Test for bad RAM

This all started about 3/4 weeks ago. A game I was playing froze, and when I restarted windows would just freeze at the windows logo screen. I tried everything I could (doing scandisk out of safe mod, system recover) and eventually I couldn't even boot in safe mode. So I tried the Windows recovery CD, thinking maybe windows messed up but then I kept getting stop errors. As a desperation move, I took my RAM out, blew some dust around, and put it back in.
My computer started and everything worked fine except high end games, which would freeze about 10 minutes into play. I figured I could live with until I had some time to really mess around with it.
That is until about two days ago problems started again. Firstly, my computer just kept restarting on its own. Now, once again, I usually can't even boot into windows, it either freezes as soon as it opens or I get stop error at the windows logo screen (however I am in safe mode now).
So then I tried memtest86. The damn thing won't install on the disk (at least in this computer, says "can't figure out how many sectors/track for th is diskette) but it did install on my crappy computer. So I take the disk out of there after it succesfully installs on the disk and put it in this computer. The readme file that came with it say just restart the computer with the disk in. Well I did that and memtest never started.

Now if your still reading this, thank you at least for reading that much. Any other suggestions for testing my RAM? Does this sound like bad RAM? If not, any other ideas for the problem? This is so frustrating...you spend so much money on a computer and it won't even f-ing work. Thanks in advance for any help.

AMD Ahtlone XP 3200+ QuantiSpeed CPU
Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe w/ Lan, IEEE-1394 Motherboard
1024 MB Dual RAM DDR-400 PC3200
ATI Radeon x800-Pro (<----Thats the killer...great card...useless on this PC!)
80 GB Hard Drive

 

Memtest86

 

Well, not to be an ass cause you are tryin to help...but if you read what I typed, you would see that I tried that and I couldn't get it to work.

 

Hello, Ihatemy2000$computer.
I don't mean to be an @$$, either, but, just to make certain of something...

There is a bootable image of this Memtest... sounds like the one you have, there.

But, (no offense if you have already tried this)... You must make sure that the settings in your BIOS are set for you to boot from the cd-rom in order for the computer to boot from it.

A common mistake in these situations is to NOT have the BIOS set in such a way.

Good luck,


Robert

 

How do I set/check to see if it is set that way?

 

Depending on your Bios, repeatedly press the Delete key or whatever it tells you to at the bottom of the screen as it boots up.

In one of the Bios options, again depending on which one it is, you will see the what is set as the first boot device.

Change it so CD Rom is first (Or check for floppy if that is what you are using) and Hard disk 0* or whatever is next.

 

Re: Test for bad RAM -- or other things?

This one comes under the general heading of "other ideas"....

You've got a pretty hot machine there -- or would if it was running. Is there any chance you're dealing with an overheating problem of some kind?

You should be able to get some kind of temperature readings from the BIOS on that motherboard. Look for the "power" screen in the BIOS setup. Once you've got that screen, look for "hardware monitor". But bear in mind that your board may have a different BIOS than mine, even though both boards are in the same family. If in doubt, check the motherboard manual. ASUS manuals are worth keeping.

 

I have a temp gauge on my pc. It usually runs at 23C....never seen it above 25.

 

hmm ... what kind of temp gauge? i would check using motherboard monitor or inside the BIOS ... those temp probes are almost always inacurate

 

sounds like maybe ur ram is overheating? maybe try it with another stick of ram

 

I agree that this sounds like a heat issue. You say it only does this when playing games of some sort? And yes...it can overheat right from a cold boot.

Like has been stated, don't trust those temp gauges that come with a case.

Also....if you did & Im just stupid & don't see it , have you tried booting with only one or the other memory sticks in?

 

That has to be a case temperature -- probably near the intake.

It's too low to be a CPU or even a motherboard temperature in your machine. 23c is barely above room temperature unless you like working in winter woollies. That CPU is not likely to run at less than 40c even with the best air cooling.

Check the location of the probe that provides your reading. If that's a case exhaust temperature, it's a good confirmation that your case has adequate airflow. That's essential for effective cooling. But it isn't the reading you need right now. Check your BIOS for CPU and motherboard readouts. Once you've got things under some kind of control, you might install a copy of Motherboard Monitor.

 

Well the first time I had any problem was when I tried to play a game, but this is after my computer ran fine for the first 3 months I owned it....just one day out of nowhere it just stopped working correctly. Now it locks up, or restarts itself or gives me stop errors all the time. Sometimes it will just restart without me even doing anything, it will just be sitting there with no one using it and BAM restart. I'd say the most common time it freezes or restarts is at the Windows logo screen, or if I get past that just as windows opens. Usually if the error happens once, it will happen over and over until I take out the RAM and put it back in, so I haven't even tried playing a game lately out of fear that it will never turn back on.
I think this problem may be out of my hands and it might just be easier to bring it somewhere to be fixed.

 

Hi,

This statement tells me it may be the psu, this is about the time all the drives spin up and draw the most power.

I ain't saying to run out and buy a new ps but if you had one you could try.

I am sorta lost in this thread and ain't sure if you ran and passed memtest, sorry if you did, you need to run memtest first, and let run for 3 passes,any errors and thats a problem, try downloading the other virsion that boots from floppy.

Rick

 

How do you unpack/install whatever for this file (Memtest86)??

When I unzip it, it unzips as an Easy Cd Creator file. When I click on that, it brings up Easy CD Creator Classic and wants to know what files to backup up to cd.


Thanks
Richard

 

if you have the CDs version just burn the ISO file ... I'm not sure how to do that with Roxio .. but there should be a menu item that says something like "Burn ISO file"

if you have the floppy version .. put a floppy in the drive, execute "rawrite.exe" and follow the instructions in the command window