memory corruption? white blank screen

[jjatcal]

Hi,

I have a Dell Pentium II Latitude CPi. Two days ago, when I turned on my laptop from hibernation mode, a very loud and piercing sound came from it! It was on for about 10 seconds until I unplugged the wire to the outlet.

Today, I was working on it for about 8 hours. I closed the monitor so I could move the laptop. When I tried turning it on again (this time with battery power), the entire screen was white. The machine started to give a burning smell also. I unplugged it and removed the battery.

I tried to turn it on again a few times. I gently hit it a few times and for a split second the screen was normal black start-up mode. It gave the following type of message:

"Your memory has been changed" - as if I had added or removed a stick of memory.

About 4 months ago, I bought a 256 MB RAM to add to the 128MB I already had. The error made me think that maybe the memory got corrupted. So I removed the old one, the 128 MB RAM, and was able to boot it with just the 256. In fact, I'm using the laptop now to type this.

Could these symptoms be due to the 128MB RAM becoming corrupted? I hesitate to remove the 256 ram and try to turn it on with just the 128 - if that is the problem, it may further burn something in the machinery that gave the burning smell before.

What are symptoms of a corrupt memory stick? Does this sound like it's the issue? How can I make sure that it's not a) the hard-drive or b) the mother board. Are there any diagnostic tools I can use to check condition of hard drive? What about for mother board?

Sorry for long description, but it wasn't a clear error message to describe.

Thanks!!

 

[jjatcal]

Addition to 1st note:

I just tried it with the 128MB stick only and it booted up fine. I then tried putting them both back in and it is working fine also.

I just noticed that the clock was reset to June 1, 2000! The time was almost correct, 10 minutes ahead of time right now, actually.

How did the date change? Did the memory changes I made cause that?

Thanks!!

 

[micker377]

The burning smell and other problems may have been caused by problems with the CMOS battery. First thing to check is all the bios settings. Next, find out how to get to (and possibly change) the CMOS battery. Could be a bad connection (plug) on said battery.

 

[jjatcal]

So it's possibly a CMOS battery problem. How do I check the bios setting and what am I looking for?

How do I get to the CMOS battery and how do I check if the connection is bad?

Thanks.

 

[micker377]

When you start the computer, there should be a statement on the screen about "Hit delete" or F2, or something to enter bios. If it is a battery problem, I would take it to a shop. Some laptops are simple, some you have to partially dis-assemble the laptop.

 

[jjatcal]

Okay, I'll check out the bios. I found some settings information online to compare.

Thanks!!