Testing your RAM with Memtest86+

I learned alot...thanks

 

Hi all

I'm sorry if this may sound silly but, I'd like to know if I've done the test correctly.

I just installed 4GB of RAM on my notebook(it's a 2.4 duel core btw and 32-bit OS) and ran memtest86+ for about 4 hours maybe 4 and a half so far.

A message popped up saying that the computer passed the test and I should push ESC to reboot. There were no red errors or anything so I assumed that there are no problems. When I pushed ESC it just restarted the test all over.

Me being unsure if I rebooted correctly forced the computer to shutdown by pushing the Power button.

I don't want to restart the test all over again for nothing but can some one tell me if I should be okay?

Another question regarding the RAM is that 4GB or RAM does show up in System and am just wondering if Memtest86+ tests the entire RAM and not just 3gb limit that a 32-bit OS is restricted to?

Thanks a bunch
Jimmy

 

memtest is set up to run forever until you reboot the computer. As long as you get through one test you should be good.

The only reason you need to "shut down properly" is because normally the operating system keeps a disk cache in RAM that needs to be saved to disk before the power turns off. memtest does nothing to the disk, so you don't need to "shut down correctly" to stop it.

You see 4GB of RAM in the system because Vista reports the amount that's installed, not the amount that's usable. I think it was a dubious change to make since many people will think they have 4GB available when they really do not (in a 32-bit OS).

As for memtest being able to test all 4GB, that may depend on your BIOS and system configuration as well. A quick scan of the memtest site didn't seem to mention it, but if you really want to be thorough you should test each memory module, one at a time, by removing one of them and running the test, as mentioned in the guide. Then you will be able to know that the whole thing was tested.

PS. It's "dual" core, not "duel" core. "Dual" means "two", "duel" means "to fight in a prearranged battle to protect one's honor".

 

lol at that.

Also, I was running memtest86+ the other day and it turns out my ram does have errors :-(. I'm planning to get my ram replaced, but I'm wondering if it is something that people think is really urgent or am I able to do it later? It went through a couple of tests before coming up with about 100 errors on one stick of 2GB SODIMM. I'm planning to get it replaced in maybe a month or two.

On that note, how much bad ram can an operating system handle before it malfunctions. Does it depend simply on the region of ram it's accessing or a combination of that and patterns? Is this why server computers use memory with ECC, so that they can continue to use a piece of ram if it's not damaged too much?

 

Operating systems typically assume that the RAM is perfect, so there is no resiliency if it runs into a bad part. You might see the system be unstable, just have some programs randomly crash, or the data in a file you are working on might become corrupted. There's really no way to know what will happen.

The timing of the replacement depends on the warranty. Most 3rd party RAM (like if you bought it from Crucial) has a lifetime warranty, but if it came with your system it might be less than that. Most of the time they will do a cross-ship, so they will send you the new RAM before you have to return the old one. You might have to give your credit card when they do that, but they shouldn't charge you anything as long as you return the old RAM.

The purpose of ECC is to help correct errors in bad RAM so data does not get corrupted, which is important if the server is holding the balance of a customer's bank account, etc... It's more expensive so they don't typically use it in PCs, which are often not mission critical.