Memtest86+

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Memtest86
Memtest86+
Screenshot of Memtest86+
A screenshot of Memtest86+ running in Microsoft Virtual PC 2007
Developer Memtest86: Chris Brady
Memtest86+: Samuel Demeulemeester
Latest release Memtest86: 3.4 September 2, 2007
Memtest86+: 1.70 January 14, 2007
OS Standalone bootable programs
Genre Utility
License GPL v2.0
Website Memtest86: www.memtest86.com
Memtest86+: www.memtest.org

Memtest86+ is software designed to stress test an x86-compatible computer's random access memory (RAM) for errors. It tries to verify that the RAM will accept and correctly retain arbitrary patterns of data written to it.

Memtest86+ is designed to run from a bootable floppy disk, CD-ROM, USB Drive, or from a suitable bootloader without an operating system present. Memtest86+'s tests are comprehensive so it can find otherwise hidden problems on machines that appear to work normally. With many chipsets, Memtest86+ allows counting of failures even in error-correcting ECC DRAM.

Additionally, versions after 1.60 can output a list of bad RAM regions in the format expected by the BadRAM[1] patch[2] for the Linux kernel; using this information, a Linux system can reliably use a RAM module even if it has a few bad bits.

Memtest86 was originally developed by Chris Brady; Memtest86+ is developed by Samuel Demeulemeester. After several years of a development standstill, both are actively worked on. The bootloading code was originally derived from Linux 1.2.1. Memtest86 is written in C and x86 assembler. The source code is released under the GNU General Public License (GPL). The current version of Memtest86 is v3.4, released on September 2, 2007 and v1.70 of Memtest86+, released on January 14, 2007. Both versions now support current dual- and quad-core-CPU's and the corresponding chipsets.

Memtest86+ writes a series of test patterns to every memory address, reads back the data written, and compares it for errors.

Information about the chipset can be used to enhance these tests — particularly in an overclocked system. Many chipsets can report RAM speeds and timings, and some even support changing the memory timings on the fly; in this way, Memtest86+ can test that memory remains error-free with the more aggressive settings.

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