RAM - Test with Memtest86+

How to Test and Diagnose RAM Issues with Memtest86+​

Contents

• Preparing the Media
• Testing
• If you have errors

Part 1: Preparing the Media

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Method 1: With a USB Memory Stick​

1. Download the latest version of the "Auto-installer for USB Key (Win 9x/2k/xp/7)" from this link: Memtest86+ - Advanced Memory Diagnostic Tool​

2. Plug in an empty USB key drive. Size is no concern, as the actual files take up 180 KB of space.​

3. Go into the .zip folder you downloaded, and double-click on the .exe file inside.​

4. Follow the setup utility. To reduce the risk of problems, it is advised to format the drive.​

​

Method 2: With a CD​

1. Download the latest version of the "Precompiled Boot ISO (.zip) from this link: Memtest86+ - Advanced Memory Diagnostic Tool​

You want the "Precompiled Boot ISO (.zip)".​

2. Open the .zip file you downloaded, and then drag the .ISO file inside onto the Desktop.​

3. Right-click on the ISO, and select Open with>Windows Disc Image Burner.
4. Insert a blank CD into the CD drive, and make sure the correct Disc burner is selected.
5. Click on "Burn".

Now the CD is ready to use.



Part 2: Testing

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1. With the CD in the drive, or the USB key inserted, reboot your computer. If Memtest does not automatically boot, go into the BIOS and change the CD drive or USB drive to be the first to boot.​

2. Memtest will immediately start testing as soon as it boots. No attendance is needed.​

3. Let it run until at least 8 passes are completed, or errors are found (whichever comes first). The longer you run it, the better.
Seven passes will take several hours, depending on your amount of RAM. It is advised to leave it running overnight.





Part 3: If You Have Errors:

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The goal is to test all the RAM sticks and all the motherboard slots.​

Check your motherboard manual to ensure the RAM sticks are in the recommended motherboard slots. Some motherboards have very specific slots required for the number of RAM sticks installed.​

If you get errors, stop the test and continue with the next step.​

​

1. Remove all but one stick of RAM from your computer (this will be RAM stick #1), and run Memtest86 again, for 7 passes.​

Be sure to note the RAM stick, use a piece of tape with a number, and note the motherboard slot.
If this stick passes the test then go to step #3.

2. If RAM stick #1 has errors, repeat the test with RAM stick #2 in the same motherboard slot.​

If RAM stick #2 passes, this indicates that RAM stick #1 may be bad. If you want to be absolutely sure, re-test RAM stick #1 in another known good slot.
If RAM stick #2 has errors, this indicates another possible bad RAM stick, a possible motherboard slot failure or inadequate settings.
3. Test the next stick of RAM (stick #2) in the next motherboard slot.If this RAM stick has errors repeat step #2 using a known good stick if possible, or another stick.
If this RAM stick has no errors and both sticks failed in slot#1, test RAM stick #1 in this slot.
4. If you find a stick that passes the test, test it in all the other motherboard slots.

If Part 2 testing shows errors, and all tests in Part 3 show errors, you will need to test the RAM sticks in another computer and/or test other RAM in your computer to identify the problem.​

In this way, you can identify whether it is a bad stick of RAM, a bad motherboard, or incompatibility between the sticks.​

Thanks to Dave76 for his assistance in this part.​

   Note

While the same concept is completely valid for other operating systems, a different image burner will be needed. A good free program is ImgBurn.

Related Tutorials

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• http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/100352-hardware-stress-test-prime95.html
• http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/100356-video-card-stress-test-furmark.html
• http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/715-memory-diagnostics-tool.html
• Test your CPU Stability with IntelBurnTest
• Download Debug Diagnostic Tool v2 Update 1

 

[redditor]

no, normally it does not run. It DID run until it was given to me and I'm in the process of fixing the issue but I'm running out of ideas.

 

[Alivefd]

I have 4 RAM sticks. I placed RAM stick #1 in slot #1 took around 8 hours to get the 7 pass count with no errors, then I placed the stick #2 in the slot #2, removing the stick #1. Another 8 hours to 7 pass count with no errors. Same thing to sitck #3 on slot #3. When i got to stick #4 in slot #4 got a bunch of errors in less than 5 mins. Sitck #1 is now running test in slot #4. Do I need to wait for the 7 pass count to make sure that the problem is not the slot? Or can I wait for 1 or 2 passes and place sitck #4 in one of the other slots?

 

[Britton30]

You should run each stick in each slot for 7-8 passes. If errors always occur with the same slot, the board is bad. If one stick has errors in all slots it is bad.

When you see any error you can stop the test, it is pointless to go further.

 

[Alivefd]

Ok, so 1 RAM stick isn't working well (in my case, "stick #4"). All sticks are identical, same brand, same speed, everything is the same(4gb). Is it worth having all 3 sticks installed or since it's dual channel memory configuration board should I just have 2 sticks installed?

 

[Brink]

Hello Alivefd,

If you were to leave 3 sticks installed, you would have 12 GB of RAM, but it would be running in single channel mode since that one channel only has 1 stick.

If 8GB of RAM will work for now, then it would give you better performance until you can replace the bad stick with an identical one to have all 4 back in.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[Alivefd]

Thanks

 

[Brink]

You're welcome.

 

[Izzeren]

I have been running memtest over night and have noticed it is only going up to test #10 should it be going to test #11? I am trying to figure out if I have bad ram or is something else is causing my BSoD of Page Fualt in non paged area.

 

[ACMDogfight1997]

Hello there! I am on vacation and my laptop has went through a BSOD for some reason and I can't log on to Windows. I have made a forum here: http://www.sevenforums.com/bsod-help-support/349751-bsod-vacation-cannot-log-windows.html. Out of the 3 options given to me by Arc, Memtest86+ is my only option remaining. However, it didn't go out right for some reason. Here's the full text from the forum I made:

Well my parents just bought a new flash drive (in considering that the tutorial said "Plug in an empty USB key drive",) downloaded the Auto-Installer for USB Key link as said in the tutorial, double clicked the file in the zip folder, reached the choose USB drive location and noticed something wrong. It doesn't display in which directory the USB is at (C:, D:, E:, etc.) and it wouldn't let me choose the directory where it is at. The flash drive my parents bought is a SanDisk Cruzer Glide 4GB which already has some files related to it on it. Can you tell me what's going on?

Since I made the forum in the BSOD help section, I assumed that I would not get a response from what I said which is not related to the section. So that's why I posted a response here since what I said would be related to the topic in which I'm explaining. If you've read the forum I made the link of above, you can see that I'm on vacation so I have no time to waste. I will be leaving my hotel tomorrow morning and will be stopping at some relatives' house sometime in the afternoon which hopefully I can fix my issue there. If not, I'll better yet do It by Saturday evening or Sunday morning (the hotel I'm at in North Carolina is 14 hours away from my home in Indiana, the relatives' house is 5 hours away from the hotel.) With that said, this BSOD occurred at the worst time yet. I expect a response immediately, hopefully before I go to bed. I can trust you guys while I'm here!

 

[MarsMoon]

Hi guys, I just have a quick question. I'll be away for more then a day and I will run Memtest86+ while I'm going to be gone and I'm curious if Memtest86+ can save the test results in a file or if there is any report after rebooting back to Windows at all?

 

[Golden]

No....MemTest86+ will just keep running until you stop it.

 

[MarsMoon]

Thank you for your reply. Ran the test for 38 hours (I can't remember how many passes but quite a lot) and no errors.

 

[MDRI]

Hello,

I downloaded the from your url Auto-installer for USB Key (Win 9x/2k/xp/7) *NEW!*

I created USB bootable version as described. I find the following files in USB

04/14/2010  03:31 AM                73 syslinux.cfg
08/23/2013  08:52 AM           150,024 mt86plus
04/14/2010  03:17 AM             1,397 Readme.txt
03/03/2010  06:09 AM            18,339 Copying
               4 File(s)        169,833 bytes

I have win 7 64bit has booting issues. Review my thread

Win 7: Black screen on boot up, before login screen?

I did changes the BOIS to boot from USB. The above created bootable USB is not working in my laptop.

What could I do to make this work?

Thanks for helping.

 

[ICIT2LOL]

I am just wondering if mention should be made that the slots themselves and therefore by association the motherboard may also be faulty / bad ??

I have found that some sticks may show up as bad in a particular slot ie slot #1 yet not in another ie slot #2 - it then narrows down the search for the source of the failing memory. It is then apparent that slot #1 is at fault.

 

[Golden]

I am just wondering if mention should be made that the slots themselves and therefore by association the motherboard may also be faulty / bad ??

I have found that some sticks may show up as bad in a particular slot ie slot #1 yet not in another ie slot #2 - it then narrows down the search for the source of the failing memory. It is then apparent that slot #1 is at fault.

Thats already described in the tutorial John.

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Thats already described in the tutorial John.

Ok Colin I had not seen that before

 

[georgeks]

When MemTest starts press c (configuration) select Full Memory Range, and then let it run.

For VRAM: use Video Memory Stress Test:
This is a Windows version, but a n FDD version also exists that can be run from a bootable USB.