Hardware components of the PC
Main Memory
Error correcting code memory

Error correcting code (ECC) memory is specially designed memory that has the built-in ability to check itself for hardware faults. ECC technology can check stored memory data during retrieval for single or multi-bit errors and correct single bit errors. This protocol goes much further than the older technique for hardware error checking known as parity checking, which could only determine that the retrieved data was corrupted. Both parity memory and ECC memory requires a compatible Basic Input Output System (BIOS) chipset to be present in the computer. Not all BIOS chipsets support these error checking memory designs.