Computer starts, boots up and freezes at black screen

[Luisit0]

My PC was given to me as a gift, but I was given it used from the previous owner and later found out it was refurbished. It is a Gateway NV53A. I have always had issues with BSOD's and Windows errors, and most of them either driver or memory related. I fixed and updated all drivers, but never did anything about memory except maybe some tests and they all came out fine. 3 days ago, I was using my PC just browsing a Web page and suddenly the screen went black. I thought it was the lcd, but I closed the lid to see if it would go into standby mode and it just stood there powered on and frozen... The only way it would react was if I manually turned it off holding power button. Sometimes it does boot up, sometimes it gets farther than others. What I mean is, sometimes it gets past the Gateway logo and crashes there, sometimes it boots up to to the home screen, and sometimes it doesn't even boot... How far it gets depends on how long the PC has been turned off. Odd I know... Anyways, I found out my motherboard requires ram with 1066mhz fsb whereas the current ram sticks it has installed are 800mhz.... I was told new ram with 1066mhz would fix my issues and allow my PC tu boot and run fine as it always did, but I just wanted to be sure that's my Issue, and I also wanted to know how come the computer ran fine (with the exception of BSOD's and some errors occurring every now and then) before and now suddenly I'm screwed. I'm currently using two 2GB DDR3 Ram memory sticks. The brand and model of each stick is Nanya nt2gc64b88b0ns-cg. Thanks in advanced, and if any more info is needed, let me know and I'll try my best to give it as I'm not exactly a pro in PC's yet.

 

[TVeblen]

There is no issue in running slower (800mhz) RAM in a system that can run the faster (1066mhz) RAM. This, alone, will not cause this kind of problem. You got bad advice.

Do you know if this was the original RAM that came with the laptop? (Not very important but good info if you know)

It is possible that the RAM is defective, or the wrong specs for that laptop, or the two sticks have mis-matched specs, but if you ran a memory tester like Memtest86+ then any problems would have shown up there.

Your symptoms sound more like a power problem. At least that is where I would start. One thing you could try as a test is to remove the battery and run the laptop on just the power supply. Let's see if that changes anything.

 

[Luisit0]

Well I just tried booting without the battery installed and as before, it booted and ran for a while and then froze again with the black screen....Closing lid doesn't put it to sleep or anything so it's frozen... So maybe it is memory related? Also I'm unsure whether the memory is the one that came with the pc originally as it is refurbished and pre owned by a family member, but looking at the specs on the Gateway site leads me to believe they aren't?? As the very site suggests memory with 1066mhz fsb. Thanks for your reply though.

 

[ashaw1]

did you get this fixed? If so, would you please share what it was?