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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Merkuri" data-source="post: 4399429" data-attributes="member: 41321">Yeah, I know.  <img src="http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/blush.png"  class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":blush:" title="Blush    :blush:" data-shortname=":blush:" />  In my defense, I usually have to push pretty hard to get memory in.  It never just slides in like I feel like it should.  And in this case I just couldn't believe that it would be too large for the slot, especially since there was a good chance that this memory actually came from my computer in the first place.  Like I said earlier, I am pretty sure I upgraded this machine's memory in the past and gave its original memory to my boyfriend.  I thought I was just taking my memory back.I just talked to Awayfarer, who says that one of the sticks was original to the machine and the other was an addition, probably from my machine when I upgraded.  I'm guessing the one that fit was "going home" and the one that didn't fit was the original spawn-of-Satan Dell memory.  Stupid Dell and their nonstandard parts.  I bet they made it a millimeter too large on purpose.  <img src="http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/rant.png"  class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":rant:" title="Rant    :rant:" data-shortname=":rant:" />  Still my fault for trying to force it. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f641.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":(" title="Frown    :("  data-smilie="3"data-shortname=":(" />Yes, that's definitely what broke off.  I have the little white locking lever still attached to some purple plastic from the slot itself.  I figured I could actually have put the memory in now that one end of the slot was gone but at that point I decided should stop since I had done enough damage (though apparently not, since smoke was in my future).While I agree that's possible, why is my boyfriend's computer running wonderfully?  If my memory worked in his, shouldn't his memory work in mine?It was plugged into a surge protector that's fairly new (bought it between 6 months and a year ago) along with the other computer and a few other electronic pieces (stereo, printer).  It's pretty full, but nothing else plugged into the surge protector is having problems.  If it was a surge that somehow got past the protector I would've expected both computers to smoke.I know that the cable itself has no power, but could this have happened if the negative and positive lines in the cable got crossed when it was manufactured?  So the power supply got negative current where it was expecting positive and vice versa?  After it was done smoking and I had some time to think about it that was one of the theories I came up with.  Does that type of thing ever happen?  Is there any way I can (safely) test the polarity of a power cable?  Preferably without buying expensive equipment.While that's a possibility, I doubt it.  It looked fully seated when I yanked it out after seeing smoke.What's the difference?  Both cables looked exactly the same except one was shiny black and new and the other looked a bit duller and older.  They both had the third prong for the ground, if that's what you're asking.I'm guessing that my existing power supply is definitely dead and I shouldn't even try to plug it in again.  Do you think it would be worth it to buy another power supply and see if that makes it work, or is there a good chance I'll fry that one, too?  I'd like to get that machine up and running to replace the DVR in the living room, but I don't want to spend money on a power supply just to kill it right away.</blockquote>

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