It’s a simple question, but think before you say yes. Windows XP supports a clever technology which allows hibernating the PC. Effectively turning the PC off, but retaining information about all the running programs in a file on the hard disk. If someone comes along and asks to swap your RAM with theirs and theirs is a different size, you obviously make sure to turn off your computer before carrying out the operation. (You should always turn off your computer before you do anything to the hardware inside.) However, what happens if your PC is hibernating when you swap the RAM?
This happened to someone I know and the results are not good. This person had 1GB of RAM and swapped it for 512MB. When they tried to turn on the computer, it got to the ‘Resume Windows’ screen, but then didn’t get any further. I don’t know if this person has resolved their problem just yet, but I will update for better or worse when I know.
The moral of the story: when someone asks if your PC is turned off, make sure it really is turned off.
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