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08/08/2004 |
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Memory Testing, Pt 1, MemTest86 Don Bradbury looks at the first of two RAM testing applications
If you’ve ever had to wonder why your PC glitches so often, and you don’t suspect the software you’re using, faulty physical memory (RAM) is a possible culprit. BIOS based memory tests are only a quick check and often miss failures that should be detected by memory testing software. Unlike in the early days of computing, say ten or more years ago, when the world seemed to be flooded with both amateur and professional test software, nowadays you might have to turn to the more esoteric websites to locate freebies capable of doing the job. One such proggie is MemTest, designed for all i386 architecture systems. The download is pretty quick, the executable installs easily, all of the required files are automatically copied to a floppy disk you have to provide, and the default test routine also starts automatically. To get up and running, just open the directory where the files were extracted and click on ‘install.bat’. The tests are
carried out under a special operating system that’s loaded at boot
time, so that there’s no possibility you can have other things
running in the background which would negate the tests. When they’re
finished, an elapsed time meter will be seen to have recorded how
long that particular test took to complete.
Working interface The interface, it has to be said, is rather esoteric. While you can hit the ‘c’ key and get a menu of options, few will know how to use it. You can, ostensibly, choose a test routine, and select the memory range to test and other such tweaks, but most users will simply let MemTest press ahead with its default routine, which I have no doubt is extremely thorough. The trouble with that is the length of time some routines take to complete. One particular system the author quotes says it took 5hrs 25mins. So if you want the default check on your full complement of RAM etc, sit back and wait… and wait. Best plan is to start it going in the late evening, leave the PC on - but the monitor off - and let it run overnight. In the morning you’ll be presented with a report that you can peruse at your leisure before taking the floppy out of the drive and rebooting back to your familiar Windows (or whatever). It should be noted that not all errors reported by Memtest86 are due to bad memory. The test implicitly tests the CPU, L1 and L2 caches as well as the motherboard, but duff RAM chips, as I said, are a favourite starting point if your system seems unstable. A Readme.txt file will assist the more knowledgeable to decide how to configure MemTest86 to best advantage, and the Error Summary and Error Report Mode menu options can be used at the completion of testing. In conclusion MemTest should have spotted any duff memory in your PC, and it’s at that point you have to get out the cheque book and pay the man. Either that or get a warranty repair. If no memory faults are found, then you are at least armed with something with which to beat your chosen repairman. He’ll know what to tackle next. |
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