Ask the Doctor: The Neverending Memtest

The Maximum PC Staff — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 19:00:03 -0500

I downloaded memtest86+ 1.65 (on the recommendation of your magazine) and tried it out on one of my systems. I cannot get past the “auto” running memtest86+ to finish booting to Windows XP Pro. My system is an AMD 2.2GB dual core with 2GB of RAM on a TForce 550 SE mobo. How can I stop memtest86+ from automatically starting every time I boot? I assume there is an autoexec.bat file that is running. Memtest86+ ran for nearly 48 hours non-stop without ever finishing the tests. Is this normal? Should I have let it run to completion?

—Dave

Dave, memtest86+ runs from a boot CD, USB, or floppy drive. Just remove that media before you start your computer, and you should boot normally. The test will actually run forever in the default burn-in mode; if you are seeing 48-hour runs without problems, your memory’s in pretty good shape! The current version of memtest86+, by the way, is version 2.11, which you can get at www.memtest.org.

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Ask the Doctor: The Neverending Memtest