Help resolving BlueScreens

[IncarnateStrike]

Hello,
This site has been very helpful in the past for many of my general problems, but unfortunatly, now I have a specific problem.

Recently, my computer has been crashing at completely random times, from two different BlueScreens. One a BAD_POOL_HEADER error, and the other a PFN_LIST_CORRUPT error. The PFN_LIST_CORRUPT has only occurred once, but the BAD_POOL_HEADER occurs randomly every three or four days. This has been occurring for almost two weeks now. What causes these errors and is there any way to resolve them? I can upload the .dmp files and I can put up the system specs if necessary.

Thanks in advance for any thing you can do to help me fix this.

 

[cl-scott]

Sounds very much like the sort of error you would get with bad RAM. So your first step should probably be to get a copy of memtest86+ and let it run for a few hours. If you get any errors, then you want to start testing each memory module individually to figure out which one is bad. If you have more than one, it might be worth the time to test the individual slots for RAM on the motherboard to see if that is what is bad.

 

[IncarnateStrike]

Alright. How do I run memtest86+ ?

 

[kissingman]

Here are some useful information. You can reference it.

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/winservergen/thread/564c79d3-0642-4392-8d63-e8628f2fbde2/

 

[IncarnateStrike]

Sounds very much like the sort of error you would get with bad RAM. So your first step should probably be to get a copy of memtest86+ and let it run for a few hours. If you get any errors, then you want to start testing each memory module individually to figure out which one is bad. If you have more than one, it might be worth the time to test the individual slots for RAM on the motherboard to see if that is what is bad.

Thanks cl-scott! I tested one stick of RAM at a time and it turns out there was one faulty stick out of the four installed, so I'm now running at 12GB instead of 16 (no big deal). The faulty stick is one of four 4GB Corsair Vengeance sticks I bought. It there a way it repair the stick or send it it for repairs/refund?

Again, thanks a ton!

 

[Hawkeye22]

Most memory has a lifetime warranty so you should be able to RMA it. The bad news, you need to send in the whole kit, not just the single stick. So, if this was part of a kit (2 x 4Gb), then both sticks will need to be returned.

 

[IncarnateStrike]

Do you think it would be worth sending in? I doubt I'll even need to use all 12GBs of RAM I currently have functioning.

 

[Hawkeye22]

If you are happy with it, then keep it, however if your motherboard requires certain slots to be filled in order to run dual channel or tri-channel you may lose some performance. Check your motherboard manual for details.

 

[IncarnateStrike]

The RAM I purchased and am currently using http://www.corsair.com/us/memory-by...annel-ddr3-memory-kit-cmz16gx3m4x1866c9r.html says it is quad-channel. With one of the four missing, would tri-channel be a problem? Or is that dependent on the motherboard? My motherboard "recommends" a dual or quad channel, but states nothing about tri-channel. This is my motherboard: http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/Intel_Socket_1155/P8Z68V_PROGEN3/

 

[Hawkeye22]

Then you need dual channel or quad channel for best performance. This make sense as tri-channel boards have a multiple of 3 slots.

Your board may support flex mode where 2 sticks are in dual channel and 1 stick is running in single channel. If you aren't noticing any performance issues and you don't mind missing 4Gb of ram, then use it as is. I like the stuff I pay for to work so I'd RMA the memory. The decision is yours.

 

[IncarnateStrike]

Alright, thanks very much. You all have been very helpful.

 

[IncarnateStrike]

Best answer selected by IncarnateStrike.