I tried these steps.
Removed first ram (3 rams left inside PC), switch on PC and stuck at windows logo.
Removed first ram and second ram (2 rams left inside PC), switch on PC and windows loaded past the windows logo and did some windows repair during start up and successfully load into windows.
So I think second ram is faulty, first ram might be faulty too.

Sounds pretty close to my experience. As the PC is 13 years old, the update could be the cause and if the PC is turned off/restarted while loading Windows there will almost certainly be corrupt system files, hence the repair during start-up.

Have you tried reinstalling all the original RAM, turning the PC on and then leaving the PC for a while to see if it loads after, say 5 mins?

The issue with the update really does look like the PC has hung and/or crashed as it is searching the BIOS for the database file - the spinning dot animation freezes and the keyboard Caps/Num lock buttons are unresponsive...the culprit, for me, was KB5012170: Security update for Secure Boot DBX ( this always failed to install within the Windows Update environment ).

For my 12-year-old PC, I just turn it on and make a cup of coffee, and when I return I am in Windows. A bit of a pain - before this update ( or Win10 fail ) the PC would be on the desktop screen within 30 sec.

comcom · 19 Sep 2023

farrellart said:

Sounds pretty close to my experience. As the PC is 13 years old, the update could be the cause and if the PC is turned off/restarted while loading Windows there will almost certainly be corrupt system files, hence the repair during start-up.

Have you tried reinstalling all the original RAM, turning the PC on and then leaving the PC for a while to see if it loads after, say 5 mins?

The issue with the update really does look like the PC has hung and/or crashed as it is searching the BIOS for the database file - the spinning dot animation freezes and the keyboard Caps/Num lock buttons are unresponsive...the culprit, for me, was KB5012170: Security update for Secure Boot DBX ( this always failed to install within the Windows Update environment ).

For my 12-year-old PC, I just turn it on and make a cup of coffee, and when I return I am in Windows. A bit of a pain - before this update ( or Win10 fail ) the PC would be on the desktop screen within 30 sec.

I did not reinstall the first ram and second ram because I am scared that it would stuck again (scared to spend 2 days to troubleshoot again), so just using 2 rams inside my PC now.

How did you solve your problem? > "The issue with the update really does look like the PC has hung and/or crashed as it is searching the BIOS for the database file - the spinning dot animation freezes and the keyboard Caps/Num lock buttons are unresponsive...the culprit, for me, was KB5012170: Security update for Secure Boot DBX ( this always failed to install within the Windows Update environment )."

Do you think I can replace KVR1333D3N9/2G with KVR1333D3N9/4G ? I intend change all 4 ram so it would upgrade to total 16G ram. Full details in post #1

How many years do you think my motherboard ASUS P7P55D-E PRO can last?

What 12-year-old PC motherboard brand/model are you using?

How many years did your motherboards last in all your pc you had?

The greatest fear is motherboard becoming faulty, other parts takes time to troubleshoot but are easier to change, almost all the other parts have been changed before. I am worried about motherboard becoming faulty. It is already 13 years, I am ok to use it but just thinking maybe I should change a new pc system (main purpose is to change motherboard) before the motherboard becomes faulty.

farrellart · 19 Sep 2023

comcom said:

I did not reinstall the first ram and second ram because I am scared that it would stuck again (scared to spend 2 days to troubleshoot again), so just using 2 rams inside my PC now.

How did you solve your problem? > "The issue with the update really does look like the PC has hung and/or crashed as it is searching the BIOS for the database file - the spinning dot animation freezes and the keyboard Caps/Num lock buttons are unresponsive...the culprit, for me, was KB5012170: Security update for Secure Boot DBX ( this always failed to install within the Windows Update environment )."

Do you think I can replace KVR1333D3N9/2G with KVR1333D3N9/4G ? I intend change all 4 ram so it would upgrade to total 16G ram. Full details in post #1

How many years do you think my motherboard ASUS P7P55D-E PRO can last?

What 12-year-old PC motherboard brand/model are you using?

How many years did your motherboards last in all your pc you had?

The greatest fear is motherboard becoming faulty, other parts takes time to troubleshoot but are easier to change, almost all the other parts have been changed before. I am worried about motherboard becoming faulty. It is already 13 years, I am ok to use it but just thinking maybe I should change a new pc system (main purpose is to change motherboard) before the motherboard becomes faulty.

In theory, a MB should last a long time, I have Asus motherboards from 2005 and they are still great. I have an Asus P9x79 pro with Quad Channel 32GB ddr3 RAM ( around 12 years old ) and it does everything I need it to do...Photoshop, Unity/Unreal5 VR Gallery creation. With my older MB's I run older versions of Windows like Vista/Win7 and sometimes swap out the hard drive to try new versions of Linux. In computer terms 12 years is the tech equivalent to Pre-Historic and devs won't even consider backward compatibility for older hardware as they assume most users will get a new computer every 3 to 5 years..or so. I built my PC to last, so that's a niche demographic.

The problem with Win10/11 is that the OS will make the hardware obsolete, so to keep using the latest OS you might need to upgrade. There can be nothing wrong with the hardware, but, forced updates will eventually expect newer hardware requirements - we've actually seen this this with Win11. I am, to a certain extent, also seeing this with Adobe Creative Cloud - at least Adobe doesn't force me to update....yet.

The problem, as such, is unsolved for me.....I just have to wait a bit longer for Windows to load. I have read that disabling Secure Boot in the BIOS can remedy the situation. I haven't done that as it can potentially open a can of worms....

You can't rule out the MB becoming faulty as capacitors and VRMs can fail over time. This can be minimised by making sure the PC is clean inside and dust-free to help reduce heat. I am thinking of a new build at some point in the future, I am waiting until the silicone issues calm down a bit....and GPU's go back to less insane prices.

If you are worried about any kind of failure, make sure you back-up all your files.

pepanee · 19 Sep 2023

I haven't read the replies above, but this is what I would do:

Turn off the computer.
Open the computer, and remove all RAM sticks.
Insert one RAM stick into the first slot.
[Important: MAKE SURE it clicks in, and the tabs on both sides can be pushed towards the RAM stick, to lock it in place]
Turn on the computer. If the computer starts loading, then this RAM stick is good.
Once the computer loads, shut down the computer.
Remove that RAM stick, and do the same steps for the rest of the three sticks.
[If any stick doesn't make the computer load, then turn off the computer, and try removing the RAM stick, and placing that same RAM stick back in the same first slot. It may have not went in well the first time].

Keep note that RAM sticks have to be placed perfectly into the motherboard's slots for them to work.