RAM test program

[Accessless]

Does anyone know of a good program to use for testing RAM memory? I usually use Memtest86+ but on my current computer the 3.5a version locks up & the latest version crashes on start up.  I'm also not fond of the built in Windows program.

[I do currently have either a faulty stick of RAM or faulty mobo socket so that could be causing instability in the programs]

[Calum]

[I do currently have either a faulty stick of RAM or faulty mobo socket so that could be causing instability in the programs]

With this in mind, have you tried starting Memtest with only one stick in different sockets?  It's entirely possible the bad RAM or socket is causing Memtest to crash.  I can't see a 3.5a version on the Memtest site, I see 2.11, 4.0, 4.1 and 4.2.

[Accessless]

They don't have all the old versions published for some reason. But that's what I'm about to do.

Nope memtest still crashes on start (latest version doesn't even finish loading the program)

[Calum]

So it crashes on startup no matter how you try it, with each stick separately in each slot?

[Accessless]

Yep and I have tested the programs on a laptop, both versions run fine.

I've just finished the Windows memory test ruling out the mobo and one RAM module.

I should probably mention that 4Gb is this computers minimum installed memory and calling a program memtest86+ does raise my suspicions a little that it can't cope with that much memory.

[Calum]

How odd.  I've used Memtest86+ on PCs with up to 96GB of RAM with no problems, it's definitely not limited to running on PCs with under 4GB of RAM.  I've had it crash on some PCs but that was mainly before it was actually compatible with Sandy Bridge, so it was a beta version.
HCI Memtest can run within Windows which isn't ideal but it's still decent.  You could also give the standard a try if need be.

[Accessless]

Well I've just tried version 4.3.2 (could have sworn that I download V5.0) and it works fine for about 2 minutes and then resumes Windows.

[patio]

It shouldn't be resuming Windows as it's designed to run from a bootable CD...
You're doin something wrong here...

[BC_Programmer]

calling a program memtest86+ does raise my suspicions a little that it can't cope with that much memory.

The ONLY 32-bit Operating systems limited to 4GB of memory are consumer versions of Windows. This is a license limitation in the Operating Systems, not a technical one. 32-bit CPUs are not limited to addressing 4GB of memory.

[Accessless]

It shouldn't be resuming Windows as it's designed to run from a bootable CD...
You're doin something wrong here...

I gathered that much. Actually I'm at somewhat of a loss as to how that happened. The test started and then it just continued to load windows. I don't think that the computer rebooted.

[Accessless]

Around the Internet and in Magazines you can find recommended RAM amounts for typical users. You also will find many places proclaiming RAM as the best performance for your dollar upgrade. I don't disagree at all, but I want you to understand what RAM actually does, and why it can be such a valuable upgrade. Your computer's RAM (Random Access Memory or simply short term memory) is where your computer stores certain data that it uses frequently so it can be accessed easily and quickly. The capacity of the RAM will effect the computer's speed and performance. Random Access Memory is different from hard drive memory. Hard Drive Memory stores most of your pictures, music, programs, and other data.

Your computer's RAM (Random Access Memory or simply short term memory) is where your computer stores certain data that it uses frequently so it can be accessed easily and quickly. The capacity of the RAM will effect the computer's speed and performance. Random Access Memory is different from hard drive memory. Hard Drive Memory stores most of your pictures, music, programs, and other data. Around the Internet and in Magazines you can find recommended RAM amounts for typical users. You also will find many places proclaiming RAM as the best performance for your dollar upgrade. I don't disagree at all, but I want you to understand what RAM actually does, and why it can be such a valuable upgrade.

Are these spam generated by crucial agents in a sinister plot to make us buy more RAM? Because if it is you're wasting your time on me, I have the will but not the money :p

[Calum]

Both spam, yes, now removed
Not sure how it's going into Windows directly from the bootable disk, very odd.

[patio]

Either the CD wasn't built correctly...or he's not booting to the CD...did you set CD Rom as 1st boot device in BIOS ? ?

[Accessless]

The program started testing the memory. I'm using a USB memory stick now as I have no rewritable CD's (it was getting expensive).

If you tell me how to upload them I can show you pictures of what happens when I run some older versions of memtest. Saying that though, now that I have jiggled my RAM about I can't find a problem with it, and I've not had the time to re-test the program since. It might be that everything was a glitch caused by wonky RAM [Technical term "Wonky RAM"].

(So this is now just a case of an irritating program that I would prefer to work)