RAM Troubleshooting

Experiencing PC crashing, freezing, or just instability? There may be a problem with the RAM.

What causes RAM problems?

• Sometimes power surges can damage your computer components, like RAM or hard drives. It's best practice to plug your computer into a surge protector, or even better (but of course more costly) a UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply). This can help to protect computer components from getting damaged or even data corruption that can be caused by power events.
• Even excessive heat can harm your computer components. Sometimes, individual components can be heated to outside of their operating temperature range, or even heat from other components can cause damage to other components.
• Sometimes your memory module may have a fault that slipped through quality control. These errors can get worse over time. This is the most common reason behind faulty RAM.
• Most commonly RAM faults develop seemingly out of the blue, years down the track - but may surface earlier.

All Evatech systems go through rigorous testing, including RAM, but if there is no detectable issue at the time then sadly it's not possible for us to find the fault during our testing.

Even if one or two memory sticks on your motherboard are not working properly, it will hinder your RAM performance, or cause system freezing, crashing, data corruption, or possibly stop the system from booting up all together.

Before jumping in to any potential solutions - Back up all important files and data (you should be doing this on a regular basis anyway) but if your computer is showing signs of failure don't wait any longer to perform this task.

Option 1 (Preferred): Boot and Run MemTest86

We've made a dedicated page on this step.

Option 2 (Less desirable): Run the Windows Memory Diagnostics

Why is this less desirable? The Windows tool is not as thorough, so it may show a pass result even if MemTest86 would pick up a failure. Windows Memory Test is faster to run as a result, but the results aren't as accurate nor conclusive.

Windows has a built-in memory testing tool. It's included since at least Windows 7 - and since that's the minimum Evatech has ever offered we should be set! To launch the Windows Memory Diagnostics tool, open the start menu, type Windows Memory Diagnostics, and press Enter.

You could alternatively press Windows Key + R, type mdsched.exe into the Run dialogue that appears and press Enter.

You'll need to reboot your computer to perform the test. While the test is happening, you won’t be able to use your computer.

To agree to this, click “Restart now and check for problems (recommended).” Be sure to save your work first. Your computer will immediately restart.

Your computer will restart and the Windows Memory Diagnostics Tool screen will appear. Just leave it be and let it perform the test. This may take several minutes. During this process, you’ll see a progress bar and a “Status” message will inform you if any problems have been detected during the process.

However, you don’t need to watch the test—you can leave your computer alone and come back to see the results later.

When it’s done, your computer will automatically reboot and return to the Windows desktop. After you log in, the test results will appear.

At least, that’s what the tool says is supposed to happen. If the results DO NOT appear - here’s how to find them;

First, open the Event Viewer. Right-click the Start button and select “Event Viewer”. If you’re using Windows 7, press Windows Key+R, type eventvwr.msc into the Run dialog, and press Enter.

Navigate to Windows Logs > System. You’ll see a list of a large number of events. Click "Find" in the right pane.

Type "MemoryDiagnostic" into the find box and click “Find Next.” You’ll see the result displayed, as well as additional details about your RAM, at the bottom of the window.

What to do if a memory test finds errors?

[WARNING] Before handling any internal components of your PC, ensure the PC is completely shutdown & disconnected from wall power.
NEVER open the power supply unit at any time as capacitors may still be holding hazardous levels of charge long after the cable is disconnected.
NEVER attempt to handle internal components while the PC is running.
Laying the PC down on its side is often the easiest way to work within a PC rather than leaving it standing where it may topple over.

If memory tests give you errors, it’s highly likely that your RAM—at least one of the sticks—is faulty and needs to be replaced. We recommend you contact our friendly support team for assistance and finding out if it's under warranty.

If you have some spare RAM lying around, you can swap out your current RAM sticks and see if your PC runs reliably with different RAM. Or, if your PC has multiple sticks of RAM, you can try removing some and see if that helps—you may be able to determine the RAM module that is failing and remove/replace it.