Test Your System for Faulty RAM Modules!

One of the main components on a given computer system without a doubt is your RAM (Random Access Memory). These little circuit boards is what allows you to comfortably multitask, load documents for editing, play your videos and video games, browse the Internet and basically every other task you perform on your system. You can think of RAM as a temporary holding place for your files as once you reboot your computer, the contents are wiped out. The trade-off is that the contents in RAM can be retrieved much faster by the CPU as compared to fetching data from your hard drive, which is slower in speed but the data is retained even when it isn’t powered. Here, I will go over how you can easily test the stability of the installed RAM in a given computer.

One of the main reason why you would want to test your RAM is due to how many side effects a bad module could cause to your system. Because of the importance of the component, it is relatively a good idea to inspect your RAM to make sure that they contain no errors which in return will hopefully provide you with a more smooth computing experience. Some of the many side effects of a faulty RAM module includes but not limited to blue screens of death (BSOD), random computer freezes and crashes, random reboots, programs not loading properly and sluggish performance. If you experience any of these symptoms, do yourself a favor and run a simple RAM test to see if they are the cause for the headaches. Luckily, RAM modules are very cheap and replacing them is very easy. The cheap price and major benefits are the main reasons it’s one of the first upgrades average users along with custom computer builders go for when they want to increase system performance.
If you have just purchased a new/used computer system or stand-alone RAM modules for upgrades, it is imperative that you run a memory test on them. RAM modules can and do get corrupted even if newly purchased so don’t let that notion fool you into skipping the test!

Performing the Tests

There are two tools that can use to get the job done. Both are very simple to use and only require of you a blank CD/DVD.

Memtest86+

1. You can download Memtest86+ from here. You need to download the ISO file so I would recommend downloading the .Zip version and then extracting the resulting ISO file from there.

 

2. Once you have the ISO file extracted, you’ll now have to burn it to a blank CD or DVD. You can take a look here if you are having trouble burning the file.

3. Once it is burnt to the CD, you’ll want to pop it back in the drive and reboot your computer. At this time, you will need to configure your computer so that it boots from your CD/DVD drive first, rather than your hard drive.

4. Memtest will immediately go to work. You don’t have to do anything, besides pray that your RAM modules aren’t faulty! The Memtest scan I believe will continue indefinitely. It is usually recommended that you leave the test running overnight. If it doesn’t report any errors in the Errors column by the next morning, it’s safe to say that your RAM modules are fine.

 

Windows Memory Diagnostics Tool

1. You can download the Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool from here.

 

2. Rather than downloading a .Zip file, you get a .Exe one, however, the procedures are very similar. Run the resulting .Exe file and you are given two options. You can either create a Startup Disk (floppy), which I doubt newer computers and laptops will have, or you can create an ISO file, similar to Memtest. Once you have the ISO file, burn it to a blank CD or DVD.

3. Pop the disc into your CD drive and set your computer so that it boots from the CD drive first rather than the hard drive.

4. Once again, the test will begin immediately. The tool reminds you that it will continue running until you stop it manually by pressing either X or powering down the system. Therefore, the same advice is recommended. Leave it running overnight and if by the morning no errors have been detected, than it should be safe to say that all is well.

Although running these RAM tests can prove very useful, they are not 100% accurate. However, if it detects many errors, then it’s definitely time to replace the modules. Just don’t believe that simply replacing them will ‘guarantee’ a fix to all of your computer headaches. There is no harm in simply performing the tests so you ain’t got nothing much to lose anyways.