Ok guys the problem is 'fixed' (i think) but i just wanted to ask a question, here are the details:

I was at a friend's house and we were on the computer when the power went out, so I tried a couple things and then took the computer home so I could do more diagnostics.

Looked at dells errors and it seemed to lead to the ram and I found out a stick of ram was 'bad' but the funny thing is I have that stick of ram in my computer now and im not having any problems! (Even ran a boot up ram test for a while and didnt find any problems)

Im still gonna run a ram test on the culprit computer but for now I just want to know:

WHAT CAN I DO TO HELP PREVENT THE SAME PROBLEM FROM HAPPENING? Also what IS the problem, was it that something just fried when we lost power or?

I want to know if we should get a better surge protector or what, by the way the ram i used was ddr400 pc3200 ram and its working fine in my computer.

Please lemme know guys, I wanna be able to prevent any problems happening should lightning hit our house or the power goes out (though I cant stop God's power =) )

Also if its ok to mix pc2700 and pc3200 ram together as long as they are both ddr400? (if that makes any sense lol)

Thanks!

ASUS A7N8X-E Deluxe Mobo
AMD Athlon XP 2800+
1gb DDR400 Ram.
Geforce 6800 LE overclocked.
400-450W Power Supply?

There is little you can do to prevent damage by lightning strike. The voltages involved are simply too great for most economical protection measures you can employ. To protect from non-lightning surges and power outages get a UPS. (uninterrupted power supply)
In regard to your final question, PC2700 is not DDR400. If you mix ram modules they can only run as fast as the slowest stick. You should check your motherboard for compatibility.

I used to have a signature but it disappeared and I just couldn't be bothered writing another so please feel free to ingore this.

If swapping out the RAM was how you determined a stick was bad then you may have inadvertantly fix the "bad" RAM. Somtimes RAM contacts get corroded. Removing and reinstlling MAY be enough to burnish the contacts so they work again. The voltages passing across the contacts are small (2.5v) so it doesn't take much resistance to impede the flow of electricity. Manufacturer's may use different maetals on the MBoard socket and the RAM. This causes galvanic action.
You stated the module you removed works in your machine. This explains why.
Richard is correct about the RAM and PC2700 is DDR333. If you have mixed RAM of different speeds on two machines you should straighten that out for best performance.
My guess is the Original memory module will work if re-installed where it originally was.