Can memory corrupt an OS?

T

torvalds

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jan 28, 2004
Messages
211
Can memory corrupt an OS? Some how can something go wrong and maybe bad data stuck in the memory corrputing the os?
 
If anything that stores core OS info gets corrupted in some way and thus feeds bad data, this can defo result in a trashed OS.
Hence memory and hard disk are obvious candidates.
 
Yes, this is why they say shut you computer down right and not just hit the power buttoin.
 
I think this happened to me, my rig just crashed one day and it said cpu unworkable so i waited a while for it to cool down and when i restarted it wouldnt post I thought it may have been my ram because i did have problems with it in the past so i put in an old stick of 128mb pc2100 and started up but it took forever for windows to load and even when i logged into windows the performance was really shitty. I even put my friends stick of pc3200 in to see what was up and it wouldnt run CS without lagging i was like wtf. So he tried my stick of 3700 in his rig and was having problems, it was giving him alot of problems and windows was acting weird for him too. I cant get the 3700 to post in my rig anymore, should i assume that this ram has just gone bad and is corrupting windows to give me and him crappy performance? Could my other parts be effected by this too?
 
Memtest86+ is your friend.

Bad RAM can and will gradually destroy any data which passes through it. However, even if the RAM is fine, if the PSU doesn't provide enough power to the RAM, data corruption may also occur.
 
PissWater said:
I think this happened to me, my rig just crashed one day and it said cpu unworkable so i waited a while for it to cool down and when i restarted it wouldnt post I thought it may have been my ram because i did have problems with it in the past so i put in an old stick of 128mb pc2100 and started up but it took forever for windows to load and even when i logged into windows the performance was really shitty. I even put my friends stick of pc3200 in to see what was up and it wouldnt run CS without lagging i was like wtf. So he tried my stick of 3700 in his rig and was having problems, it was giving him alot of problems and windows was acting weird for him too. I cant get the 3700 to post in my rig anymore, should i assume that this ram has just gone bad and is corrupting windows to give me and him crappy performance? Could my other parts be effected by this too?
Click to expand...

Most likley the case, since youv tried it in your friends puter.

However, remember that certain chipsets / platforms can be more picky towards memory (in particular certain brands), and thus give problems. As can certain configs (banks), as well as boards having bug's.
For example I have an A64 C0, which is known to be picky about memory, as well as specific configurations i.e. which banks are occupied, mix n matching etc etc.

And course certain RAM can just be crap in that it doesnt work on most boards.

Either way your best getting shot of the RAM to be honest.
 
Ok thanks, Ive been in contact with corsair about RMAing my module and if i could get a lower speed go down to PC3200 because it seems that never gives me problems where the 3700 gives me alot, plus im not as big on OCing now as i used to be so ill be fine with the lower speed module.
 
boot to memtest 1st.after any changes to memory config.or when trying new memory, if no errors than boot to windows .This will eliminate corrupting windows as it loads into memory.Has helped me several times. Hope this helps in future.
 
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