Do you suggest I try running memtest again? Though I'm still waiting to get home to try cleaning the contacts.

Nope, I had many laying around... I could give them to you as a gift as I have so many... and also many other parts for old machines... maybe soon I'll put something here on BA to see if anyone is interested is this old hardware...

@zinamo: will you sell them?

Gave it a rub but it made no difference whatsoever. Any other suggestions? I have some new sticks on their way which I'll try out once they arrive.

Edit:
Might sound like a dumb question but is it normal for the paged memory to be 0mb in safe mode?

paged memory doesnt reaelly have much to do with RAM

I know but I'd still like to know.

Sorry for the bump but are there really no other suggestions?

As far as I can tell, paged memory is virtual memory. It shouldn't be a problem with a 0MB page in Safe Mode.

Well I guess I'll just wait until the new sticks arrive, try those and see how it goes then

It may not be that the RAM is bad, it could just be that the motherboard only supports 512MB through 2 256MB sticks or 1 256MB stick + 2 128MB sticks (but not a single 512MB stick).

Put one smaller stick in (ie: 32 or 64 or 128 or 256) and run memtest to see if it gets through. If it does, continue to install windows and see if that works properly -- if it doesn't, it's not a RAM issue.

If problem still persists, steps I would take.
1) Blow all dust out of computer with compressed air.
2) Visually inspect the motherboard and CPU, any bulging or leaking capacitors (replace if necessary), any obvious burnt PCB?
3) Test power supply with multimeter to ensure all is well, if not then replace
4) Try installing with only essential hardware (below).
-Configure hard drive as single/master on primary ATA -- nothing on slave
-Configure only one CD drive as single/master on secondary ATA -- nothing on slave
-Unplug floppy drive (only if can boot from CD)
-Unplug all extra PCI, AGP, ISA devices (if mobo has onboard VGA, use that and remove graphics card).
-Only use one stick of RAM
-Reset BIOS to defaults using jumper on mobo
5) If problem still persists, try different CD drive.
6) If problem still persists, try different (smaller size) hard drive.
7) Replace all IDE ribbons.
8) If problem still persists, try different CPU.
9) If problem still persists, flash BIOS by booting up in DOS (do after everything else to avoid possibility of bricking due to bad flash on unstable hardware).
10) Failing all that, it is now safe to assume your motherboard is stuffed.

Good luck with it, I don't think I missed anything.

Removed everything I've done so far. Not sure if I've mentioned it yet or if it even helps but sometimes without the Windows 98 Setup CD inside the machine it occasionaly restarts when it reaches that point I showed in my first post, when it does this the screen flickers in a weird way for a few moments. Sometimes it doesn't restart and comes up with a "Windows Protection" warning. Pressing space a few times and then it says something about changing stacks (already looked into this and changing it doesn't do anything). These do sometimes happen with the CD in but it happens more frequently (almost everytime) without the CD.

You know, the more I think about it, the more I wonder if it's a setting in the BIOS causing the issue (I have had an unstable computer before with memtest throwing up errors that was related to a BIOS setting and not actually bad RAM).

I really would try a hard reset of the BIOS with the jumper on the motherboard (failing that, try to load fail safe defaults in the BIOS) and see how you go.

Power supply could still be the issue -- seen many unstable computers due to bad power supply. If you have access to another, try that.

When all other avenues are exhausted (and if it still does the same thing) I would boot into DOS and flash the BIOS to the latest possible -- you would need to know the motherboard manufacturer and model to find the BIOS on the internet. It is risky if the computer is unstable (you may end up bricking the motherboard if the computer freezes or restarts in the middling of flashing -- but if the thing is unusable anyway, you don't have much too much to lose).

Another thought that occurred to me (although I think it's highly unlikely due to memtest throwing up errors) is a bad Windows 98 disc, or if it's a burnt copy, maybe the cd drive doesn't like the brand of CD-R (some older drives are very picky).

EDIT: Just thought I should check... it's not overclocked is it, because that should only be done when the computer is running stable.

I tried setting it to the safe defaults sometime ago but that had no effect and I also tried following a guide which supposedly gave the optimal settings for the BIOS but that also had no effect (though it made the screen rather weird). As for resetting the BIOS with the jumper, not totally sure what that is but I'll look into it and give it a shot. Power supply shouldn't be bad as I was initially using it with another computer (which ran perfectly) but I do have another spare so I might as well give that a try. No it's not overclocked.

Regardng clearing BIOS with motherboard jumper, see http://www.dewassoc.com/support/bios/bios_password.htm
under the heading of 'Motherboard Jumpers'

Basically, it just clears every single setting and resets to default (can be used if BIOS has been password protected or overclocked to the point of not even posting). I know those scenarios aren't relevant, but worth a try.

Don't know if you've had the opportunity to try different RAM yet, if not that's definitely something worth trying.

Aside from riskily flashing the BIOS on unstable hardware, I'm not sure I have any more ideas.
It would seem that you have ruled out almost every possible piece of hardware other than motherboard or CPU.

Well like I said I'm still waiting for these other sticks to arrive though they're taking long enough to even dispatch
Tomorrow when I get back from college I'll try clearing the BIOS

........

You read the thread ?
Because I said I had already done that and it made no difference, I only have one stick of RAM and I'm currently waiting for some "new" ones to arrive.

By the way, Linux should run even on faulty RAM, you can try that if you won't succeed. But yeah, it's good when you can try different hardware, still.

Updated.

That RAM is taking its time isn't it

I'm not sure what motherboard or chipset you have, but back in the day... I did have an Abit SE6 motherboard based on the the Intel 815e chipset (circa. 2000, 2001).

Thinking about your problem triggered a vague memory I had about my old motherboard. So I found the user manual for my old Abit SE6 and it states:

"Supports up to 512MB MAX. (32, 64, 128, 256MB SDRAM)"

So I could put in 512MB, but not as a single stick. It needed a combination of 2x256MB or (1x256MB + 2x128MB) to max the ram to 512MB.

I'm unsure if that was specific to that particular motherboard or a more general thing for motherboards of that era with the Intel 815e chipset. However, I do know that 512MB is the max that the Intel 815e chipset can handle.

Of course, all that may be irrelevant if you don't have the 815e chipset...

Anyway, fingers crossed its just the RAM.

Updated again finally...

Seriously... still? lol

I assume memtest is still throwing out errors?

Unless it's a combination of some of the things you've ruled out, it seems to be narrowed down to either the CPU or motherboard... or both (I'd be leaning more towards the motherboard than CPU as they tend to fail more commonly). Only other thing I can suggest is reseating the CPU and taking a closer look at BIOS settings (things like ram voltage, timings, power saving features).

Computers of that era did tend to be a bit more flogged than computers of previous eras because overclocking became significantly more mainstream (rather than hobbyist) due to options in BIOS (instead of jumpers or switches on the motherboard).

If you're at the end of the rope and feel like you can do no more with it than replace it (and no-one else has any other suggestions), you may as well risk bricking it by flashing the BIOS from DOS. If you do get a replacement, it may be worth getting one with CPU still attached to cover your bases.

Sorry to have been no help.

........

You're still not reading the thread.

I have already tested a 256mb stick of ram, I have already checked the PSU and tested it with a spare and I don't want to use Linux as that's not the point.

........