Spent 2 hours chasing a phantom boot loop, turned out to be a loose RAM stick with a hair on it

So I had this HP ProDesk that kept crashing right after the Windows logo, same exact spot every time. I tried swapping the power supply, reinstalling the drive, even flashed the BIOS twice. Then I pulled the RAM out and noticed a single long blonde hair stuck between one stick and the slot. Cleaned it off, reseated everything, and the machine has been running solid for 3 days now. Anyone else ever find something weird like dust or debris causing intermittent issues?

2 comments

2 Comments

lilymurphy5d ago

Oh man, that hair thing is wild! I had a similar issue once where my old Dell desktop would randomly freeze during video calls. Drove me nuts for weeks. Ended up finding a clump of cat hair stuck in the fan intake near the RAM slots. Blew it out with compressed air and it was like a brand new machine. Sometimes the weirdest little things cause the biggest headaches.

mark_nguyen951d ago

Honestly I once spent an hour troubleshooting why my laptop was overheating only to realize I'd been blocking the vent with a stack of papers like an idiot. Ngl, tech problems always make you feel like the dumbest person alive.