Windows 7 Sysinternals Rammap not working in Windows 7 Home Premium

[AlanMintaka]

Hi Everyone,

I'm running Windows 7 Home Premium. I'm trying to use the Sysinternals program Rammap to try to debug possible problems with the RAM on one of my PCs. However when I try to run Rammap version 1.0, I get the message

"This program requires Windows Vista or higher"

I tried using the Properties | Compatibility options to run Rammap in Windows Vista, Vista plus SP1, and Vista plus SP2. For all 3 of those Vista versions, the program launches but then returns this message:

"Error refreshing database".

After that the program doesn't do anything. I've gotten the same results on two different PCs:

Dell Dimension 8300 3.2 MHz 4GB RAM
Dell Dimension 8400 3.2 MHz 4GB RAM (the one with the possible RAM problem)

Since Rammap doesn't think I'm running Windows 7 Home Premium, I'm guessing that this problem is unrelated to the possible RAM problems I'm having. Also, the PC that's not having problems can't run Rammap for the same reasons.

Does anyone have any ideas why Rammap is behaving this way? Has anyone else running Rammap with Windows 7 seen this behavior?

Thanks for your time,

 

[webscaper]

There is no problem running it in Windows 7. Did you download it from http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/ff700229.aspx

 

[JessicaD]

Have you considered upgrading to Windows 7 Pro solely to use the XP Mode / Virtual PC feature? Also, have you considered running the application through compatibility mode?

To learn more about XP Mode / Virtual PC, please see the following link: Download Windows XP Mode

 

[AlanMintaka]

There is no problem running it in Windows 7. Did you download it from RAMMap

Yes, that's where I got it. Just to make sure, I downloaded and ran it again, and got the same result:

"Rammap requires Windows Vista or higher"

And when I run it in compaitibility mode for Windows Vista with/without the service packs, I get the message

"Error refreshing database"

Now, when you say "There is no problem running it in Windows 7", you mean there's no problem on your platform. But there is a problem with running it in Windows 7 on my platform. What version of Windows 7 are you running? Keep in mind that I'm running Windows 7 Home Premium. If you're running any other version, that might have some bearing on the matter.

Any other differences in our platforms could also affect how Rammap runs.

Also, the message I received when running it Windows Vista compatibility mode suggests something going on with "refreshing the database". If that's really the case, the problem I'm having with Rammap in Windows 7 Home Premium may have nothing to do with whatever version of Windows 7 I'm running.

It wouldn't be the first time error messages from MS software have nothing to do with the actual problem. In this case there are two different error messages, one from Rammap in Windows 7 Home Premium, and one from Rammap running in Vista Compatibility Mode. For all we know, they could both be misleading.

Now we know you can run it in some version of Windows 7 while I can't run it in Win7 Home Premium. We also know that there is some kind of database problem running it in Vista compatibility mode on my platform. It may be that some other component both Windows Vista and Windows 7 is the problem, or even some unrelated application on our respective platforms.

To that end, here is some additional info:

PCs (2): Dell Dimension 8300/8400 3.2GHz 4GB RAM 500GB HDD/350GB Free
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium
MS .Net Framework 3.5.1
MS Visual C++ 2005 Redistributable 8.0.59193
MS Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable x86 9.0.30729.4148
MS Sync Framework Runtime v1.0 (x86) 1.1.1215.0
MS Sync Framework Services v1.0 (x86) 1.1.1215.0
MS Windows Debugging Symbols 7600
MS Office, any version - NOT INSTALLED
AV: AVG Free 9.0.829
Firewall: Zonealarm Free 9.1.007.002

Can anyone see a possible cause for the problem in any of the additional info?

Thanks once again for your time,

 

[AlanMintaka]

Have you considered upgrading to Windows 7 Pro solely to use the XP Mode / Virtual PC feature? Also, have you considered running the application through compatibility mode?

To learn more about XP Mode / Virtual PC, please see the following link: Download Windows XP Mode

Hi Jessica,

The upgrade to Pro is certainly tempting, but I wouldn't upgrade solely so I could run XP Mode/Virtual PC. In any case, I can't afford it at the moment - this is property tax month. The lowest price I found for the Microsoft Windows 7 Anytime Upgrade (Home Premium to Professional) is $72.05 with free shipping. For two machines that would run me $144.10. Maybe next month.

As far as running Rammap in compatibility mode goes, I had this to say in my original post:

"I tried using the Properties | Compatibility options to run Rammap in Windows Vista, Vista plus SP1, and Vista plus SP2. For all 3 of those Vista versions, the program launches but then returns this message: 'Error refreshing database'".

Note the error message. I expand on this as well as provide more info on my platform in my recent reply to webscaper.

I am looking at the Pro upgrade, and thanks for suggesting that. I hadn't thought to look at the price and try to figure it into my budget after the property tax disaster.

Have a good one,

 

[webscaper]

Since it refuses to run from your computer, try to run it live from the sysinternals website. Click on the following link: http://live.sysinternals.com/RAMMap.exe

 

[AlanMintaka]

Since it refuses to run from your computer, try to run it live from the sysinternals website. Click on the following link: http://live.sysinternals.com/RAMMap.exe

Great idea! It worked; now maybe I can use it and some of the other sysinternals to figure out why it won't run from my machine. Thanks also for the link to that sysinternals "live" page. I didn't even know it existed, which I probably could have found out by looking around more carefully on the sysinternals website. Web-hosted versions of these utilities are going to come in handy debugging problems with these old Dell machines.

I may need some help interpreting some of the utility's results though. After a quick look at Rammap's tabs, I couldn't see anything obvious. I'll probably be back here soon.

Have a good one,