Is it possible to fix laptop memory slot failure with a guitar pick? Yes, it is. You will not fix the memory slot itself, but you can work around the problem. 
Today I received a Toshiba Satellite Pro 4600 laptop with the following complaint:
The laptop starts and works properly, but recognizes only one of the two memory modules installed. The laptop has two 256MB RAM modules installed, but registers only 256MB.
First of all, I removed the memory cover to find out if both memory modules are installed correctly. The laptop had two 256MB Kingston modules installed and they were seated properly.
When I started the laptop and entered the BIOS setup menu, I found that only one of the two memory modules is detected and the laptop registers only 256MB (262144KB) of RAM instead of 512MB (524288KB).
Just a side note. In the computer world 1MB=1024KB. That’s why 256MB=262144KB and 512MB=524288KB.
I tried reseating both memory modules but it didn’t help.
After that I tried installing both memory modules in both memory slots one by one and here’s what I found. The laptop worked absolutely fine when both memory modules were installed into the slot A, but failed to boot with both memory modules installed into the slot B.
Apparently, there is nothing wrong with the memory modules and the laptop has a faulty memory slot B. The memory slot is permanently soldered on the motherboard. If one of the slots fails you’ll have to replace the whole motherboard or use the laptop with only one working slot.
Buying a new motherboard for this older laptop wouldn’t make any sense because it’s too expensive, but the laptop is still in a good working condition except the faulty memory slot B, so I continued playing with that trying to find the solution.
I noticed that the laptop start normally with the memory module installed into the faulty slot if I slightly press on the module with my thumb. And this gave me an idea.
This guitar pick is going to fix my laptop.
I installed both RAM modules back into the slots and then placed the guitar pick over the module in the slot B as it shown on the picture.
I thought if I close the RAM door it will press on the guitar pick/memory module and it will have the same effect as pressing on the module with my thumb. And it worked!
Both memory modules were detected properly and the laptop registered all 512MB. After “the fix” I tested memory with Memtest86+ and the laptop passed the test.
I wouldn’t call it the best solution for fixing a faulty memory slot but in some cases it will work.
By the way, I didn’t charge the customer for this “repair”, he knows what is going on and how I “fixed” his problem.
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February 22nd, 2009 at 8:45 am
I just had to post here, THANKS A TON MAN. I just got a Toshiba Portege 200 off of Ebay and it came with one 512MB module and I wanted to push it up to 1GB since I dual-booted it with Vista. Went through the hassle of ordering online another 512 and having to return it once (it really was busted) just to realize that my slot was bad as well. I could have returned it and bought a 1GB module, but this saved me some cash and more hassle.
A guitar pick wouldn’t work for me, so I ended up just sticking half a plastic SD card case in there to keep it pushed down and it works like a charm. I’m still a bit worried about it messing something up overtime but so far no problems. Thanks for the advise.
February 18th, 2009 at 7:56 am
SWEEEEEEETTTTT ! ! !
Used this fix this morning! I used Q-tip’s instead… had to trim them of course… I thought my motherboard was a total loss….
February 16th, 2009 at 4:06 pm
WOW! You saved sooo many computers with you genius. I have been running mine for over a year due to this problem. NOW I KNOW!!!
February 15th, 2009 at 11:32 am
your awesome!! my dell 5100 is working now, thanks for youre great advice, I’m happy thanks !!!!!!!!!!!!
February 8th, 2009 at 8:16 am
I have same problem on Toshiba tecra 8100 and i resolv it inspecting all pins of the slot. I found 3 pins unstuck. After soldering all pins (for certainty) everything is O.K. and laptop work fine.
January 3rd, 2009 at 11:31 am
Dude you rock!!! I was about to trash my laptop and buy a new one because I was frustrated with only one memory slot working, but this saved me. No guitar pick but I cut a piece of plastic out of an old dvd case and it worked just as well.
December 30th, 2008 at 1:50 am
OMG, I LOVE YOU MAN. This saved me from throwing away my laptop!!
December 17th, 2008 at 7:38 am
Wow, this is so cool, thanks a lot man, I had the same problem and now it’s all fixed, though I used pieces of cardboard instead of guitar picks on my Dell
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November 26th, 2008 at 9:03 am
i have been having problem on my laptop over virus. I have instell diff. type of antivirus and still yet i am tried to download music video on my memory card or flash the virus on my system will distroy the video already inside the flash or memo. The avira antivirus i downloaded on it before was corrupted before i download another,when installing with be get to an extent and indicated “crc failed in basic\aecore.dll
unexpected end of archive”…..Pleasle what can i do to solve this problem. Thanks.
November 13th, 2008 at 7:02 am
Your a STAR
great thanks Soooooooo Much i thought my old faithful had packed up, but its like you said it picks up the slot-b with a bit of packaging of some type along the connector, i used foam rubber and works fine 512mb