Vista - Memtest 86 Questions

Greetings all,

I'm running 64 Ultimate and have 8 gig of RAM. I ran each stick individually using memtest and determined one stick is bad. I tried running the 3 known good sticks in various combos on the DIMMS: 1/3, 1/2/4, 1/4 and every time I booted with the sticks in these multiple postions it would get to Test 1 right @ 45/46% and reboot. Did this every time with these combos.

Next I tried running the 3 sticks in 1/2/3 and every time it would get to Test 0 @ 7% and freeze up. The drive was still running, but I had to do a hard reboot every time regardles how long I let it run.

Any ideas, or is this just a limit in the Memtest program? Thanks

Hi WartHog,

When selecting what test to use, using option 3 worked better for me. You might see if will for you as well.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

Shawn, Now that's a QUICK reply! Thanks REAL basic q. How do you select which test to run?

After you have booted from the Memtest86+ disc, you should have 3 options to select from at first.

Thank you again Sir. I'm going to DL a different copy and go from there. BIG help, much appreciated! Beau

You're welcome WartHog. I hope they pass.

DL'd a different copy and ran the tests in test #3. Ran each stick individually for two passes and then put all 3 sticks in and ran them o'nite for 2 passes. All ran good.

Thanks again Shawn for the BIG help.

You're welcome WartHog. I'm happy to hear that your RAM has passed the test.

Hmm, long time since I ran MemTest86 or overclocked but program should start up right away and it should pass all tests. Number dont matter. Same with the one from Vista. All tests must be passed or something is wrong.

If you are testing voltage and/or timings = overclocking/tweaking then you can select certain tests which are known to trigger errors fast and are more sensitive than others. That would be test no. 5 and 8 in Memtest86+ Doing those before booting Windows have saved many corrupted registry files

For real confirmation everything is not 95% but 100% ok run Prime95 in Windows, blend test. Memtest86+ is like a scandisk/chkdsk for memory, proof that it works. Prime95 tells you if it works under pressure. Will point fingers at even minor problems with compatibility (sometimes fixed by bios upgrade), voltage, timings, oc-settings or other bios "tuning".

Just saw your answer DK. I appreciate your advice on Prime95. I'll have to look into it.