Memory Upgrade on E5-575-38UM

fdsmith905

I recently decided to upgrade memory from the factory installed 8GB to a full 32GB.  I purchased a Crucial 32GB kit, after confirming via their website that the kit's product number is compatible with my laptop.  I installed the RAM (correctly and properly seated), and first booted into the BIOS to make sure it was recognizing the RAM, which it was.  I booted successfully into Windows 10, but later that day Office applications were generating errors, so I rebooted.  My computer then failed to boot properly into Windows, and was caught in an endless boot repair cycle.  Could not boot into any safe mode either.  Only way to boot was using a bootable USB Windows 10 ISO, and attempted multiple repairs, all of which failed.  Since I had full backups available, I decided to do a full reinstall of Windows 10 and my applications.  Apart from taking time, everything is now working fine, with no data loss.  Prior to the Windows reinstall, I attempted to access the CMOS battery on the motherboard to remove it and attempt to clear the CMOS, but chose not to risk breaking any of the very small connectors and ribbon cables (~5) needed to be disconnected in order to access the CMOS battery on the "other side" of the motherboard.

My questions are:

1.  Does this laptop have a specific method or process that is undocumented and needs to be followed when changing memory to prevent the above?
2.  Why is the motherboard engineered like this to make the CMOS battery so incaccessible?  Sooner or later, that battery will need changing.

StevenGen

fdsmith905 said:

I recently decided to upgrade memory from the factory installed 8GB to a full 32GB.  I purchased a Crucial 32GB kit, after confirming via their website that the kit's product number is compatible with my laptop.  I installed the RAM (correctly and properly seated), and first booted into the BIOS to make sure it was recognizing the RAM, which it was.  I booted successfully into Windows 10, but later that day Office applications were generating errors, so I rebooted.  My computer then failed to boot properly into Windows, and was caught in an endless boot repair cycle.  Could not boot into any safe mode either.  Only way to boot was using a bootable USB Windows 10 ISO, and attempted multiple repairs, all of which failed.  Since I had full backups available, I decided to do a full reinstall of Windows 10 and my applications.  Apart from taking time, everything is now working fine, with no data loss.  Prior to the Windows reinstall, I attempted to access the CMOS battery on the motherboard to remove it and attempt to clear the CMOS, but chose not to risk breaking any of the very small connectors and ribbon cables (~5) needed to be disconnected in order to access the CMOS battery on the "other side" of the motherboard.

My questions are:

1.  Does this laptop have a specific method or process that is undocumented and needs to be followed when changing memory to prevent the above?
2.  Why is the motherboard engineered like this to make the CMOS battery so incaccessible?  Sooner or later, that battery will need changing.

First, what are the spec of the DD4 ram 32GB kit from Crucial that you upgraded to? As you don’t have to go to the lengths that you did for the system and ram to work. Was it 2400 MHz, 2666 MHz or 3200MHz? As with a ram upgrade its always recommended that they be done with either the same specs as the OEM ram, speed and timing or a one up speed and timing upgrade specs as sometimes the chipset cant handle certain ram speeds and it won't work. Also, have you got the latest bios installed? As the last bios update for your Aspire E5-575 is titled “1. Fine tune DRAM compatibility” its version 1.47 dated 2018/09/18 which also has a bearing on how the ram works.

Also, the cmos battery is very reliable and doesn’t need changing or resetting that often, if you need to change/reset the cmos, you have to have the right tools to be able to remove the cmos battery e.g. a plastic prying tool as to not shorten the battery or cue any damage in taking the cmos battery out. Also, laptops have restricted space and access and its unfortunate that they are not as accessible like desktops, that is just how it is, Have a look at this complete disassembly of an E5-575 here: https://www.insidemylaptop.com/how-to-disassemble-acer-aspire-e5-571-series-n16q2/ as it might help you and give you a guide of how to open and do everything on your .E5-575