E00070020, the infamous, memtest error?

hey,
i reset my computer, installed some programmes and also true image v.10 home and wanted to create a backup of my c partition. however, i received the famous error message E00070020 when validating my backup;
i therefore downloaded memtest 3.6 and received quite a few errors; then i downloaded memtest 86+ and the ram check tool by windows. those tools didn't show any errors!!!
what tool should i trust? why are there errors when running memtest 3.6 when there are none with other tools?
what else could be the problem of the error E00070020

i hope there is anybody that can help me...

 

where did you get memtest v3.6? The memtest86.com site shows current version as 3.3. The memtest.org site shows the latest memtest86+ version as being 1.7.

I do know that older versions will give false errors.

Do you get validation errors in both Windows and the boot CD versions of TI?

What media is your backup stored on - external HD, internal HD, DVD?

If your archive is not on an internal HD try making one on an internal. If you don't have a second drive or partion to store the archive on, you can store it in the same partition if there is enough room. Ignore the warning message.

 

i got it from the following website: http://hcidesign.com/memtest/
or is this tool useless?

yes, i do always get my validation errors no matter if i use the boot cd or windows;
i stored my backup of c on my d partition of my internal HD (i have one internal HD with two partitions, c and d);

i am really confused, do you know what i could do next?
thx for your help

 

Interesting. It appears to be another variant that I wasn't aware of; from the user interface it seems rather primitive. If the Windows memory checker and Memtest86+ V1.7 don't show a problem I'd be inclined to agree with them. However, diagnostics are not perfect and don't run in the same environment as the applications.

Have you ever successfully validated using TI on the PC?

Are you using the latest version of TI10? If not get the latest.

I would run chkdsk X: /r on all your partitions. Substitute the drive letter of the partition being tested for X.

If you have more than one stick of memory and the PC will run on only one, I would try validating with one stick then the other and see if it works with one of them. Substituting known good RAM is always a good way to see if there is a RAM problem.

Your PC should not be over-clocked in anyway and the memory timings should not be aggessive.

The TI validation is done by reading the archive file and recalculating the checksums based on the data read and comparing the checksums stored in the archive when it was written. If any checksum is bad the archive is declared corrupt. One bad bit in a several gigabyte archive will cause it to be declared corrupt. There is one checksum for every 256K bytes of data. A validation error means that the archive cannot be read properly or some other fault is causing the checksum to be miscalculated.

 

thanks a lot for your help,
i ran memtest86+ once again and it surprisingly found over 190 errors.
I have two ddr sdram modules (512 mb each, buffalo, 400 Mhz, pc32000, non ecc unbuffered, 64Mx64) that are placed in two memory slots (i just have two of them on my motherboard). I ran memtest86+ with each of the 2 modules on every single slot and found out that one slot is not working...
What could this be the result of? Would it be enough to replace the slot or could also be the motherbord be damaged? How would I know?
Unfortunately i do not have guarantee any more on that product.
What would you suggest to do? Should i get one module of 1 gb or 2gb for just the single slot as i can't use the left 512 mb module?

Again, thanks for your help

 

Try cleaning the contacts on the bad slot?

Are you good with a soldering iron? Perhaps if you touch up the joints on the bad slot's connector you can fix it. A very large percentage of problems with modern electronics are caused by bad contacts or bad solder joints. You might get lucky, but be careful not to create any solder bridges.

 

Can you remove one SDRAM module and run Memtest86+v.1.70 again. As an example:
· Remove the module in slot 2 and run the test. If no errors:
· Replace the module in slot 1 with that which was removed from slot 2 and run the test. If no errors and your motherboard will allow it:
· Repeat the above steps using only slot 2 and run the test.

This is a time consuming process but it should isolate the problem to a given slot or to a module. If you are using WinXP (I don’t know about Vista) you might also go to Start > Settings > Control Panel > System. This will bring up a System Properties screen. In the lower half of the screen it will display the amount of RAM that you have. I expect that it will show 1 GB but it doesn’t hurt to check it. Sometimes just removing and re-inserting a module will help due to the wiping action. Check the contacts for cleanliness.

Reading your posting again it appears that you may have already confirmed that the motherboard slot is not working.

As far as installing a single 1 or 2 GB module you should check your system literature to see what limitation/options exist. Be sure to power down the PC (unplug it) when working with the memory modules.

Good luck,
Bruce

 

Others have given you advice on cleaning and checking for solder joint problems. A word of caution, soldering on a motherboard can be very tricky and should in no way be your first experience with soldering. The traces are small and can lift or even evaporate if too much heat is applied and since the pins are close together it is easy to get a bridge between pins.

Does the PC work with only 1 stick plugged in? This means memtest86+ and TI validation both show no errors. If so, does it work properly with either stick? If it does, this confirms the bad slot diagnosis.

Is the motherboard a dual-channel memory motherboard? If so, running with only 1 channel will degrade its performance a bit.

Check you motherboard manual to be sure that your test configurations are valid for the memory slots.

If the board is bad, and this can be caused by a bad address line due to a chip, solder joint, or any obscure component failure, you may want to consider getting a new motherboard rather than just buying a different stick. Unfortunately, this can also get you onto a slippery and expensive upgrade slope since your old stuff may be seen as too obsolete to put in a new board!