Memory Failure - or is it?

[JohnDDD11]

History of What I did

1. Used winget (package updater) to update software
2. Could not update Express VPN
3. Stopped service and set to not start automatically
4. Still could not uninstall
5. Rebooted computer and it failed to boot, had spinning circle
6. Tried window auto repair and failed
1. Got message saying a critical driver was missing or corrupt
2. You'll need to use recovery tools 
3. 
7. Created Window install media
1. Created using "Media Creation Tool" - would not boot from drive
2. Created using .iso and RUFUS - Would not boot
3. After awhile it would not even see the usb drive as an option
8. Ran hardware diagnostics - memory failed
1. Failed DIMM1
2. Swapped DIMM one and two
3. Still failed DIMM1
4. changed from slot 1 and 3 to 2 and 4
5. Failed DIMM 2
6. Swapped DIM 2 and 4,, still failed DIMM2
9. 

Questions

1. Is the failure to boot related to trying to delete Express VPN and the corrupted driver?
2. If it is hardware it seems strange that I can't get the hardware failure to move between slot 1 and 3 or 2 and 4 when swapping sticks. Is it possibly not the memory and actually the motherboard?
3. If it's the memory, how can I tell which stick is bad?

[Pallipurath · Accepted solution]

Hi @JohnDDD11 

Welcome to the HP Support Community.

Thank you for posting your query.

When encountering a "Disk1 FAILED" message in HP PC Hardware Diagnostics Windows, it indicates a potential hardware issue with your primary hard drive. However, since you've also mentioned that the Windows Disk version of the tests passed, it suggests there might be an inconsistency in diagnostics. Here's a step-by-step guide on how to proceed:

If the boot failure related to ExpressVPN uninstall?

• Unlikely. Software uninstall or a corrupted driver can prevent Windows from loading, but it wouldn’t cause hardware diagnostics to report a DIMM failure.
• The “critical driver missing” message was probably a symptom of memory errors corrupting system files, not the root cause.

 Why does the failure stay with the slot?

• You swapped sticks between slots, but the failure consistently reports against the same DIMM location.
• This suggests the motherboard slot or memory controller may be faulty, not the RAM itself.
• If it were a bad stick, the error should follow the stick when moved to another slot.

How to isolate the bad component

• Test one stick at a time
• Insert a single RAM stick into slot A. Run diagnostics.
• Swap that same stick into slot B. Run diagnostics again.
• If it fails in both slots → stick is bad.
• If it fails only in one slot → slot/motherboard is bad.
• Repeat with the other stick
• This confirms whether both sticks are healthy and points to the board.
• Cross‑check with another system (if available)
• If you can test the RAM in another laptop/desktop, that will confirm whether the modules themselves are fine.

Hope this helps, Please revert if the issue persists.

Take care and have an amazing day!