My uncle told me to always replace both RAM sticks, even if only one tests bad

He ran a repair shop in Toledo for twenty years and swore by this rule. I had a laptop in last week with a single 8GB stick throwing errors in MemTest86. The other stick tested fine, but I followed his advice and swapped them both for a new 16GB kit. The customer called back two days later with the same blue screen error. Turns out the issue was a slightly corroded slot on the motherboard, not the RAM at all. I spent an extra $45 on parts I didn't need because I took old advice as gospel. Has anyone else run into a situation where a common 'rule of thumb' actually led you down the wrong path?

3 comments

3 Comments

stellaperry3d ago

That "sting when you realize the money didn't have to leave your wallet" is so true. My buddy replaced a whole power supply unit for a weird boot loop. He was sure that was it. Turns out he just never clicked his graphics card all the way into the slot after cleaning his PC. He had the new box in his hand when he finally noticed the tiny gap. We still give him a hard time about that one.

karen3613d ago

Well, that's a forty-five dollar lesson in "maybe check the socket first" (ouch).

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kelly6383d ago

Forty-five bucks is a solid chunk of change to learn that lesson, @karen361. I've been there, staring at a dead piece of gear and already planning the replacement before even trying the easy fix. It's like your brain just skips the obvious step. That sting when you realize the money didn't have to leave your wallet is real. At least now you have a story that will probably save you, and the rest of us, from doing the exact same thing next time.