Dual Channel Ram Kills My Computer

[harle]

Overview of the problem

I cannot get my system to run at all when trying to run my ram in dual channel mode.
I have 4 sticks of 512mb DDR1 ram.
Crucial 512mb (x2) CL3 400mhz ram
Corsair 512mb (x2) CL2 400mhz ram

I am able to put two sticks of ram (the brands can be the same or mixed) into slots A1 and A2 and the computer runs perfectly. If I try to put two sticks in slots A1 and B1 (mixed or the same brand), the components will turn on but there will be no display.


Did it work normally at one time, or has the problem always existed?

Running all 4 sticks in dual channel mode worked perfectly until about a week ago. I mistakingly deleted some registry files in Windows and had to use the recovery console to get everything back. After using the recovery console, I was still not able to boot. I found that the only way to get the system to run after this was to either put 1 stick in slot A1 or to put two sticks of ram into slots A1 and A2.

Is the problem consistent and repeatable, or entirely random, or semi-random?

It is consistent. The components will power on when I put the ram in dual channel mode, but there is no display.

I already tried these steps:

I have reseated every component in my computer. I have popped out the CMOS battery. The CMOS jumper was changed to "reset". The BIOS has been flashed to the latest version. I have tried each individual stick of ram in slot A1 and they all work perfectly.

My software:

Windows XP professional w/ SP3.
No antivirus spyware
Windows Firewall

My hardware

Antec P182
Opteron 180
2GB of ram (specified above)
Geforce 9600GSO
Antec 500W
Asus A8n Sli
WD 640GB
WD 250GB
Seagate 250GB

My main question is whether you guys have any additional suggestions as to what the issue may be. This is by no means a system killer, but it would be nice to have 2gb of ram again. I was already thinking of upgrading some components, but it is difficult to justify as this current build handles most of my needs. I have seen a significant decrease in game performance since losing the other 1GB of ram, though. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[techmanc]

What did you delete from the registry?

 

[harle]

It was the registry files for Microsoft Visual Studio 2008. You actually bring up another good point, though. I forgot to add that the reason I deleted the registry files was because one of my drives was re-assigned. So, all of the programs that were associated with that drive letter no longer worked. I needed to delete the registry files because Visual Studio believed it was still installed correctly.

The other thing I forgot to mention is that I deleted everything out of my /temp folder to try to get Visual Studio to work beforehand. Either one of these could have caused the issue. If neither of these are the problem, I have no idea what is wrong.

 

[GaryJohnson]

Did you try just with just one stick in B1 and B2?

 

[harle]

I just tried to boot the computer with one stick in B1 to no avail. The same situation occurred when I tried B2. I then put the stick back into A1 and it booted perfectly.

 

[techmanc]

You know you can change drive letters except the drive OS reside on?
When you originally installed the 4 sticks or ram did you need to tweak the BIOS setting to get it to work?

 

[harle]

Unfortunately I found out about that I could re assign the drive letter only after I re installed all the programs.
When I originally installed the 4 sticks or ram, I did not have to tweak any settings to get the computer to boot. I had even reset the BIOS settings last month to fix another issue and the ram worked perfectly.