I put a 256mb chip in bay 'a'. When I insert a 128mb in bay 'b', it will work for a short time, then shuts down. sys: dell inspiron 3700. Thanks, jack

Hi and welcome to D-A-L

if you try the 128MB on it own does it work OK?

do you have problems with just one stick of RAM inserted?

have you tried swapping the sticks around to see if you still have the problem?

Thanks for the come back. No problem from slot 'a' on either chip. Problem is apparently 'b'. Thanks, jack

have you a load of dust etc round slot b?

No dust, it does seem to get a little warmer at 'b' than 'a'. Thanks, Jack

Apart from cleaning the memory slot, there isn't a great deal that you can do about this, unfortunately, short of changing the whole motherboard.

You might want to try cleaning the contacts inside the slot (if you can get to them) using an alcohol-based cleaning solution. Take as many precautions as you can to minimise the conduction of static electricity though (see Dan Penny's article on ESD in the Articles section of the forum). And leave the cleaned laptop long enough to be thoroughly dried out.