While I realize there are better memory test programs than Memtest86,
it's probably the best free one. So, any suggestions on how long or
for how many passes I should run it?
Thanks for your help.
Larc
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<larc-news@saturnlink.net> wrote in message news:nitdm3d1d0autdcght8uc6rm94k1aagj1p@4ax.com...
> While I realize there are better memory test programs than Memtest86,
> it's probably the best free one. So, any suggestions on how long or
> for how many passes I should run it?
>
> Thanks for your help.
> Larc
Several hours at a minimum, some people run it for several days.
Personally I don't waste more than an hour or two on it. If I had
a dollar for every memory subsystem that passed Memtest with
flying colors, then proceeded to crash and be unstable when
running 3D games, I'd be very very wealthy.
<nospam@sbcglobal.invalid.net> wrote in message
news:uKC9j.24971$4V6.8345@newssvr14.news.prodigy.n et...
> <larc-news@saturnlink.net> wrote in message
news:nitdm3d1d0autdcght8uc6rm94k1aagj1p@4ax.com...
> > While I realize there are better memory test programs than Memtest86,
> > it's probably the best free one. So, any suggestions on how long or
> > for how many passes I should run it?
> >
> > Thanks for your help.
> > Larc
>
> Several hours at a minimum, some people run it for several days.
> Personally I don't waste more than an hour or two on it. If I had
> a dollar for every memory subsystem that passed Memtest with
> flying colors, then proceeded to crash and be unstable when
> running 3D games, I'd be very very wealthy.
>
>
>
Right...
if no problems turn up after a few hours...the memory is probably good.
Only once did memtest pass some memory that really did not cut it...
and I've used memtest many time
larc-news@saturnlink.net wrote:
> While I realize there are better memory test programs than Memtest86,
> it's probably the best free one. So, any suggestions on how long or
> for how many passes I should run it?
>
> Thanks for your help.
> Larc
>
Yes, Memtest86+ (also free). Seriously, it recognizes more CPUs and
seems to be just as good, if not better than, Memtest86. http://www.memtest.org/
As mentioned, run it for at least a few full passes, which shouldn't be
more than a few hours, at most.
Thanks very much for the help. I've already downloaded and installed
Memtest86+ to a floppy and will try it later.
BTW, I was using Memtest86 v3.0 but upgraded to the latest v3.4. I
couldn't get it to work correctly on either computer I tried it on
(both CD and floppy). All the tests would appear to run in about four
seconds and then a summary of extensive errors in every test would
come up. Had to drop back to v3.3. It works with no problems.
Larc
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On Mon, 17 Dec 2007 17:23:27 -0500, larc-news@saturnlink.net <larc-news@saturnlink.net> wrote:
: While I realize there are better memory test programs than Memtest86,
: it's probably the best free one. So, any suggestions on how long or
: for how many passes I should run it?
When I'm happy with the settings and plan to keep them, overnight.
Then a solid 24 hours of prime95. Then I'll start using it on it.
But this is on a combined production & fun machine, YMMV
Larc wrote:
> Thanks very much for the help. I've already downloaded and installed
> Memtest86+ to a floppy and will try it later.
>
> BTW, I was using Memtest86 v3.0 but upgraded to the latest v3.4. I
> couldn't get it to work correctly on either computer I tried it on
> (both CD and floppy). All the tests would appear to run in about four
> seconds and then a summary of extensive errors in every test would
> come up. Had to drop back to v3.3. It works with no problems.
> Larc
There are two streams of memtest, and the one at
memtest.org picked up, after updates for the other
version stopped for a while. So you have the
choice of two different web sites.
The memory tester respects the memory map defined
by the BIOS. If the BIOS says there are several
"do not touch" areas, then memtest works around them.
(It wouldn't be very healthy, if the BIOS was writing
in one of those zones, when memtest came barging in,
and vice versa. Memtest would conclude the memory was
bad.)
A possible reason your test results returned so fast,
is the test program has got confused about what is
reserved and what is not. It could be that by
misreading a reserved segment description, the
majority of the memory got reserved by accident.
It could be a programming bug.
On Dec 17, 2:23 pm, larc-n...@saturnlink.net wrote:
> While I realize there are better memory test programs than Memtest86,
> it's probably the best free one. So, any suggestions on how long or
> for how many passes I should run it?
>
> Thanks for your help.
> Larc
>
> §§§ - Change planet to earth to reply by email - §§§
Time spent is completely irrelevant as the amount of testing done
depends on system speed and the size of your memory (half the memory =
twice as much testing per hour). The more memory you need to test, the
more time you have to spend. Thus reliability should be measured
solely in the number of passes, and how many to run depends on what
margin of error you're willing to live with. Fortunately, problem
areas aren't entirely random -- bad parts tend to produce errors
quickly -- so you don't need to perform 10000 tests to have 99.99%
reliability. A bad part will likely show up within the first few
passes. I think most people do about 6 passes if they are waiting for
the results. At most I would do 10 if you are under time constraints.
Otherwise, assuming this is for your home PC, I recommend you just
leave it running overnight and/or during a workday while you are away.
This should be enough to give you a solid margin of error and does not
impede on your schedule.
"RobV" <robv@nowhere.invalid> wrote in message
news:47670842$0$1409$4c368faf@roadrunner.com...
> larc-news@saturnlink.net wrote:
>> While I realize there are better memory test programs than Memtest86,
>> it's probably the best free one. So, any suggestions on how long or
>> for how many passes I should run it?
>>
>> Thanks for your help.
>> Larc
>>
>
>
> Yes, Memtest86+ (also free). Seriously, it recognizes more CPUs and seems
> to be just as good, if not better than, Memtest86.
> http://www.memtest.org/
>
> As mentioned, run it for at least a few full passes, which shouldn't be
> more than a few hours, at most.
>
The latest Memtest86+ is 1.70. It has no problems with the latest
multicore CPUs and motherboards.
How long to run Memtest86? 
Linear Mode
