Knowing what the RAM memory installed on your computer is capable of doing and checking its integrity on a periodic basis is one of those maintenance tasks that can not only give us an idea of the health of our PC’s RAM memory, but also help us detect possible hardware problems that may be affecting other areas of our computer. Memtest is a free utility to help all kinds of users to perform this essential system optimization task in a simple and efficient way.
Its minimal interface offers no distraction – all you are asked to do when using this free one-function tool is to determine the amount of RAM memory you want the program to check for you in one go. The free version of this one-function utility used for this review is limited to 3.5 GB of contiguous RAM memory, so if your PC has installed more than that, you’ll need to run the Memtest executable as many times as required to cover all your PC’s RAM. Running various copies of this tool at the same time will neither harm your PC’s performance nor affect the validity of the scan results. Note, however, that, by default, Memtest will only check the amount of RAM memory that your system is not using.
Unlike other utilities that scan specific PC components in search of errors or faulty hardware, Memtest won’t stop checking free RAM unless you tell it so. Reaching 100% without showing any error message usually means that your PC’s memory is in excellent condition. However, in order to detect memory errors that appear only occasionally, you’re advised to run Memtest until it reaches 400%, at least when your PC has gone through a major hardware change.
Apart from the free version of the program (with the limitations mentioned above), Memtest comes in two other flavors – Pro and Deluxe – that include many other features, such as the option to check every byte of RAM memory from an external disc (available in the Deluxe version). These are available for a small fee and are designed to be of use mainly to computer technicians. Most home users, however, will find that the free version of Memtest covers everything they need when it comes to running a thorough and reliable check-up of their PC’s RAM memory.
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