Question BIOS update

[itsabouttime08]

Is is necessary to manually update the bios after installing new RAM? I went from 4G to 8G.

The laptop is an old one. Dell XPS 1640.

After replacing the RAM the display on the laptop would not work. I plugged an external monitor to it and ran the diagnostics (F12). Everything passed. After the diagnositc finished I tried to boot it up and it would not. Screen has darker color with lighter "border" around it. I am at a loss as to what to try. Does anyone have any suggestions?

 

[geofelt]

To answer your question, updating a Bios should not be done unless the update has a fix for a problem that is impacting you. I doubt that is the case here.
A failed bios flash can brick your unit with nasty options for recovery.

What was the original ram configuration and specs?
CPU-Z will tell you your specs.
What did you replace?
The only way to get 8gb is with two matching 4gb modules.

Note the caveat of matching.

Ram is sold in kits for a reason.
A motherboard must manage all the ram using the same specs of voltage, cas and speed.
The internal workings are designed for the capacity of the kit.
Ram from the same vendor and part number can be made up of differing manufacturing components over time.
Some motherboards, can be very sensitive to this.
This is more difficult when more sticks are involved.
That is why ram vendors will NOT support ram that is not bought in one kit.

If you do buy more disparate sticks, they must be the same speed, voltage and cas numbers.
Even then your chances of working are less than 100%

Here is a response from a Dell moderator to a situation like yours:

https://www.dell.com/community/XPS/Upgrade-Studio-XPS-1640-to-8GB-Ram/td-p/6046938