How to Use the Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool to Find Memory Problems

 The moment you start experiencing random reboots, freezes, apps crashing, and Blue Screen of Death (BSoD) in your PC; your brain quickly starts thinking about replacing the memory or computer. But before making your final decision, we would recommend you to use the Windows 10 Memory Diagnostic Tool. This will help you figure out if memory is the problem or not. And this article will tell you how.

How the Diagnostic Tool Works

To run this tool on Windows 10, you will have to restart your computer and run the diagnostic tool during the startup process. Once it starts running, your computer will go through two tests and will show the results after restarting. Also, there are some advanced tests to run, wherein, you can choose to run between a Basic or Extended test versus the Standard. Plus, you can select the number of tests (maximum 15) you want to run. Remember, the more number of tests you will run, the more time it will take.

Setting Up the Tool

Navigate to the Start menu to type memory. You will come across a list of options, here, choose “Windows Memory Diagnostic.” Then, a dialogue box will appear with two options, namely, “Restart Now and Check for Problems” and “Check for Problems the Next Time I Start my computer.” Choose the latter if you have any unsaved files, and be sure to save everything that you are currently working on before restarting your computer. However, if you are ready to run the tool, select the first option to start right away.

Running the Memory Tests

Once you restart your computer, the Windows 10 Memory Diagnostic Tool will start running. Make sure not to turn off your computer while the test is running. Your computer is set to jump into Standard mode by default, and it will take around ten minutes for the PC to go through all the test passes. If your computer still experiences issues or you suspect memory problems, consider running the test again. But this time, press F1 on your keyboard as soon as your computer restarts. This will take you to the Advanced Options, wherein, you can choose to run the Extended test. It will take longer but goes more in-depth.

Reviewing Your Results

Although Windows 10 Memory Diagnostic Tool should provide you the results of the diagnostics on the desktop right after the restart finishes. However, if nothing appears, you can still view your results in the Event Viewer. Here is how:

• Navigate to the Start menu to type the event viewer.
• Then, choose “Run as administrator” under Event Viewer.
• In the list that appears, select “Windows Logs” and right-click System followed by “Find.”
• Type “MemoryDiagnostics-Results” into the search box, and then hit Find. You will find the results of the recent Memory Diagnostics appearing in the bottom pane of the Event Viewer window.

Next Steps

If you don’t find any errors in the results, then your system is probably facing some other issues than a memory. But, if there is an error, you may consider searching the error details to discover if replacing the memory will fix the issue.

We hope that you were able to find the solution to the annoying error which your PC was facing.

Ava Williams is a self-professed security expert; he has been making the people aware of the security threats. His passion is to write about Cybersecurity, cryptography, malware, social engineering, internet and new media. He writes for Mcafee products at mcafee.com/activate.

Source : How to Use the Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool to Find Memory Problems