How to test RAM and HDD (Hard Drive).

[Daniel_Potyrala]

Introduction

HP machines have built-in Bios testers for RAM and HDD's.

To use them you need to enter Bios by pressing F10 on startup. They are placed under ' Diagnostics menu '.

Why I wrote this guide and complicate whole situation?

There are three reasons:

• This testers are not so great and sometimes they do not detect problems which you may have with your hardware. It's recommended to use more advanced tester for RAM and manufacter diagnostic programs to test HDD's.

• Not always you will be able to enter Bios. Sometimes corrupted hardware is blocking possibility to run it.

• Advanced diagnostic softwares for hard drives allow to fix some problems.

Table of Contents:

A How to test RAM with Memtest86+.

B How to test HDD (Hard Drive).

[Daniel_Potyrala]

Ad. A

There are few possibilities to run this program. In this guide I will present how to run it from:

• CD

       and

• USB Flash Drive.

First we need to burn Memtest86+ on a CD or prepare properly USB Flash drive with a special tool.

Here you will find Memtest86+ home page from which you will be able to download correct version of this software.

Solution 1. CD:

        Download ' Pre-Compiled Bootable ISO (.zip) ' and extract it with 7-Zip(free) or WinRar.

        Download CDBurnerXP from here. Install this program and run it.

        Choose ' Browse ISO image '.

       

        and point Memtest86+ iso file.

       

        Click ' Burn disc '.

       

        Wait until burning process will finish.

       

        Choose ' OK '.

       

        Exit from program.

       

Solution 2. USB Flash Drive:

         Download ' Auto-installer for USB Key (Win 9x/2k/xp/7) ' and extract it with 7-Zip(free) or WinRar.

         Connect USB Flash Drive to one of USB ports. Run ' Memtest86+ 4.10 USB Installer '.

         Click ' I Agree '.

        

         Select USB Flash Drive and check box to format it.

     Caution!

          Format process will erase all information from USB Flash Drive. If you have there something important then please backup this data first.

          

           Choose ' Create '.

          

           Wait until process will finish and click ' Next '.

          

           Exit from program by choosing ' Finish '.

          

How to run Memtest86+.

Leave USB Flash drive in USB port or CD in CD/DVD drive. Restart your system and on startup press F9 key repetitively:

After this step you will be able to select from which device you want to boot. Choose from the list ' USB Hard Drive ' if you have prepared USB Flash Drive (like on below photo) or ' Optical Disk Drive ' if you have prepared CD:

 

How to use Memtest86+ to test RAM?

Do at least 2 - 3 passes. In Errors column may show up only 0. If it's other number then you need to replace corrupted RAM stick.

[Daniel_Potyrala]

Ad. B

First you need to know which company manufactured your disk. It is very important, because this information will tell you which diagnostic software you should use. There are two ways to find brand name:

• by using special software in a Windows enviroment (Option 1)

       or

•  by checking it manually (Option 2).

Option 1.

Download, install and run Speccy (free software). Wait until it finish analizing what kind of hardware you've got. It will give you information about manufacturer and model of your HDD (example below underlined with yellow line):

Option 2.

Remove hard drive from your notebook and check which company manufactured it.

This information will be written on a sticker. Below you will find example (manufacturer's name is underlined with yellow line):

If you don't know how to remove hard drive then you may check service documentation for your specific model. How to find it?

1. Click on Support & Drivers link. (Upper part of this page.)

2. In search box type your product name (p/n).

       Resource:

       How to Locate the Notebook p/n

3. Choose ' Next '.

4. Select ' Manuals '.

5. Find on the list ' Maintenance and Service Guide ' and use Adobe Acrobat Reader (free software) to open it.

6. From the left panel double click first ' Removal and replacement procedures ' and then ' Component replacement procedures '

7. Find on the list ' Hard Drive '.

Now you know manufacturer name. Find it on the below list. This will give you knowledge which diagnostic software you should use:

• Fujitsu - check this link and use software from Diagnostic Tools section. 

       Note:

       Comprehensive Test is recommended.

• Hitachi - check this link. There are two diagnostic programs: Drive Fitness Test and OGT Diagnostic Tool. 

      Drive Fitness Test is for all SCSI, IDE and SATA drives except for Ultrastar 10K300, Ultrastar 15K73 and DK32xx disk drives

      which should be tested with OGT Diagnostic Tool. 

      Note:

      Advanced Test is recommended when you are using Drive Fitness Test.

      Descriptions of Error Codes you will find in the documents to which links are given below (use Adobe Acrobat Reader (free

      software) to read them):

      Drive Fitness Test User's Guide - page 28

      OGT Diagnostic Tool User's Guide - page 13

• Seagate - test your HDD with SeaTools. 

       Note:

       Long Test is recommended.

       Descriptions of Error Codes you will find in the document to which link is given below:

       SeaTools Error Codes

• Toshiba - there is no special diagnostic software for this brand. Use tester which is built-in Bios. There is no other solution.

• Western Digital - test your HDD with Data Lifeguard Diagnostic. 

       Note:

       Extended Test is recommended.

       Descriptions of Error Codes you will find in the document to which link is given below:

       Diagnostic Error Codes