Anti_Virus

Memtest is an invaluable tool for everyone in cases of the blue screen of death slow Pc's and just for general problems. Heres how to use it

First, download the program from here:

http://www.memtest.org

You can get hte program to boot from a CD eg an ISO image (heres my other page on CD images http://www.freewebs.com/revollie/cdimaging.htm)

Or to boot from a floppy, however this is getting old now and its time to move towards CD's for everyones sake :P

 Memtest CD:
Download the ISO current version (memtest86+-1.70.iso.zip) to your PC.

Extract the .zip file to a location that you know, like the Desktop or Downloads folder or next to the .zip file. You should end up with the file Memtest86+-1.70.iso

*Note* If you have WinRAR (or similar) installed, it will look like an unzippable archive with nothing inside. Do not open it with WinRAR.

-Go to your favorite CD burning software, and choose to burn from an image file. Simply point to the memtest.iso file and hit the "burn" button.

Eg: Nero>Disk Image or Saved Project>[select the memtest iso file]Ok>Next etc.

-Insert a blank CD into the drive and let it do its magic.

-Presto, you have a memtest bootable CD. Simply leave the CD in the drive and boot from CD by pressing a key (if needed) then running the test

You can do this on any image program, I personally preffer Deamon tools but its yous choice.

if you use Dual channel or multiple sticks of RAM, take all of them out so you have just the one plugged into the primary slot. Run the test and swap with the other sticks until all is tested individually. Don't forget to turn off and unplug your PC before removing/replacing any components

It is suggested that you run the test for at least 7 Passes. You can run it longer or shorter if you wish but note any errors it states on the information it gives you onscreen. If you do get errors, that means that the stick you have currently is incompatible or faulty or if you're lucky, its only a dirty slot or contact on the module/motherboard. If you don't get any errors, put all your RAM sticks back into its slots and run the test a final time and observe any errors.

You will probably need to change yourboot device to alow it to run. It will then loads and any errors will show up in red and then you will need to act upon them