Muchas problemas: bad RAM?

[puffaSmoke]

I would try SEARCH, but one of my newest troubles makes that most challenging. The browser, as well as other windows, closes unexpectedly and frequently while I'm working, going back to the desktop with nothing on the toolbar. I posted this: https://www.techspot.com/vb/topic62801.html
got no replies and am still having great difficulty putting my system back in order. I hope someone can help.
My computer still won't recognized the grafix card.. even with BIOS set for INIT AGP.. Devices Manager only shows the onboard (VIA/S3 UniChrome PRO).. I even disable it and it makes no difference.
I am able to get the sound working and most of the other problems are under control.
I thought perhaps that I had a bad graphic card so I bought a new one today and the symtoms are identical. Using Everest to indicate Total Physical Memory I sometimes see 447MB.. sometimes I see only 197MB (I have two 256MB sticks installed!)
any ideas?

Thanks

 

[Tedster]

run MEMTEST 86+ booted from a real floppy to test RAM. Run for at least 7 passes. Failing memory is often a sign of more serious problems like a failing power supply especially if you're having graphics card issues.