Memory (RAM) can become corrupted and not work properly. Usually, a replacement is needed to fix the problem, but before you replace your hardware, you should use the Windows Memory Diagnostic tool. This tool is available in both Windows Vista and 7.


To run Windows Memory Diagnostic:
1. Click the Start button, type mem, and click on Windows Memory Diagnostic.
2. When the Windows Memory Diagnostic screen loads, click Restart now and check for problems.

3. You computer will restart.
4. The memory diagnostic will run and can take some time (up to an hour).

5. Windows will restart and report any errors to you. 

After sharing this feature with Windows Vista and Windows 7 users, many of them reported a more responsive system after the test.