[Blackmirror]

when i get undressed
Light the room up with static

I pop light bulbs yet my pc still clicks along

[Daveskater]

Originally Posted by Blackmirror

when i get undressed

Don't tease us, Donna!

Len, leaving the plug in but turning the socket off is just fine, as Husky said. It will keep you grounded but not in a live circuit

I personally have a wrist band, but that's because I can't turn off the socket that my PC plugs into. Well I could, but then I'd have to set my alarm clock again and I hate doing that

[Blackmirror]

Its true that some people are more "static" than others..
Well it depends what you are wearing i suppose ..

[Rik]

I spent over 15 years in the electronics trade. Husky's advice is spot on. It's exactly what I when working on a pc!
Working on the inside of a pc with the power on isn't at all dangerous if you know what you are doing either. All the dangerous voltages are within the PSU only. Beyond the PSU, 12volts is the highest you will encounter. Mind you, there is also a -12volt rail so in theory, if you shorted between 12volts and -12volts you have the equivalent to 24volts (altho not exactly).
Having said all that. The power should definately be turned off for fitting ram.

[Rik]

Originally Posted by Blackmirror

Its true that some people are more "static" than others

Thats true. It can also be affected by the way you walk and the speed you walk for example.

[Gunner]

Rik, you speak the truth but there can be exceptions. You will know this.
Older pc cards, like modems and the likes, had transformers on them that
would step up the 5 or 12 volts to hundreds of volts that would make one tingle.
I know I grabbed a few and it was like touching a cut spark plug wire and ground.
To increase DC output voltage from lower source voltage, is to "chop it"(switch it of
and on) and pass the resulting pulses or oscillations through a transformer, then
through rectification, and then voltage control it.
In my day I have seen 9vdc devices that had a thousand volts running through it.
Not prepared to go into E=IR and how much current will hurt/kill you.
But I digress...

[djlen]

Originally Posted by Daveskater

Don't tease us, Donna!

Len, leaving the plug in but turning the socket off is just fine, as Husky said. It will keep you grounded but not in a live circuit

I personally have a wrist band, but that's because I can't turn off the socket that my PC plugs into. Well I could, but then I'd have to set my alarm clock again and I hate doing that

Let him speak for himself Donna. Tease Me!! I'm very lonely.

I will be doing that and then touching the case, and then saying a few Hail Marys...........etc. That part about turning it all off and it still being grounded sounds the best.

Rik - Husky's is the advice I'm going with....seems the most thorough.

Gunner - the computer in question would, I guess be considered an oldie. I had it built in about '02 - '03. Do you think that would fit the criteria of those with a transformer? I could open it up and not know even by looking at it....lol.

Now if the memory would get here we could get to work on it. I'm thinking it will be here on Thurs. or so. I can't believe you guys (and the tease) are so helpful and nice to a newbie. You can't imagine how how much it is appreciated.

Len

[Blackmirror]

Well we try to make it as fun as we can Len. but the end results are hopefully the same

You will have fitted your memory and be on your way to the next project whatever it may be

Everyone has different ideas and indeed a different way of doing the same thing

[Gunner]

Len:...the computer in question would, I guess be considered an oldie.
I had it built in about '02 - '03. Do you think that would fit the criteria of those with
a transformer? I could open it up and not know even by looking at it...

I really doubt it.
Sorry for the information overload but that's how many people learn...me included.
Electronics is electronics where one either knows or doesn't know how it works.
What one doesn't know can be scary or even harmful.
Not to worry about replacing your memory. You'll do fine.
DON"T open a power supply or television/monitor (crt type).
These devices have high voltage devices that stay charged like FOREVER even if
unplugged.
Heck, there I go again....sorry.

[samjohnson]

Originally Posted by Gunner

DON"T open a power supply or television/monitor (crt type).
These devices have high voltage devices that stay charged like FOREVER even if
unplugged.
Heck, there I go again....sorry.

Oops to late for me then. lol
I opened my TV a couple different times because it was messing up. And being me I wanted to see if I could fix it. Yup I think I shocked myself quite a few different times... after about the 3rd or 4th time I learned my lesson.

[Rik]

If you had gotten a shock from the tube starter Sam, you wouldn't be here to talk about it.
Even very old and unused crt tv's and monitors can be deadly. They are the kind of device that even the experts treat with extreme caution. The ones that don't, arent able to tell their tale.

[samjohnson]

Ya I kept accidentally touching the circuit board on the back of the TV. It gave quite a good shock to! I won't do that again though! haha

[Gunner]

Sam, you were lucky to only touch a couple smaller charged capacitors.
If you had come in contact with the flyback transformer and crt circuit,
we are talking 30-40 thousand volts that will knock you on your....or worse.
Even after I discharge such a circuit and put the crt itself on a shelf for days
it will still charge up enough to give a good zap. It won't kill you but could break
a toe dropping the crt on it.

[djlen]

Ok, boys and girls......the memory came today and I will be GOIN' IN!!! tomorrow morning.

I will open the case and if everything is fairly obvious I will first pull the 512 and insert the 1gig. If I re-boot and that works OK should I shut it down and then re-insert the 512 and re-start to see if it recognizes and boots OK?
Or would you suggest a different tact entirely?
I'm almost too frightened to put both of them in there together. Most of you seem to think that at best it will only run at the speed that the 512 will give me.
More last minute suggestions would be great.

And now I'm reading the thread "Another Interesting Crucial Memory Case" posted next to mine where the guy is having problems with his memory install. Oh well, we'll see.

Len

[Husky]

djlen,
what you just described that you are going to do sounds fine. post your results.


Gunner, I can remember about 44 yrs. ago when I was in my teens, I had an old color TV that was giving me troubles. I unpluged it and went in to make sure all the tubes were in tight. I latched onto the high voltage lead going to the CRT and flew about 5 feet into the wall of my room. the shock wasn't as bad as the smack from hitting the wall at about 50mph coming off the tube.

[samjohnson]

Originally Posted by djlen

And now I'm reading the thread "Another Interesting Crucial Memory Case" posted next to mine where the guy is having problems with his memory install. Oh well, we'll see.

Len

You shouldn't have that problem. He had just got some DDR3, which is pretty new. You shouldn't have a problem.

[Gunner]

Len: I'm almost too frightened to put both of them in there together.
Most of you seem to think that at best it will only run at the speed that the 512 will give me.

We don't think but know they will run at the slowest speed.
Not to worry. Put one in and boot. Put both in and boot.
If they work together, great. If not, go with the larger ram and then pair that
one later.
Good luck.

Husky, just like getting hit with a spark plug wire. The spark doesn't do the
damage but throwing your head up against the hood does. Sheesh.

[djlen]

OK, it's in and obviously is working because here I am.
Now, I've only installed the 1gig. and it's working fine. If, as Gunner says it will only work at the slowest installed RAM it makes little sense to me to put the 512 in so I'm going to close the cabinet and stay with this until I decide to go with another 1gig. stick to match the one currently in the machine.
Just one question......in system properties under the general tab it says I have 1.83GHz,
992MB of RAM. Is that the 1 gig in computer speak? I know when I installed the second hard drive it was supposed to be 180 but only came up as about 160 or so. Is this the same principle?
Please reply with some feedback before I close the box.
Thanks
Len

[Gunner]

Not to worry. Everything you stated sounds right.
Your cpu clock speed 1.83Ghz, ram close enough, and hard drive capacity
shows lower because of the formatting done. All normal.
Have fun!!

[Blackmirror]