nmi:parity check/memory parity error

and that was my good morning message when i started up this morning. shut her down with the power button. restarted with no problems well just the normal comodo firewall pro ****. checked device manager only errror was with bonjour. googled message and found microsoft article about the problem. put in a search here on windows. just how difficult is this going to be? im not good at going into the inside of the computer altho i did put in 2gb of ram back in 09. oh well might as well go back to microsoft article and start. have to have computer capable of running since im changing providers on the 5th be back.
help!!!!! i have to make a cd,i havent been able to burn a cd in months,i make coasters.this is what im to do,
http://oca.microsoft.com/en/windiag.asp

 

The CD you need to burn has to be ISO. Do you have software that will do an ISO disc, if not this freeware product will do the job.

http://download.cnet.com/Active-ISO-Burner/3000-2646_4-10602452.html

 

mark madras i dont know if i have iso software,so thanks for the link. can i use a cd r like to burn music and audio books or a different kind of cds. is cd rom same thing?

 

markmadras i download the iso did the set up adding the sptd or whatever and said had to restart, did that now you have any idea of where the iso is? i can only find the iso set up and i ve done that. could it be on my cd drive? how can i find out if i can boot with cd? if the iso is there.

 

can not get kb 2416447 windows update installed,tried 3 times failed each time. could this have anything to do with what is going on now? my nmi: parity check/memory parity check?

 

Ok, lets take one problem at a time and get your memory tested first.

You have to double click on the file you downloaded and you should then get two choices, for floppy disc or CD, you have to select the CD and then it will produce an ISO file and ask where you want to save it. I can't understand why the computer would want to reboot at this point, you only need to do that once you have burned the disc and got it in the CD drive.

You should use a normal CD R for the ISO.

If you are not getting these options then maybe the download had errors so I would delete the file and start again. If the problem persists try this site which has a choice of three mem testers.

http://pcsupport.about.com/od/toolsofthetrade/tp/memorytest.htm

 

I just ran that download on my computer and when you double click it a box appears, agree with everything and on the third box you should choose 'Save CD Image to Disc'. Then save it to your desktop so it is easy to find, it will do that fairly quickly, then shut the program. Start up the ISO burning program and burn the ISO that you saved to your desktop.

You will have to go into your bios and set the boot order for CD first and then boot the computer and the diagnostics should run.

 

sorry to take so long to get back with you. the reason it said to restart computer was because i added the sptd,i didnt this last time. now the next thing i have to do is get into bios and make the iso disk the first in line? right?

 

i cannot change the order of boot tried everything i can think of. i cant get it from second place to first. im not even sure if the cd was burned. help

 

Don't panic, take it one step at a time and we will get through this.

This link should help you.

http://pcsupport.about.com/od/fixtheproblem/ss/bootorderchange.htm

If this shows a bios completely different to your own please tell me the name of your bios and I will try to find a guide for it.

As long as you burned the disc as an ISO there is little you could have done wrong. You may have to try burnning it again on another computer if it doesn't work.

(Why is this marked as resolved)

 

According to your system specs, you have a floppy drive. The Windows Memory Diagnostic Program (also MemTest86+ - another good RAM tester) have floppy versions. Creating a bootable floppy and running these programs from floppy is usually much easier than creating a CD, changing boot orders, etc.

Also, if nothing else, you can pull all but one stick of RAM and one at a time, boot the computer. Just make sure you unplug from the wall and touch bare metal of the case BEFORE reaching in.

 

bill i have to format the floppy before i use it,right? and which one of the memtest would i use,seems like there is about a hundred.
like i said the first and only blue screen i got was on 10-02-10 nothing since(knock on wood) but then if i do the test then i would know at least for awhile that ram was okay. decisons decisons

 

Use the one that says for Floppy (DOS - Win). An excellent how-to guide is available here.

Note there are instructions to use a floppy for Microsoft's tester in that link you included in your opening post.

 

Yes you will have to format the floppy first.

I haven't used this program myself so don't know what the choices are, once you have made the floppy and booted your computer with the disc it should be fairly obvious, if not post the options back here.

You need to download the 'Precompiled Package for Floppy' from the first group (the most up to date)downloads.

 

Oops, yes, sorry. You have to format it first.

 

first time ive tried out the floppy and no doesnt work. dont seen like i can burn either with floppy or cd just wont do it. just make coasters,i thought i was making square coasters but a friend reminded me that you can reuse floppies. cant format the floppy,it says "cant be formatted ".and had a iso cd but it didnt work. cannot change boot sequence. device manager says everything is okay no yellow question marks or anything else. i cant get this thing fixed because everything i try to use dont work.
im going to call Dell ask about the boot order,i think im doing it right maybe not. and call microsoft mainly about the update i cannot get installed,and ask about the blue screen of parity check/memory parity error maybe they have a floppy cd they can send so i can check this thing out. okay i have whined enough for right this minute, but i think that i am losing the os little by little. please someone tell thats impossible

 

The error message 'can't be formatted' might be because the small tab on floppy is in the locked position. Try moving it and try to make the disc again.

I note your comments about losing the OS, lets just see if we can test your memory first then there is plenty more that can be done.

And please could you click on 'Thread Tools' just above the top post and check unresolved.

 

Also, floppy disks are cheap, and low tech. Try a different disk.

 

totally forgot about the tab,think i got it fixed will try it now,be back soon

 

well the floppy could not be formatted, didnt tell me the reason just said it couldnt happen.