Win7 64bit (non event) with 8gig ram update (significant emotional event)

Heh.

I have always multibooted OS's.  Whenever a new install is required, I start with a new disk or partition...in the old days (late 90's...pre Ubuntu) it required some special software to trick Windows.

Now it is so easy a caveman could do it.

Anywho, I had a Win7 32bit install for quite a while, but wanted some more speed, so I added a SSD...after many failed attempts to ghost/clone my running OS to the new SSD, I gave up and did a fresh install.  (oh I also had an XP install on a drive)

...after a recent 100mile move, the computer decided to default to the older Win7 install on the standard HD.  (I figured all this out later)

The computer really started getting slow for simple tasks...it was obvious the disk access was slowing it down...3gigs of ram didn't help...well that is when I realized that I had not been running off the SSD, but off the HD.

But I decided it was time to join the 20th century and go to Win7 64bit.  Luckily SSD prices have dropped so I got another SSD (twice the size of the other one) and did a clean 64bit install on it...another lucky thing, since Win7 was already installed on that computer, I did not need to buy another copy simply to use the 64bit version.

Well, If I am running 64bit, I might as well stuff some more RAM into it.  I have an older system using DDR2 ram...and the mobo is apparently touchy about the type.   I had been running 3gigs already in the 4 ram slots... 4gigs of PNY...hadn't had a problem, I didn't want to wait, so I bought another pair 2gig sticks of PNY and stuffed it in...well...you get what you pay for apparently.

The 32bit install crashed to blue screen regularly, and the 64bit install kept getting a video device crash/recovery.

I didn't need to test the ram to know that was the issue...(I attempted a memtest, but after 24 hours it completed one pass...

The issue is DDR2 isn't found much anymore...although there was a document on the ASUS support site (Asus motherboard) listing the Memory QVL (qualified vendors list).  It lists what vendors and which versions of ram (with size) are recommended.

Most were hard to find, at an other than gold plated price...I did however get some Corsair XMS ram for slightly more than the PNY I had bought.

I booted it with 8gigs of the Corsair, and haven't had a problem since.

Finding and downloading 64bit software was a bit harder to do.   The 32bit stuff works just fine, but there is 64bit stuff that should run better in theory.

Moral of the story, don't buy cheap ram.