NMI: parity check error on boot up

[cola6598]

Hi

I have a 1.5 year old Dell dimension 3100 - owned and used by a 70 year old lady for email and and some surfing that is about all

The computer will not boot-up.

I am getting a generic message( when googling the error - there are millions of people who all get this error - many with Dell's - but not so many on boot-up and very few solutions).

BSOD: Hardware Malfunction
NMI: Parity Check/Memory parity Error. The system has halted

It is not the RAM
I have disabled on all onboard devices - USB, NIC, Sound
I tried a PCI video card.

Many web-sites suggest that I update BIOS but the BIOS updates will not run from DOS and I cannot get XP to boot up - inorder to update the BIOS.

Any thoughts?

Thanks.

Colleen

 

[cola6598]

I just noticed a PCI modem and removed it and now the computer boots

I wonder if I fixed it or just got a lucky moment. Time will tell.

Colelen