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Measuring RAM with Meter Tester

By Aaron A Baker ·
My question is as follows;
I go to a client's,home, open up his/her old computer or sometime a newer one, having already been to the Control panel to see how much Ram is supposed to be there and now I'm looking at two stick of sometimes three.
Trick is to find out if they are good. Or could it be that only one of them is partially shot?
This then brings me to the real question.
Is there a method,"Using an Amp, Ohm Meter or other measuring device whereas I could take the Ram out of the computer and run a few test to see if good and the if the amount of Ram was fully functional.
Yes I know,:), I could always do the "One stick at a time bit", but I was thinking that is there must be a way that I could just touch the ram in certain areas [Contact Points] with the probes I might get equal or perhaps even better Result?
Any thoughts?
Aaron ]:)

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by TheChas In reply to Measuring RAM with Meter ...

If a memory module has failed in a manner that you can find it with a multi-meter, typically, the failure is so catastrophic that the PC would not boot with that module in place.

Years back, (original IBM PC) you could check most devices with a meter and verify that they were functional. Now, with the amount of junctions on a single IC, all a meter will tell you is if an address or data line is shorted out.

There are a few dedicated RAM testers that write and read back data from the memory module. The cost and time to test, make them impractical for field service use.

It actually is cheaper and quicker to swap in RAM.

How often are you finding bad RAM?

I tend to find incompatible RAM much more often than bad RAM.

Either the RAM is not compatible with the motherboard, or the existing RAM.

I can't remember the last time I changed out ANY memory because it was bad!

If you need to check the RAM on a system, a more cost effective approach would be one of the diagnostic programs. Some will run off of a bootable floppy or CD.

Chas

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by Aaron A Baker In reply to

People; Thanks for the help.
I had thought it might be easier to test and be done, however after reading what I have here and reaching the same experiences myself, I thnk I'll stick to the old tried and true.
Thanks for taking the time to help me out on this.
Warmest Regards
Aaron

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by Jaqui In reply to Measuring RAM with Meter ...

I can Chas.
once, in 25 years. changed ram because of bad ram.. but, it was only first meg on the stick that was bad, not the entire stick. and cerebrus was able to revive it.

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by Aaron A Baker In reply to

People; Thanks for the help.
I had thought it might be easier to quick-test and be done, however after reading what I have here and reaching the same experiences myself, I think I'll stick to the old tried and true. It is also quite true that rarely does an entire Ramstick go on the fritz. But them I would replace the whole thing anyway.
My Thanks to all of you for taking the time to help me out on this.
Warmest Regards
Aaron

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by wlbowers In reply to Measuring RAM with Meter ...

No don't use an ohm meter. A simpson 260 might actually damage ram.

If memory is bad enough to find with a ohm meter the computer probably will not boot.

Timing issues are the main problem associated with memory.

Read about it here:
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=101272

You need a Simm Tester

http://www.simmtester.com/
http://www.memorytester.com/ramcheckddronly.html
http://xtronics.com/memory/RAM-SE-VI.htm
http://tinyurl.com/ca9hu

Course these things are not cheap. You might try ebay.

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by Aaron A Baker In reply to

People; Thanks for the help.
I had thought it might be easier to quick-test and be done, however after reading what I have here and reaching the same experiences myself, I think I'll stick to the old tried and true. It is also quite true that rarely does an entire Ramstick go on the fritz. But them I would replace the whole thing anyway.
My Thanks to all of you for taking the time to help me out on this.I'm particularly grateful for the leads into where to get such a unit etc. It was kind of you to supply it and I appreciate it.Thank you.
Warmest Regards
Aaron

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by Aaron A Baker In reply to Measuring RAM with Meter ...

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