Unfortunately, compared to any other type of computer, gaming PCs are not as resistant to memory failure. But if you learn how to test for RAM errors, you can at least find out the real cause of the crash or startup error, thereby opening up the chance to find a fix (or just let yourself know that you need to buy new RAM).

In this guide, we will introduce several different RAM testing tools, all of which are free to download and use. The first is Windows Memory Diagnostics, which is built into Windows (including Windows 11) and provides a simple option to find possible RAM problems. For a more in-depth investigation, you can also try MemTest86, which requires more errands (including some BIOS changes), but will search for errors in RAM more thoroughly.

If you don't want to install any other tools, this is your easiest and easiest choice, because everything is built into Windows. However, you need to set aside some time for it; the tool itself claims that its use "may take a few minutes", but it may actually take nearly an hour, and you will not be able to use your equipment normally during this time.

Step 1: Open Windows memory diagnostics by searching in the search bar of the "Start" menu. Then, click "Restart now and check for problems."

Step 2: Your PC will shut down, and you will see a blue screen for many, many minutes when Windows Memory Diagnostics searches for RAM issues. You can do something more productive because you don’t need your input at this stage, although it’s worth checking it occasionally because the tool will say if it found a problem.

Step 3: After the test is passed, you will return to the desktop. At this point, Windows Memory Diagnostics should obviously show its results automatically, although it didn't show up when I tried. Fortunately, you can find the review in the Windows Event Viewer.

Step 4: Right-click the Windows icon, and then click "Event Viewer".

Step 5: In the event viewer, navigate to Windows Log> System in the leftmost pane, and look for the event named "MemoryDiagnostics-Results" in the "Source" column. This will detail the test results in the bottom pane.

Among all free memory testing applications, MemTest86 should be the only thing you need. It runs a more comprehensive set of tests than Windows Memory Diagnostics, and because it boots from a USB drive, it can completely bypass the operating system-very convenient if your crash is so severe that you can't even access the desktop.

Step 1: Go to the MemTest86 site and click "Download".

Step 2: Unzip the .zip file you just downloaded and insert it into the USB drive. Setting up MemTest86 will erase everything else on the drive, so if it hasn't been cleaned up yet, please back up its contents.

Step 3: Launch the "imageUSB" executable file in the unzipped folder. When asked if you want to allow it to make changes, click Yes.

Step 4: Select your USB drive from the list in the "Step 1" box. In the "Step 2" section, make sure to select "Write image to USB drive", and then in the "Step 3" section, check whether the memtest86-usb.img file is selected-it should already be selected. Finally, click the "Write" button, and then click "Yes" in the next two dialog boxes to confirm.

Step 5: After a few moments, the image will be written to the USB-you will know because you will receive a flashing confirmation message that slightly shows GeoCities. Click "OK" and restart your PC, or if you are using a different computer to create the USB image, insert the USB drive into the PC to be tested and start it.

Step 6: Your PC will boot Windows by default instead of booting from USB, so you need to enter BIOS (or UEFI, if we are a technician) and set USB as the main boot device. You can perform this operation by pressing F2, F12, or Del when the PC is booting, depending on the motherboard manufacturer.

The BIOS interface may be different, but they usually have a boot menu, so navigate to this menu and set any USB drive partition to the top of the boot priority order list. After completing the test, you can change it back at any time. Save your changes and exit to restart.

Step 7: When restarting, your PC will load MemTest86 and it will start running automatically. It takes a while to complete the default four-pass test run—when I tried it with 16GB DDR4, it took two and a half hours—so let it do its thing, and when finished, press any key to see the result. If you prefer, you can press Y when prompted to save the copy to an HTML file for future reference.

Step 8: Press X to exit. You can choose to restart, shut down your PC, or exit MemTest86, but remember that you will continue to load into it (not Windows) until you remove the USB drive or re-enter the BIOS to set the Windows boot manager back to the main Startup options.

Unfortunately, not all memory errors can be repaired. If your memory module has serious hardware problems, you will not be able to use the troubleshooting program to fix it, and it is best to replace it.

That being said, you can fix some minor errors by reinstalling RAM: PC memory is equivalent to turning it off and on. Simply remove the RAM sticks from the motherboard, reinstall them immediately, and then try to boot again to see if their performance is better. If you have not done this before, our guide on how to install RAM may be helpful.

Even if one of your RAM modules is eventually damaged, if there are multiple sticks on your motherboard, you don't need to throw them all away. Try to start your PC repeatedly while removing different RAM sticks each time; if you no longer encounter errors, you will know which modules need to be replaced and which modules you can keep.

James no longer writes about Dota for RPS, but about hardware for RPS. His favorite water dispenser radiator size is 280 mm, and he always uses RGB lighting by setting everything to pure light blue.

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