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Open ForumsThe Open Forum was created for people to discuss anything else Non-Moto related. Just about anything goes! Please remember this is a loosely moderated area. If you do not have thick skin we suggest you stay out of here.
I figured I'd post this in here because nobody EVER checks the Computer forum.
I have a Dell laptop that is a few years old now. I got it in I believe 2006. It's been a really good computer for me and I've never had any real issues with it.
I use it for four things:
Browsing the web
Storing photos
Downloading Apps from iTunes
Typing notes for myself in Notepad
I don't use it for games, I don't use it for video editing, I don't use it for anything that would be considered a "powerful" program.
With that said, it has starting to cause some little issues lately. Programs hanging up and not loading right, freezing, things like that. I haven't had any major failures...usually it straightens itself out after a minute or so.
The computer currently only has 504mb of RAM in it. It can be upgraded to 2 gigs. I have found 2 gigs of RAM that are designed for this computer over at Crucial.com.
Do you guys think that the computer will run smoother and work all around better if I were to upgrade to the 2 gigs of RAM?? It costs about $60 for both gigs.
I would like to be able to keep using the computer for another year or two before upgrading. I just bought a new desktop this past summer and don't really want to buy a new laptop right now...so, any other suggestions that you guys have that might help getting it running a bit better will be welcomed.
Thanks!
__________________ --In Life, Try To Be The Kind Of Person Your Dog Thinks You Are...
--Colts, 49ers, Lions, Detroit Red Wings, Detroit Tigers, MSU Spartans
--2002 Kawasaki Ninja 250--SV-650 rear shock, Sonic Springs .80kg/mm front springs, ZX-2R graphics, flush mount front signals, tail pod rear signals, Kerker 2-1 race pipe, Factory Pro Stage 3 jet kit, UNI pod filters, ZG Double Bubble, Custom Creations soft vinyl seat cover, Kawi Green rim stripes, carbon brake fluid cap, carbon control levers, No Rear Fender, Yamaha R1 Style Mirrors, V-LEDs.com H4 HID Kit, Nelson Rigg Silver Streak Mini Saddle Bags, Rapid Transit Recon Tank Bag, Various Manufacturers Decals
Oh yah, I run spyware and antivirus software every few months. I just did it yesterday and both came back with no results...and they are both updated weekly, so I'm pretty sure it's not any virus, malware, spyware type things.
__________________ --In Life, Try To Be The Kind Of Person Your Dog Thinks You Are...
--Colts, 49ers, Lions, Detroit Red Wings, Detroit Tigers, MSU Spartans
--2002 Kawasaki Ninja 250--SV-650 rear shock, Sonic Springs .80kg/mm front springs, ZX-2R graphics, flush mount front signals, tail pod rear signals, Kerker 2-1 race pipe, Factory Pro Stage 3 jet kit, UNI pod filters, ZG Double Bubble, Custom Creations soft vinyl seat cover, Kawi Green rim stripes, carbon brake fluid cap, carbon control levers, No Rear Fender, Yamaha R1 Style Mirrors, V-LEDs.com H4 HID Kit, Nelson Rigg Silver Streak Mini Saddle Bags, Rapid Transit Recon Tank Bag, Various Manufacturers Decals
Windows has gotten much better than it used to be, but it still benefits from a format and re-install every few years. I think this would cure your random freeze-ups. For a while. Obviously kick off all the crap that comes on the reinstall disks.
That said, yes I think you'd see a benefit from the extra RAM. Modern web pages are very complex and browsers eat a lot of memory. Especially if you open multiple tabs. iTunes is also a big memory hog. Some of the freezes you notice might be from Windows swapping memory to and fro disk. If the hard drive is churning when you have the slowdown, then more RAM would probably cure it.
504MB sounds odd, as if 8MB is being siphoned off for video RAM. That's not very much video RAM, but apparently it's enough. Unless you have to get a package deal, you can just get one 1GB stick and get another later if you see an improvement.
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boldly going forward 'cause we can't find reverse
Pretty much exactly what enos said. Your hanging and freezing issues are far more likely a result of Windows than a lack of memory. Reinstall and it'll run as smooth as silk. That being said, even though the programs you're using don't require tons of memory, for $60, why not? But definitely reinstall over just adding RAM.
Yeah Gimp. the 2GB of ram will straighten that right up.
What is happening is that the OS/Spyware/Anti-Virus is using all of your main memory (RAM) and forcing the OS to run active programs off of the hard drive in what is called a paging file (aka Virtual Memory). Because the RAM sits on the front side bus and the hard drive is on a IDE bus, the processor has a LOT of extra work to do to use virtual memory.
You can also try going to Control Panel-----> Performance and Maintenance----> System------> Advanced in Windows and making the Virtual Memory 2GB and see how that works. I think it'll ask in KB so that would be 2,000,000
If you can post a screenie of your process list when the computer is messing up I can tell you exactly what is happening
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lkwinnipesaukee
This seems to be the best way to treat an engine. Used to work in a shop that had older cars which were babied in for carbon deposit problems. Running the engine up to redline every so often usually prevents this from happening.
RAM will help, but not knowing what type of processor doesnt. You can have a Celeron or something slow like that and 3.5 Gigs of ram wont help that much.
If your processor is running cycles slower that everything else, then you simply need more power.
I had a friend of mine who got EVERYTHING (Ram, HD, new OS) and STILL ran slow only to find out he had a crappy Celeron. Duron is the equal to Celeron.
Then again a laptop is a laptop. You can also change the computer settings to run for performance over appearance in your system settings.
More ram will allow you to do more at one time. If you are running virus software they can slow your system down. More memory is always a good thing. If you can spend it and plan on keeping it, id say do it. Its not expensive.
But seeing as though the system is older, its time to backup your important files and wipe and restore ur comp. It will clear alot of the crap thats clogging your comp over the years of installing programs removing them, doing internets, windows multiple temp files etc.
install the ram, re install windows so you have a nice and clean system, then create an image of the system. you'll have a simple way of re imaging the computer from there on.
I've never found defragmenting a drive to make one ounce of difference.
For simple web browsing, word processing and looking at photos, RAM isn't much of an issue. I have one system with 512 megs, and another with 12 gigs, and they both browse the web just fine.
If it's all kinds of junk clogging up the works (which is likely) just throwing more ram at the problem isn't going to help much. Reinstall Windows to remove all the junk and I'd almost guarantee it'll run fine.
The type of memory doesn't matter. The processor doesn't matter. The HDD is about 1000 times slower than RAM. If Windows is forced to swap because it ran out of RAM it will be horribly slow.
I don't have a windows machine in front of me, but the Task Manager has a tab that will tell you how much memory the system is using. If you ever get close to 500MB, then you'll benefit from more. Nowadays you can get there just with iTunes and a few tabs open in a web browser. The OS itself will take about half that, too.
Swapping is sort of predictable in this situation. It will most often happen when you switch applications or tabs, as Windows has to kick out the old app to disk while it brings in the new one.
terminology: Virtual Memory is a technology which is ALWAYS used, even if the machine doesn't have a disk drive. It basically means that each process gets its own "virtual" 4GB of memory. Where the actual pages reside is up to the OS, but as far as the program is concerned it has 4GB (Windows takes half of that, but whatever).
The part on disk is called a "swap file" or on Windows a "page file". That's where the memory pages go when the OS has to make room in physical RAM.
A memory page is a chunk of 4kb or so of memory. It's the smallest chunk of memory in a VM system.
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boldly going forward 'cause we can't find reverse
Youre right, it doesnt. Except they have different costs. I was going to either see what I have laying around to PIF some ram, or find a place for him to buy some cheap.
I have been working with computer hardware for the last 15 years, and a lot of the stuff in this thread is spot on.
However, I would first recommend downloading CCleaner and running its default temp file cleaning program, as well as the registry cleaner option as well.
Gimpdiggity, What anti malware programs are you running and what browser?
If you havent run Malware bytes, I recommend you do. If youre not using Firefox or Chrome use those too, they run better on older systems when it comes to web browsing.
Another 512mb of ram is all you would really need, XP didnt run noticeably faster past 1 gig when it came to basic computing tasks.
Depending on the age of the computer, if its using an SATA hard drive, upgrading to a 7200rpm 320 Western Digital Scorpio will be much more worth while then 2 gigs of ram.
On a 4 year old laptop its most likely ATA with a 5400 RPM drive.
+1 on the regististry cleaner. Those programs are worth their weight in gold.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lkwinnipesaukee
This seems to be the best way to treat an engine. Used to work in a shop that had older cars which were babied in for carbon deposit problems. Running the engine up to redline every so often usually prevents this from happening.
Computer RAM Question...
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