Memory Test

HMOverclockerHMOverclocker The Hong Kong SAR, China
edited June 2005 in Hardware
Hello there,

I got 3 sticks of SamSung DDR 400 RAM (2 x 256M & 1 x 512M). Could anybody here tell me how to make a test to see which of them is bad? When I insert them all, the PC won't boot.

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Comments

  • kryystkryyst Ontario, Canada
    edited June 2005
    You could use memtest86 to test your memory, however since it won't boot with all 3 of them start testing them 1 at a time to see which one is giving you the problem.
  • HawkHawk Fla Icrontian
    edited June 2005
    Memtest86 3.2 is in our Utilities Forum section.
    It has directions for Windows Installation at the site for making a bootable floppy, that will test your ram.
    As kryyst said, make sure you put in one stick at a time and test them individually.
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited June 2005
    I actually prefer memtest from www.memtest.org - it tends to be updated much more frequently to support the latest processors, memory controllers, and chipsets.
  • HawkHawk Fla Icrontian
    edited June 2005
    I thought that's the one I put up? Guess not. I'll concede to primes knowledge of utility programs.
    Prime, The one you put up---- Which dang one do you DL? And how do you set it up?
    That's very confusing for someone that doesn't know what to do with it.
  • HMOverclockerHMOverclocker The Hong Kong SAR, China
    edited June 2005
    Thank you all for the help.
  • ZuntarZuntar North Carolina Icrontian
    edited June 2005
    Stupid question.......

    Memtest86 needs to run from a floppy because you don't want other stuff messin with the mem while your testing it right?

    So why couldn't it run from the command prompt?
  • kryystkryyst Ontario, Canada
    edited June 2005
    Zuntar wrote:
    Stupid question.......

    Memtest86 needs to run from a floppy because you don't want other stuff messin with the mem while your testing it right?

    So why couldn't it run from the command prompt?

    You can't run memtest from the command prompt because it's not a standard .exe it's a .img file which the bootstrap loads and runs only at boot time. Not sure if it's linux based or what. But it's not a standard Dos based application.

    Even if it was a .exe you wouldn't want to run it from the command prompt because even if you were booting straight to a dos prompt you've already got a layer of the OS running and accessing your RAM which means it would be interferring with the test.

    If it matters you don't have to have it on a floppy you can put it on a bootable cd as well.
  • ZuntarZuntar North Carolina Icrontian
    edited June 2005
    kryyst wrote:
    You can't run memtest from the command prompt because it's not a standard .exe it's a .img file which the bootstrap loads and runs only at boot time. Not sure if it's linux based or what. But it's not a standard Dos based application.

    Even if it was a .exe you wouldn't want to run it from the command prompt because even if you were booting straight to a dos prompt you've already got a layer of the OS running and accessing your RAM which means it would be interferring with the test.

    If it matters you don't have to have it on a floppy you can put it on a bootable cd as well.

    Thats what I figured.

    I don't have a floppy, and I can't boot from my dvd drive. I stopped caring about that, as the only time that I need to boot from a cd is when I am loading the OS, and then I just slap an old cdrom in and load away.

    Its easy enough to slap the floppy in an let it dangle from the side of the case. just wish it didn't have to be that way.

    OH yea the other thing that I want to try is get a usb drive and run it from that, I have heard about people doing that. maybe.
  • kryystkryyst Ontario, Canada
    edited June 2005
    Your bios has to be able to support booting from USB for that to work, but if it does then yes it'll go. I have a friend that boots linux off a usb drive as a dual boot method.
  • ZuntarZuntar North Carolina Icrontian
    edited June 2005
    kryyst wrote:
    Your bios has to be able to support booting from USB for that to work, but if it does then yes it'll go. I have a friend that boots linux off a usb drive as a dual boot method.

    It says it does, never tried it though. That would be sweet! :cool:
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