Acer Aspire 8943G (upgraded memory from 4 GB to 8GB then Win 7-64 will not start)

I have an Acer Aspire 8943G, (i5 450M), with 4GB memory (2x2GB Hynix PC3 1066) and Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit.
I have tried upgrading to 8GB memory (2X4GB Corsair PC3 1333).

The BIOS sees the memory but windows refuses to start up giving the screen " ## failed to start may be due to change to hardware etc. options launch Windows repair or start normally ##". Start Normally goes round to same result / Windows repair appears to do its stuff and then goes round to same failed to start etc.

Re-installing my 4GB of PC3 1066 memory results in everything being OK. (maybe

Sysoft Sandra shows my lap top as having 4 memory slots, so does Crucials memory scanner when actually it only has 2 slots and Sandra also says it can take both 533 MHz (PC3 1066) and 667 MHz (PC3 1333) memory.

Assuming 'Sysoft Sandra' mis-diagnosed the acceptable memory speeds I would expect that any higher speed memory should 'theoretically' just run at PC3 1066 speeds.

I have checked, (via msconfig), and there is no memory limit set in the Windows boot up process.

I thought there may be some sort of BIOS restriction BUT with the dumbed down BIOS in this laptop I can not check -- how do I get to an advanced page for the BIOS ??. -- How do I get a proper BIOS option screen ??.

I build my own desktops and I am used to having full specs on motherboards, chipsets and also a multiple option BIOS.

How do I upgrade my memory to 8GB and still get Windows 7 (64 bit Home Premium) to launch ??. As mentioned the BIOS sees the 8GB of memory BUT Windows is not happy ??.

P.S. This is a Great laptop by the way and a really great screen size PITY they still do not make them at this size as I would be tempted to upgrade the whole laptop.

Thanks [edited for privacy]

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Tommy-Acer

The specifications for the system show:

System Memory^{1, 3, 4,}

Dual-channel DDR3 SDRAM support:

Up to 4 GB of DDR3 system memory, upgradable to 16 GB using four soDIMM modules⁵
(only for models with Intel® Core™ i7-820QM/i7-720QM/i7-740QM processor)
Up to 4 GB of DDR3 system memory, upgradable to 8 GB using two soDIMM modules⁵
(only for models with Intel® Core™ i7-620M, i5-430M/i5-520M/i5-540M, or i3-330M/i3-350M processor)

RAM is 800/1066 DDR3

Windows 7 should not have an issue with additional RAM.

Changing RAM should not result in a Windows "hardware change" message.

Have you attempted to just switch one of the soDIMMs?

makotk9

Thanks for the reply.

I have not attempted to change just one of the soDIMM's, I replaced both.

I did consider trying various permutations but decided to try for a known solution before playing around with my laptop too much, (which I will admit is not like me as I normally try all logical options before asking for help).

The Bios, (restricted as it is), sees the 8GB but Win 7 will not start. coming up with # may be a software issue or hardware change - try Windows repair or restart normally #.

I will try switching only one soDIMM and alternate slots as well and post back.

once again thanks.

I have now tried changing just 1 soDIMM in varying permutations.

With a 2GB original soDIMM in the "left" slot and either of the 4GB soDIMM's in the other "top" slot then it gets as far as loading Windows logo and hangs.

With either of the 4GB soDIMM's in the "left" slot and an original 2gb soDIMM in the "top"slot it goes round the # Windows failed to start, a software or hardware change may be the cause try repair or start normally etc. #.

I even tried starting in "Safe Mode" with both 4GB soDIMM's in but same result, Windows 7 will not start.

With my original 2 x 2GB soDIMM;s back in everything is OK.

I am now wondering if the fact that the 4GB soDIMM's are DDR3 PC 1333 is actually a factor OR perhaps one or both are faulty.

The only other thing I can think of is that there is some sort of "hidden" bios setting causing the problem. Is there a an 'advanced' bios screen option on this laptop and if there is how do you access it ??.

Thanks

squall

I have exactly the same problem, same laptop (exact configuration) tried 2x4GB Corsair Vengeance 1600Mhz (but they are backwards compatible with 1066Mhz - PC3-8500) - reboots in a loop. Even tried to boot memtest but again laptop reboots as soon as test start. I think it's just hardware incompatibility issue but not sure if a problem is that motherboard cannot run faster ram properly (unlikely, especially RAM speed is limited anyway to max supported by MoBo) or just cannot cope with max 8GB (I've heard putting max allowed memory might be a problem on some systems and I guess that's the case). I bet you put enough memory in it to max out the specified limit of RAM and system becomes unstable (cannot verify as I do not have any other 2x4GB modules). Only other thing is latency of RAM - my original 2x2GB Samsung ones (that work) are CL7, Corsair is CL6 and other timings are shorter as well - maybe Acer doesn't like faster RAMs? Smiley Wink (but this suppose to be only internal memory chip problem, am I right?)

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