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Diagnose Windows Memory Problems
If you have a machine that is locking up, freezing, or blue-screening...you may want to check out this utility from Microsoft. It is called "Windows Memory Diagnostic". It is a program that will run a variety of tests on your hardware and make sure that there are no issues with your memory.
It does not require an install. You simple download the main application from here
This simple download will create a boot floppy, or an ISO image that you can burn to a CD.
When the program boots it will immediately begin scanning your memory. The default is standard mode, which includes six different tests. Each uses a different algorithm to scan for different types of problems and errors. It will show its progress as it is completing each test. (Notice I have highlighted the test count in the screenshot)
Alternatively you can use the extended mode, which runs 11 different tests. After each test completes it will show you a success or failed message - if a test fails it will give you detailed information about what the issue was.
It will continue to loop through all of the tests until you exit the program.
The only limitation to the software is that it cannot scan more than 4 GB of RAM.
It is the perfect tool when building your own systems. I usually run it for 24 hours after putting a box together.
Posted By: Steve Wiseman on Sunday, August 17, 2008
Check out our utilities for windows
Windows Vista 64 Bit Autologin
Many of our free utilities are not ready for 64 bit. I have decided we will upgrade them one by one...in order of popularity :)
Just received a note from a reader:
Hi Steve,
Is the auto logon program you have for download supposed to work with Windows Vista Ultimate x64? (doesn’t seem to work)
It works just fine on x86 Vista, but doesn’t autologon with x64 machines.
Thanks
This particular utility writes to some registry keys under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software. That makes it a target for an application compatibility technology in Vista known as registry virtualization.
Many older Windows applications assume administrator access. This means reading and writing freely to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE. This is not compatible with the Vista security model. To work around it Vista will intercept these requests and redirect them to a HKEY_CURRENT_USER key that looks identical. This way allows the application to work, and avoid asking for full administrative access via the UAC prompt.
There are a few rules 64 bit Vista uses for virtualizing registry reads and writes:
-The application must be 32-bit interactive process
-The key that is written to must be under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software
-The key requires administrative access to write to the key
-The application cannot be a service
These four conditions are met for our Automatic login utility. To fix it, we simply needed to make a slight change...that tells Vista that we really do want to write to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software key, and not a virtual one.
In the case of our autologin utility, it writes this key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon
If the write is virtualized, windows will never see the change, and our program will have no effect. There is a special flag we can set to tell Vista - yes we really do want to write to that key. After that it now writes to the proper area on all 64 bit versions of windows.
Download from here to get your copy.
Many of our utilities fit this same criteria. Send me an email if you have a favorite that needs some 64 bit TLC, and I will put it to the top of the list.
Posted By: Steve Wiseman on Friday, August 08, 2008
Check out our utilities for windows
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