Ram tester?

Just purchased some ram and got an error when using 2 slots. Used one and it booted up fine. I then added the second ram and all was fine. Is there program to test ram?

 

MemTest86+ is the best utility out there for testing RAM.

 

Yes as Greg suggested, download the MemTest ISO and rip it to a CD. Make sure it passes a couple runs and you should be good to go.

 

Or use a USB stick (I believe their website has instructions on how to do it) and boot to that. Very useful when you don't have an optical drive on a rig .

 

You can also run Win7's built in Memory checker.

When booting, hit F8 (continuously) and choose Repair Windows.

When the option screen comes up, choose Memory checker.

Hit F1 (I think?) to get to the advanced options - choose the extended test, with cache on and enter '0' (zero) to have it loop indefinitely and hit F10 to start it with those options. I would leave it here for at least overnight - if not 24 hrs (or more - I aim for around 100 loops to complete successfully).

Good luck.

 

I would run memtest, not to be confused with memtest86.

MemTest: RAM reliability tester for Windows

I had run memetest86 through several cycles and my memory passed without error, yet I was still getting random weird things happening with my machine. This included random locks ups, not traceable to any one program. I decided to run memtest that runs in windows, and I was getting random memory errors in different locations after running several iterations. This error was occurring with the Kingston hyper X memory. I reinstalled the memory that came with my machine and memtest found no errors. After running this for a while I have had no re-occurring errors.

 

there is a linux distro called stresslinux that will push your whole system to the limit.

It boots itself and doesn't require a working windows install (or even a working HDD).

 

I do trust this program for RAM testing too as it first has a fully loaded/configured Windows install running and then it goes and tests the RAM on top.

The only thing to note is that you have to have multiple instances running to test all your RAM. (Keep opening up a new one and hitting 'Start testing' until there is no more (or, very little) free RAM left.

This test too I would leave running for up to 72 hrs (to fully test all the RAM multiple times).

 

There's no reason not to run both MemTest86+ and HCI's memtest. They load the machine differently. I've had memtest86+ pass with flying colors overnight and HCI fail on the first pass, but I've also had HCI pass and memtest86+ fail.

It's simply impractical to try to test all possible bit configurations, so each relies on its own algorithms. However, neither can test memory that's locked up by the program and/or the OS, so while HCI can sit on every core and beat up all the free memory, the RAM holding Windows won't be tested. Memtest86+ doesn't particularly use RAM like windows would, but it's somewhat more thorough and has a much smaller footprint.

As far as the built-in Windows 7 memory tester, I just don't like it because it can act like it's frozen up for hours at a time while it's actually at work. The progress bar is absolutely useless.