This program is an excellent way to find out if your RAM is bad--and needs to be replaced. Your memory can go bad, or even already be bad when you first bought it if it's cheap memory. So if you get blue screens, constant crashing of your software, and so forth, then you need to run memtest86 to find out if it's being caused by bad memory. Often, programs won't crash until the memory has hit a bad spot in your memory stick.
Memtest86+ isn't technically a Windows program because, since it's a standalone program, it doesn't require any operating system support for execution. It can be used with any PC (x86 platform) regardless of what operating system, if any, is installed. I'm mentioning this program on my blog because it's something that every computer user needs in my opinion. Running this diagnostic program can save you the time and money of paying someone in a repair shop to run this program for you, and since memtest86 is so easy to use, that would be a silly thing to do!
How to use Memtest86+
All you need to do is download memtest86+ and extract the ISO (image) file from the ZIP file. Then, using any CD-burning software you have, burn the image to a CD. Then just reboot with the CD in your drive and it will boot and run Memtest86 from the CD automatically. If the CD doesn't boot automatically then go into your system's BIOS and make sure you have CD-ROM to boot before your Hard drive. If it still doesn't boot then try making another boot image; I actually had this happen and had to burn it again for it to work because of a bad burn.
Once memtest86+ boots itself it will run automatically and start testing your memory. It will do 10 tests and then start over again, continuing forever until you stop it by hitting the Escape key. One complete test, called a pass, is all you really need to do. A complete test will take about 20-30 minutes.
I've made a screen shot of memtest86 running on my system so you can see how easy it works:
I drew black circles around the main things for you to notice while memtest86 is running. In my screen shot memtest86 is currently on Test #8 (8 out of 10) and there were 0 errors so far.
Remember, once you've completed Test #10, memtest86 will loop over and over forever until you hit the Escape key to stop it. Once you've exited the memtest86 just take the CD out of your drive and reboot Windows.
If memtest86 reports even just one error it probably means it's time to replace your memory stick(s). Don't get cheap memory! it's not worth trying to save money on memory, even good memory is cheap these days. Get a good brand like Crucial, Kingston, Corsair or Mushkin.
You might also want to consider getting a different freeware package called the Ultimate Boot CD because it comes with memtest, and memtest+ as well as a ton of other great programs that diagnose your machine and help fix it if you're crashing or locked out.
http://www.memtest.org/
http://www.memtest86.com/
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