How to detect bad RAM with Windows Memory Diagnostic tool

If your Windows system is not properly behaving, there may be a problem with its RAM. Bad RAM can cause many issues like crashing, freezing, or blue screen of death. Microsoft has given a tool in Windows to detect if the physical memory of your system is defective. Windows has ‘Windows Memory Diagnostic tool’ for this.

Windows can also run this tool to check if there is an issue with RAM. It does this when the machine boots. However, you can also run this tool yourself to find the problem. This tool writes a data to each sector of memory and then reads it back. If the tool reads different value it wrote, it indicates that your RAM is faulty.

To run the Windows Memory Diagnostic tool, follow these steps.

Open Control Panel. Click on Administrative Tools and then select Windows Memory Diagnostic. You can alternatively type “mdsched” in the search bar to open the Windows Memory Diagnostic tool.

Here, you see two options. “Restart now and check for problems” or “Check for problems the next time I start my computer”. You can use any of these two depending on your situation at the moment. If you are thinking to use Restart Now option, be sure to save your work and close any open program.

Select your memory test options and run the test. When the machine restarts, the tool will launch and run the memory test. This may take several minutes and you see a progress bar indicating the progress. You can leave the computer alone and come back later to see the results.

Once the test is complete, Windows will continue to start and you will be shown the results of last memory test. If you didn’t see the results after the restart, you can follow these steps.

Open the Event Viewer. Right-click the Start button and select “Event Viewer”. You can alternatively type “eventvwr.msc” into the Run dialog or search and press enter to open the Event Viewer.

On the Event Viewer window, Navigate to Windows Logs > System and see the list of a large number of events. Here, click on find in the right pane and search for “MemoryDiagnostic” into the find box.

In the results, if you see ‘No errors’ your RAM is fine. If you see anything else, it is the time to replace your RAM. If you installed a new RAM and you think it should not faulty still you are seeing errors, it is also possible that the RAM isn’t compatible with your motherboard for some reason.