Re: memtest.exe

Thank you. I have already run SFC /SCANNOW and it finds no errors at all, anywhere, on anything. I was never prompted to insert the Windows CD, nothing at all.

Chatting with Gateway offers me a "Start The Computer Over" nuclear option. Gee, what a help. Chatting with Microsoft offered me a Boot the Windows CD and select Repair System, but the CD that came with the Gateway appears to be a rebuild only as it gives me no options and goes straight to installing Vista. Using F8 during boot to get to the Repair option works, but starts by asking about my keyboard and I am loathe to redo the entire system for one file.

So I cannot run it from Repair by booting the CD as NightHawk suggested. Trying to copy memtest.exe from the CD into the C:\boot\ directory says it will copy it and name it memtest(2).exe, but after it "copies" it's not there and the original file is undisturbed. Sometimes all you can do is scratch your head.

I have memtest86 that I have been using for XP machines but haven't gotten a newer version in awhile. I will correct that. Not familiar with the others. However, it's bugging me now that the diagnostic included with Vista doesn't work.

And what prompted this whole ordeal is that the machine came with 3 GB. I went to Crucial's site and it says my Gateway FX7020 can take 4GB of ram, so I bought two 1GB sticks to bring it up to 4GB after swapping out the two 512MB sticks. I now get 3.25 GB of memory. I understand that Vista won't give me the full 4GB, (and a friend told me about that after I'd already ordered the memory, and am not happy that Crucial says I can do 4GB when they know darn well it's not useable), but naturally when I make a hardware change I want to make sure it works, and a memory diagnostic that comes with Vista would seems to be the ideal solution.

So the next logical question is if I run the repair option, and am spooked by it asking about my keyboard configuration, can I go past that point and ONLY fix the memtest or do I have to basically overwrite the entire system, then download all the updates again?

Thank you for wading through all this.




"Rick Rogers" <rick@xxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:#APjj$kcJHA.1336@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Hi Bill,

"is missing or corrupt."

Since it's not missing, then it must be corrupt. Two possible solutions:

1) Run sfc /scannow from an elevated command prompt to detect and repair corrupt system files.

2) Use a third party tool for the test like memtest86, docmemory, or Microsoft's oca memory test. All are easily found and are free to use.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
My thoughts http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com

"No One" <noone@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:2D62BAB6-E692-4081-ACF8-7ECA69D900AB@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Good day everyone.

When I launch the Administrative Tools/Memory Diagnostic Tool in Vista Home Premium the computer reboots, you get the BIOS screen, then what appears to be a DOS error screen that says file \boot\memtest.exe is missing or corrupt. It's NOT at all missing as you can easily see it on the C:\boot directory, and the version appears to be from SP1.

How can I run the memtest program that came with Vista?

THANKS!
Bill in Cape Coral, FL



--


"It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others."

.

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