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Today, I decided to turn on my old laptop and experienced several issues, including system hanging and numerous graphical issues. I decided to run Memtest86 v4.2 and received many errors:

Test 1

Test 2

As I'm writing this, there are now 99 errors. I'm assuming this means my RAM is on it's way out. Should I keep running Memtest or should I move on to some other diagnostics?

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    Replace the defective ram, testing will not repair it.
    – Moab
    Jan 13, 2016 at 18:19
  • It doesn't get much more failed than this, diagnostics achieved!
    – Jonno
    Jan 13, 2016 at 18:26
  • Try these before you discard the module(s): 1) swap module's places (if more than one), 2) use a pencil eraser on the contacts and try again (make sure to not damage the contacts!)
    – Hannu
    Jan 13, 2016 at 18:32

2 Answers 2

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Should I keep running Memtest or should I move on to some other diagnostics

If Memtest86+ finds even a single error, the next step is to replace the RAM module and start testing again (IME, you're not going to find a better RAM diagnostic program than MemTest86+).

If you're not sure which module is at fault, test them one at a time.

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  • Any way to know which module it is (probably both) or do I just have to play around with them once I get the new ones? Jan 13, 2016 at 18:29
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    @TheGamingGrunts Test them in turn? Take one out, run test, swap ram, run test.
    – DavidPostill
    Jan 13, 2016 at 18:53
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This RAM is not on its way out. Worse, it is already out. It is bad. Remove it. (Replace it, if desired.)

Machines should not be reporting errors with MemTest86+. If so, there is typically a problem. Usually the problem is RAM. The screenshots make it look like the problem may be in just one area. So if you have multiple sticks of RAM, you may be able to remove just one, and then have things work. If you're on a budget (aren't we all?), I would suggest moving a remaining stick of RAM into the slot that you removed the bad RAM stick from, to confirm that the motherboard isn't broken. If all seems well, then buy a replacement RAM stick which matches the speed/characteristics of your existing RAM. (Or maybe just replace all your RAM, upgrading your system to have more RAM, if it is suitably cheap.)

There are some other possibilities, like a bad BIOS setting. However, unless you've been mucking with your BIOS, the most likely scenario is that you have a bad RAM chip.

Unfortunately, it can be difficult to tell which chip to replace. Different motherboards do different things regarding which RAM chip matches which address. You can guess based on the idea that one side of the RAM slots probably represents byte number zero, but ultimately trial and error can handle this.

Some motherboards may act different if you have different amounts of RAM. For instance, some older motherboards have been known to require RAM is paired. I think that's less common with newer hardware, but just being aware of such a possibility can help to explain results that may otherwise seem mysterious.

Memtest86+ is highly regarded. However, some RAM tests are more likely to catch certain errors than other RAM tests, which means that some RAM testing software may find errors that Memtest86+ doesn't. And, vice versa. Memtest86+ is probably the most widely trusted option. I've seen Best Buy's Geek Squad use it when I did a warranty exchange. (They wouldn't trust my claim that Memtest86+ had errors. It seemed that they were unfamiliar with the name of that software. However, they would trust their diagnostics disc, where they selected an option to run a memory test... and the result was that it ran Memtest86+.)

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