Old computer, chapter 37.

I wanted to fill you in to how it's going, and ask some questions at the
end here.

I didn't do this earlier because things were piled on my Dell Optiplex
755 (iirc) including the laptop I am using, plugged in to various
things. .

But I've noticed that the computer will repeatedly run for 24 hours,
including playing web radio and video, but some specific actions,
opening Settings for example, makes the computer crash, and I'm thinking
if each time it loads windows into the same parts of the RAM, maybe the
exact same parts, whatever code is loaded to the bad part is what makes
it crash, so it crashes from the same set of actions of mine. ????

I tried Prime and it crashed within 5 or 10 seconds.

So I finally started testing the memory by removing parts of it.

It has 4 2gig sticks in 4 slots.

I removed two of them

Unfortunately I removed sticks 3 and 4 and it wouldn't start.

I'd forgotten what I knew 5 or 10 or 15 years ago.

So I put back the one that had been in a white stick holder and removed
the other one that was in a black stick holder, leaving sticks 1 and 3,
both white.

The computer crashed the first two time before fully loading windows,
probably beforfe the PIN.

So I took out the 2 sticks and put the other 2, that had been in 2 and
4, into instead 1 and 3. Again crashed quickly the first two times. .
So neither pair of sticks seems good.

Maybe I have two bad sticks, one per pair, and I will test one stick at
a time if it will run that way, but I figured I didn't have 2 bad sticks
and I put aside testing for that,
-----

Because the computer crashes often even before I can put in the PIN and
if not that, often before windows fully loads, I've figured it can't
overheat that quickly if the thermal cement is at all good, so that
means it's not the thermal paste. Fair conclusion????
-----

So then I went to replace the fan, something I tried years ago but I
couldn't get the old fan out. I removed 2 screws holding on a cover
and I gradually lifted up the cover, only to find it was attached to the
CPU cooling fins. So I don't know if the thermal paste was in bad
shape before or if I ruined it.

I have a little syringe of Artic Silver 5 thermal paste. It's 5 or 10
or 15 years old, stored in a cool basement. I squeezed a bit out and
it looks and seems the same as I remember it, grey, even colored, nice
looking, like toothpaste but thicker. Too old???????

"The correct amount of thermal paste, which is roughly the size of a pea
or a grain of rice." I think a pea is twice as big as a grain of rice!!
unless they mean a cooked grain of rice but a pea is still. 50% bigger.
?????

The online directions say not to let it squeeze out beyond the edge of
the CPU. But because of the heat sink, I can't see if that has
happened. What to do?