RAM test

Can anyone tell me how I can test my Memory?

I have currently got 1Gig ram running XP Pro but my computer has not been the same for a couple of months now.

Cheers

 

Take a look at majorgeeks.com - memory section. It has several freeware memory test utilities. I recently used MemTest to test my memory.

You might want to take a look at your paging file setup - pctechtalk.com (among others) has an article explaining basic concept & tweaks - mainly discusses lower RAM specs but still valid for 1G.

Good luck,

Slim

 

Hi Slim, did you mean AleGr MEMTEST 2.00 or memtest86? Do you know of any standalone programs?

I am not too comfortable with DOS especially if it means a reboot disk.

Cheers

BornMember

 

I use Sisoft Sandra for my benchmarking and always been very pleased about it...

they have a free one too:

http://www.sisoftware.net/

 

Thanks Infinity

I am aware of this program but the problem is that I am not sure which one to download. The site offers a lot of details and there are also so many mirror sites to download from.

My PC spec. Intel P4 2.8G (ASUS soc 478 MB), 1 Gig RAM (2x512DDR), XP Pro SP2

 

Hi,

You also should give Everest Home Edition a try, works fine and is free.

http://www.lavalys.com/products.php?lang=en

 

Cheers Gerardwill

Downloading it right now. Will give an update later on.

Thanks

Born

 

Everest Home is a great product. Its a breeze.

 

BornMember,

First off, my apologies for not giving your situation adequate thought before offering assistance. I am still kicking myself for overlooking Everest which I use myself & is a wonderful utility for gathering information on your system, in addition to providing memory benchmarking/testing.

I have given some thought to your situation & wonder whether your problem needs to be approached from a different direction. I am unaware of your level of expertise & it seems obvious from the specs given that your PC has been a recent purchase (guessing less than a year). I also must commend your comment regarding not being comfortable with using a testing device such as MemTest86. This is not exactly what I was referring to & does involve accessing BIOS to change your boot sequence. Regardless of your technical expertise, listening to your instincts & avoiding messing with something you are uncomfortable with is always the smart thing to do & never/ever listen to anyone that disagrees with that.

First, if your PC starts exhibiting some strange behavior, especially involving any sort of drain on resources such as CPU & memory usage, it is almost a given that some sort of parasitic infection is involved (trojan, spyware, etc.).
If this is the case, you could not find a better place than this forum for advice on dealing with scumware & securing your PC.

It is always smart to monitor your startup configuration - this is an area many forms of parasites target & a good starting point (pun unintended) for examination. A word of caution, just because you don't find any evidence of infection in this location does not mean that your system is clean. Some of these parasites can be exceedingly difficult to locate, especially trojans. There are several quality security software programs, both freeware & shareware, that can aid you in your search but your best defense is knowledge about your system & what you need to know & look for. Once again, this forum is the best knowledge base I have found for quality assistance.

An excellent reference database for analysing your startup config is Pacman's web site - pacs-portal. You can access your startup using command prompt MSCONFIG but I prefer using a startup manager instead. CodeStuff Starter is a nice startup manager which also includes a quality process/thread listing. Take a look at the Starter listing vs Pacman's recommendations (many forms of parasites are listed on this site).

Also, consider downloading a program called HiJackThis & post the log to the appropriate section of this forum. This log will provide the forum members with the tech knowhow the necessary info to analyze your situation & provide the appropriate steps needed. Trust them - they know what they are talking about.

Take care & good luck. I will keep an eye on this post & will be happy to answer any questions you might have. Also, other members with far greater knowledge than myself will also jump to your assistance. If it can't be fixed here, it ain't broken!

Regards,

Slim

 

No need for an apology mate.

I do check my StartList with MSCONFIG and regularly keep an eye on it with WinPatrol. I use this site http://www.sysinfo.org/startuplist.php as a reference which I first came across on http://netsquirrel.com/msconfig/

I already have HiJackThis and sure I will post the log in the relevant forum.

Can you just explain what is Benchmarking?

Cheers

 

Ouch! There is always the danger of being asked a question & being uncertain whether your knowledge of the matter is sufficient enough to provide an adequate response. However, it would be a cowardly act on my part to ignore your question. I am certain that other members will step in & correct any errors or incompleteness on my part.

1) Benchmarking provides a comparative basis between your PC & others on a higher & lower-end scale. In other words, where does your PC's capabilities rank among others in processor speed, graphics, etc. This infomation could be used in making a decision on what area you might wish to upgrade, like replacing your graphics card for another with greater capabilities (something I am considering along with a monitor replacement).

2) Benchmarking can provide a historical record of your PC's performance. You can run tests periodically & compare them to records of past tests to verify whether your machine has suffered a degradation in performance. You mentioned that your PC appeared to be performing somewhat differently
than it had in the past. A historical record of your PC's performance provides a basis for comparison. Simply run another test & compare to prior tests.

3) Certain manufacturers & dealers might have a tendency to overrate their product's capabilities (at least that is what I have read). Intel is certainly not part of this group. Benchmarking can be used to determine the truth regarding specs provided.

This is the best I can do based on my understanding of the concept. If that understanding is misguided or incomplete, I am sure other forum members will step in.

Best of luck to you - if I stuck my foot in my mouth would someone please help in the removal process?

Slim