Re: What PC hardware diagnostic stress-testing freeware can you recommend?
Paul <[email protected]>
| Newsgroups | alt.comp.os.windows-10,alt.comp.microsoft.windows,alt.comp.hardware |
|---|---|
| Organization | A noiseless patient Spider |
| Message-ID | <[email protected]> |
John McGaw wrote:
> On 9/4/2020 1:35 PM, Arlen Holder wrote:
>> What PC hardware diagnostic stress-testing freeware can you recommend?
>>
>> o I have a random hardware related BSOD whose cause is unknown to me
>> <https://i.postimg.cc/9Q4m7tfM/bsod01.jpg>
>> <https://i.postimg.cc/DyNFnJcK/bsod02.jpg>
>> <https://i.postimg.cc/XYnhMnR0/bsod10.jpg>
>> <https://i.postimg.cc/T2mHpyG6/bsod13.jpg>
>> <https://i.postimg.cc/5t6s1ypD/bsod15.jpg>
>> <https://i.postimg.cc/T1X0r9GX/bsod16.jpg>
>> <https://i.postimg.cc/8khtTqBk/bsod18.jpg>
>> <https://i.postimg.cc/LsjxVzL2/bsod19.jpg>
>>
>> It could be the motherboard, a daughter card, the HDD mechanics, etc.
>>
>> I first ran the Windows memory diagnostic freeware to no avail:
>> <https://i.postimg.cc/d3xZzxrd/bsod24.jpg>
>> <https://i.postimg.cc/VvmczfBP/bsod25.jpg>
>> <https://i.postimg.cc/kMc0xdvD/bsod26.jpg>
>>
>> As per the kind suggestions of "n/a" and others, I ran memtest86 freeware
>> on that old BIOS desktop in an attempt to identify its hardware faults:
>> <https://alt.comp.os.windows-10.narkive.com/oL7PTNKu/windows-10-bsod-indicates-a-hardware-problem-but-what-hardware-is-the-problem#post17>
>>
>>
>> The old BIOS desktop booted a 32GB Memtest86 USB stick to ran overnight,
>> finding no errors on 16GB RAM (I stopped it after 5 hours & 6
>> iterations):
>> <https://i.postimg.cc/KY1Yk4WP/memtest02.jpg>
>>
>> If it's not the RAM, it's something else hardware related (the HDD has
>> been
>> re-imaged multiple times in its entirety and all extraneous boards and
>> peripherals have been disconnected).
>>
>> What other hardware diagnostic stress-testing freeware can you further
>> recommend?
>>
>
> Why settle on a hardware problem without proof? In my experience a bad
> driver or glitched OS is equally likely if not more so. Try booting from
> a Linux CD/DVD/STICK and run it for at least a few days and see what
> happens.
>
You can run Prime95 from Linux. That's my favorite.
Normally you'd do that to avoid corrupting the
registry on an (unstable) Windows install. You should
not run Windows or do Windowsy things, until
"proving it's a computer" first.
The Linux ones are static. Which is what you want.
Nice and portable.
https://www.mersenne.org/download/
Make sure your CPU cooler works first, before
running that. Or, the power will go off on overheat
(THERMTRIP).
Paul