Hi osprey4.
Well..... it's not good news.
I was hoping to see the results of a good 8 hours of MEMTEST running, but when I got home the computer had shut itself down.. not a BSOD... but actually OFF !!
So..... I restarted the MEMTEST figuring I would let it run until bedtime.... but within 20 minutes the PC shut down again.
I tried rebooting and hitting the F12 and ran the memory testing and the PC shut down AGAIN !
I booted up into windows (which it did fine) and right clicked "Computer" and clicked properties and it only showed 8GB of installed memory and not the 12 I really have installed. I started up BELARC and it also only showed 8GB,
I started up CPU-Z and it showed the 12GB. But in Dell System diagnostics, it indicated that DIM 00 and DIM01 were empty.
I have a problem with either a stick or two of memory of maybe even a bad memory slot.
One other thing I did was to download the latest BIOS update again and tried reinstalling it. But I didn't clear the BIOS by removing the CMOS battery for a while. I'll do that tomorrow when get over the urge to throw the system out the door.
I'm losing my mind and my patience.
What next ???????
