The new PC isn't starting properly during Memtest tests.
The new PC isn't starting properly during Memtest tests.
Hey everyone, I recently assembled a new PC (parts list) and wanted to thoroughly check its performance. So far, it passed Cinebench, 3DMark, and I planned to run a Memtest. But it won’t boot from the USB drive. Initially, I checked the boot order—it always started with Windows instead of the drive. After a few restarts, it triggered two different BOSDs: irql_not_less_or_equal and attempted_write_toreadonly_memory. I had to reset the CMOS to get it back into Windows mode. When using the boot menu, the drive appears, but selecting it causes a brief blackout before returning to the boot screen. After some time, the keyboard and mouse freeze. Even when set to default in BIOS (no Auto-Overclock or AMD Expo), it still refuses to boot Memtest, though the freezes and BOSDs stop. I also looked into BIOS tweaks suggested online—like enabling legacy mode or switching from UEFI—but none resolved the issue. Lastly, I tried the drive on my old PC, where it completely fails to detect it at boot, while my laptop works perfectly and even ran a test pass. I’m really puzzled by all this. My concern is that something unusual is happening here. This whole situation feels like something’s wrong.
Just to confirm, the tags relate to memtest64, though I understand that test is typically run inside Windows with memtest86 being the direct boot option. Which version are you aiming for? Based on what you describe, it seems you're likely looking for a different approach—most users find in-Windows stress tests insufficient, and I've seen cases where MemTest86 easily passes multiple cycles but still misses issues that other Windows tests detect.