Win 7 has built-in Memory Diagnostic tool

[Bacstar]

I did a quick search and didn't see it posted.

When I was troubleshooting some issues on a new build, I was looking at the different memory testing programs out there and discovered Windows 7 has one built-in.

It's under Administrative Tools: Windows Memory Diagnostic.

It automatically reboots the computer and runs a couple tests prior to loading windows Then reports any errors it finds. I imagine it's not much help if Windows fails to load, but it was simple to run and saved me the hassle of making a boot disk.

 

[lxskllr]

I knew it was there, but never used it. Does it just run a couple of tests then stop? Some errors don't come up right away, and I'll run Memtest86+ overnight to be sure. It sometimes takes a few hours for obscure errors to appear.

 

[RebateMonger]

Vista had it too, in the Control Panel. Does the latest iteration support more than 4 GB of memory? Microsoft's original "Windows Memory Diagnostics" (non-Vista) still can't test more than 4 GB of RAM.

 

[hectorsm]

I would also use Memtest86. I once had a bad stick RAM that will pass the Windows 7 Memory Diagnostic. Memtest86 was able to detect it after the 3rd pass.

 

[RebateMonger]

The folks at the local Fry's Electronics once told me they use Windows Memory Diagnostics because it's usually faster finding errors than Memtest86. That was a couple of years ago.

 

[Bacstar]

I only had 4gigs in the system so I can't say for sure. I'll be installing 8gigs, 4x2g, tonight and I'll see what happens.

It ran 2 sets of tests and just showed a progress bar and any errors found. Once complete, the system rebooted and reported any errors again in a little info-balloon when windows finished loading. It was a quick cursory way to rule out memory during troubleshooting. I eventually was able to pinpoint my problem to a bad videocard. I did have Memtest86 sitting on the sidelines if I wanted to test memory more extensively.

 

[pcgeek11]

I imagine it's not much help if Windows fails to load, but it was simple to run and saved me the hassle of making a boot disk.

You do not need to be able to boot into Windows. You can boot from the Installation media (DVD) and run the memory diagnostic from that also.

pcgeek11

 

[F1shF4t]

Found out about the microsoft one when playing with the install DVD. Never really used it though.

I wish there were mainboards like the DFI nforce-4 which had a version of memtest86+ built in.

 

[Bacstar]

It ran fine with 8gigs of RAM installed, and I poked around a little bit more. It had 3 test options: Basic, Standard, and Extended. Each option ran additional tests. I just can't remember their names right now. It also allows you to set number of passes (99 max) and number of times to repeat each round of tests (to infinity).

and thnx for the additional info...

 

[hclarkjr]

Vista has it too, in the Control Panel. Does the latest iteration support more than 4 GB of memory? Microsoft's original "Windows Memory Diagnostics" (non-Vista) still can't test more than 4 GB of RAM.

fixed ^_^

 

[Mark R]

The folks at the local Fry's Electronics once told me they use Windows Memory Diagnostics because it's usually faster finding errors than Memtest86. That was a couple of years ago.

That's my experience too. WMD finds intermittant errors, (e.g. due to 'weak' memory cells, rather than completely dead ones) far faster than memtest 86+ seems to (it also finds a much greater number of errors than memtest86+, suggeting that something in the WMD tests is harsher).

I've never had a computer that passess WMD fail memtest 86+, but I have had one the other way around (it fails WMD on first pass, but passed memtest86+ for over 24 hours before finally failing).

I'm not sure of the technical differences of the tests, but my experiences have been such that I don't trust a memtest86+ pass as absolute proof that the RAM is OK - I always now test with both.

I don't know if WMD has fixed the 4GB limit. I've not had to test systems with more than 3GB, so have never needed to find out.