Testing your RAM with Memtest86+

[Thibault]

Awesome. Well it went through 2 and didn't get any errors. So my new RAM should be fine!
The only bad news is that the RAM I bought went on special today (on the website I bought it from) so I could have saved 25$ if I had waited until today to buy it! But then I wouldn't have it now, haha oh well!
Thanks for the help everyone.

[Hiker]

BTW, my favorite free burning utility is "imgburn" from imgburn.com

Ditto on the Imgburn. Double clicking on the Memtest zip file opened the program automatically.

[bahrieinn]

How come the ISO i put on the CD when booted simply loads the regular windows Memory Diagnostics Tool, it doesn't say Memtest86+ anywhere.

[orev]

How come the ISO i put on the CD when booted simply loads the regular windows Memory Diagnostics Tool, it doesn't say Memtest86+ anywhere.

Are you sure your laptop is booting from the CD? Or maybe you have the Windows install CD in the drive instead?

[burningrave101]

5. I recommend testing the modules one at a time, so if one is bad, it's easy to know which one! Take out all but one of the RAM modules.

I would personally recommend doing the opposite of this. It would be better to test both modules together and THEN if you get errors take out one and test till you see if the problem is with just a single module or both. This method would be especially true for testing two modules of different brands. A lot of people buy their laptop with 1 DIMM installed and then buy another one aftermarket. Certain memory chips do not play as well with others and can cause memory related issues. They also may not want to run in dual channel mode together without causing problems. So in other words, test your memory based on how you're going to be using the laptop and then if you run into errors you can try to isolate the problem to see if it's a single DIMM or an issue of compatibility between the two.

Also, on top of running Memtest86+ I would suggest running Windows Memtest as well. It's a small memory testing program that runs from within Windows and puts the memory under heavy stress. The OS isn't loaded when you run Memtest86+ and so there can be a big difference there in finding errors because of the differential load the OS puts on the system when it's loaded into the memory. I've found that Windows Memtest usually detects errors much faster than the DOS version of Memtest86+ and I've also been able to run Memtest86+ for hours at a time without an error and then fail Windows Memtest. So I suggest trying out both if you really want to test your RAM. I come from a desktop overclocking standpoint with RAM where a single error can throw off testing so you have to be more thorough in your methods.

http://hcidesign.com/memtest/

It's normally suggested to let Windows Memtest run up to around 1,000% to get the most thorough test.

[burningrave101]

Awesome. Well it went through 2 and didn't get any errors. So my new RAM should be fine!

Errors can take hours before they show up. Sometimes they have to really heat up for a prolonged period before they cause an error. It's normally suggested to let Memtest86 run for at least 6-8 hours for proper memory diagnostics.

[DTrump]

I just installed 2 sticks of 2GB RAM from Geil into my V1S, and when I ran Memtest86+ with both sticks in, it showed errors. Just out of curiosity, I tested with the Windows Memory Diagnostics, using 2 passes and full testing, and it found nothing.

How reliable is the Windows Memory Diagnostics, and has anyone ever had any "false positives" with Memtest86+?

[hoj914]

I see there is a link to download memtest+ to run off usb key, in dos,but i dont see instructions on how to make usb key boot.

[orev]

I see there is a link to download memtest+ to run off usb key, in dos,but i dont see instructions on how to make usb key boot.

Using a CD is easier, because more (all?) laptops support booting from CD. If you know how to make your USB bootable, go ahead and use it.

[orev]

I just installed 2 sticks of 2GB RAM from Geil into my V1S, and when I ran Memtest86+ with both sticks in, it showed errors. Just out of curiosity, I tested with the Windows Memory Diagnostics, using 2 passes and full testing, and it found nothing.

How reliable is the Windows Memory Diagnostics, and has anyone ever had any "false positives" with Memtest86+?

Memtest86 is open source and has been around for a while. Being open source, that mean a lot of people have been able to look at it and debate about methods and fix problems. The Microsoft one is closed and who knows what they are doing. I'm sure the MS one is OK, but I would value memtest86 above the Microsoft one.