How to Use Memtest86 to Check for Bad Memory (RAM) in a PC

RAM Diagnostic Software for Your Computer – Memtest86 Guide

Memtest86 is a really good program to use to check for bad memory. It is easy to setup and use, and best of all it is free.

01. The first thing you need to do is get a copy of Memtest86 so you can Test your Memory. This can be done by going to the Memtest86 homepage located here.

http://www.memtest86.com/

On the site, click on the “Free Download” tab on the left hand side of the page. This will take you to a new page with several links. You will want to click on the link at the top labeled:

ISO image for creating bootable CD (Windows – zip)

This will open a Save dialog box asking where you would like to save the file:

memtest86-3.5.iso.zip

I recommend saving this file to your desktop so it is easy to find.

02. Once the file has downloaded double click on the file to open it and un-extract the contents. This is a “ZIP” file so you will need WinZip to open it. (Windows XP should be able to open the file without WinZip) If you do need to get WinZip to handle the file it can be found here:

http://www.winzip.com/index.htm

Once you have downloaded and installed WinZip double click the “memtest86-3.5.iso.zip” file to open it. Once the window opens, grab the file named “Memtest86_3.5.iso” to your desktop.

03. Once this file is on your desktop we will burn it to CD using Nero Burning ROM. (Or any other CD burning software you have that handles ISO files.) If you do not have Nero you can download a trial here:

http://www.nero.com/enu/index.html

The trial will allow you to burn the ISO so we can create out Memtest86 Memory Diagnostic CD.

Once you have downloaded and installed Nero we need to “right click” on the Memtest86_3.5.iso file.

This will open a menu with several options. You will need to select the “option with” option in the new menu you should have an option for “Nero”, “Image Files” or something along those lines. (Depending on the versions of your software.) Select this option and the Memtest86 ISO file should open into Nero.

04. This will open a “Burn Compilation” dialog. All you need to do here is click “Next” or “Burn” until the system starts burning the ISO file to CD. All the options needed should be set by default within the ISO file.

Memtest86 is a relatively small program so it should not take long to burn the CD. Once the CD has finished burning remove it from your CD-Rom and close Nero.

You now have a bootable Memtest86 Memory Diagnostic CD

You can now use the bootable CD we have created in any computer you want to check for Memory problems.

05. Simply place the CD into the CD-Rom of the system and boot up the system. The computer should automatically read the CD and go into the Memory Diagnostic. If it does not automatically do this you may need to check your Boot Order in the BIOS to ensure your CD-ROM is read before the hard drive.

If it does not start the program and boots back into Windows you need to check in your BIOS to make sure your “boot order” is set so the CD-Rom boots up before the hard drive/s.

06. Once the system is set to boot from the CD-Rom Memtest86 should startup automatically and start testing your system memory for errors.

If the program detects any memory errors it will report them in the “ERRORS” and/or “ECC ERR” section of the program located on the right hand side of the screen.

From here you will be able to determine if there are any problems with your system memory after running the Memtest86 memory diagnostic.

If you have any questions or comments please feel free to leave them below.

April 30, 2009 · Filed under Memory

15 Comments »

  1. Mansoor Said,

    September 26, 2009 @ 7:02 am

    A thorough and detailed document…really helpful

    Thanks

  2. Giuseppe Said,

    April 20, 2010 @ 8:15 am

    Grazie per la chiarezza e precisione delle spiegazioni/istruzioni.
    Giuseppe

  3. Chris Said,

    September 27, 2010 @ 6:52 am

    Very helpfull diagnostic tool indeed.

  4. Honsi Said,

    November 21, 2010 @ 5:55 pm

    I have 3 1GB sticks installed. Should I diagnose one at a time or just leave all three in and do all three at the same time. What would you recommend?

    Thanks for your fantastic help!!

  5. admin Said,

    November 22, 2010 @ 7:30 am

    Honsi,

    I would recommend testing the memory 1 stick at a time so if the test determines that one stick is in fact bad you do not need to go back and check which one is at fault. When you test them individually you know which stick is bad when the test starts reporting errors.

  6. SooKs Said,

    December 15, 2010 @ 11:10 pm

    the memory test shows errors.
    the test has been running for past 12 hours and is still running.
    does it fix the errors after completing the test ?
    what do i do if it does not fix the errors ?

  7. admin Said,

    December 16, 2010 @ 7:28 am

    Sooks,

    The Memtest86 software will not repair errors in memory. It is used mainly to determine if blue screen errors, lock-ups or reboots are being caused by your RAM. You can run the test on the sticks in your system one at a time to determine which stick is bad so you know which one to replace. Hope that helps.

  8. keith Said,

    February 19, 2011 @ 11:09 am

    I ran the program, but at the end it just shut down and re-booted my computer. Where are results shown?

    Thanks.

  9. admin Said,

    February 21, 2011 @ 8:18 am

    Hi Keith,

    The symptom you have described sounds like a possible bad stick of memory. Memtest86 should run until you turn it off. It does not restart the system. This indicates a random reboot when the memory is put under load, which is a common symptom of bad memory. If you have multiple sticks of memory try testing them one at a time to determine which stick is bad. Good luck!

  10. dan Said,

    February 21, 2011 @ 9:47 am

    hi
    its currently stuck at 7%. how long should it take?

    thanks

    Dan

  11. CloverPaw Said,

    March 2, 2011 @ 5:42 am

    Hi,

    ill be runnin this tool to my PC and i would like to thank You for giving a very detailed steps on how to use it.

    thank You.

  12. Arlen Said,

    March 9, 2011 @ 6:42 pm

    I was having problems with my computer hanging and rebooting spontaneously when I was processing large video files. I thought it was a memory problem. So I ran the memtest program (A very good program for testing memory) I got no memory errors but it was spontaneously rebooting during the test as well. I came to the conclusion that it wasn’t a memory problem so began to look elsewhere and discovered that my chip-set fan was running slowly and at times would even stop. It was when the computer was working hard and the fan would stop that the computer would reboot. I quickly realized that the chip-set was overheating and rebooting the computer. I replaced the fan and no more problems.
    Thanks to this program I was able to figure out what the problem was.

  13. admin Said,

    March 9, 2011 @ 9:05 pm

    Glad to hear you got it fixed! Was the motherboard an A8N model or similar variant by any chance?

  14. zc Said,

    April 26, 2011 @ 7:24 am

    Hi,

    I have problem like crash in flash when I was playing games in facebook. Could it be the RAM problem?

  15. Rajkaran Said,

    December 29, 2011 @ 6:58 am

    is it important to write the memtest86 program to CD and then start the test.please reply


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