10 Steps to Avoiding PC Disasters: Day 3
10 Steps to Avoiding PC Disasters: Day 3 - Memory Failure
After the hard drive, your RAM memory is the most likely hardware component to fail, which can cause your PC not to boot or stop responding. You will see most memory errors and problems occur upon installation of your DIMM Memory sticks…but RAM problems can also occur at any time during the daily use of your PC due to power surges or overheating.
If you are getting Stop errors or your PC keeps freezing or crashing, you may have memory problems. The easiest way to repair memory errors is to first run a Windows registry cleaner like RegCure, as sometimes a corrupted and bloated windows registry can cause all sorts of errors on your PC, including freezes and crashes.
The next step would be to actually replace your memory, as that will usually fix any RAM related problems, but you’ll want to run some tests first: One of the most effective memory tests you can run, has to be executed outside of windows, so you’ll need a bootable CD. The test is called Memtest86 and is Free! The longer you run this memory test the more accurately it can measure your RAM’s performance levels, and determine if any faulty memory needs to be replaced.
If you find that you need to replace your computer’s memory sticks, then head of to Crucial.com and use their memory advisor tool to locate the specific RAM you need for your PC. This will involve choosing your PC’s manufacturer and model number. Then go to Newegg.com to purchase your memory (much cheaper prices than crucial)!
Keeping a close eye on your hard drives and RAM with the programs we’ve mentioned in these first two posts can really go a long ways towards preventing any kind of PC disaster from even happening!