Am I Jinxed?

Beth arrived home for the holiday today (stuck in stop-and-go traffic for just under 2 hours due to an accident which delayed her arrival - she is safe and sound).

She brought her computer to receive an additional 512 MB RAM (2 DIMMs PC3200 to match what it already in the computer).

I installed the memory.

Powered on her computer.

The computer would not boot. It gave a BIOS error beep (actually: beep, beep, beep, beep ---- beep, beep) code and displayed error lights on the back (B & D were displayed orange/yellow while A & C were green). This matches a memory fault according to Dell's 8+ MB Owner's Manual, which I downloaded.

I tried again (nothing if not persistent here - see below for more evidence of my willingness to try the same thing over, and over and over ... while expecting DIFFERENT results).

Same result. (Is ANYONE out there surprised by this?)

New Test: remove ALL the memory (without mixing them up) and installing JUST the new memory in the slots formerly occupied by the OLD memory.

Same result. (You thought doing something DIFFERENT would give a DIFFERENT result? Vain optimist, I see!)

Current situation: back to just the OLD memory in the computer. RMA request for warranty replacement made to OEMPCWORLD. It's hard to believe that memory is bad but it surely does not work! I even read their troubleshooting tips and I've done pretty much what they suggested.

We'll see what happens when we get new memory. If and when Beth is back up here again. Sigh. Maybe I should have just returned the memory for a refund and gone to Staples. But this was a mighty good price online. We'll see.