Memory Upgrades

[leave_me_alone_0001]

I have a 60.4 GB capacity drive and when I go to My Computer and right click C drive everything I have on my computer only adds up to I think 6 GB of space..and my computer is still slow. so how much more memory should I get for it?

[straight talker]

what memory do you already have ? and most of all what processor do you have in the machine, no point in having heaps of memory if you only have a small processor, look at the splash screens as the pc starts and you should see the processor speed or you could download a processor identifier program if you dont know what speed it is, to see how much ram you have right click my computer and click properties its shown in the bottom right of the box.if adding more memory you will also need to know the type of memory you already have ie sdram etc etc .

[pun]

There is a lot more to how fast your computer runs then just how much is on the hard drive and memory. How fast is your CPU? Is it being properly cooled or is it always overheating? What OS are you running and does your system just meet the Min. System Requiements or does it at least match or pass the Recomended System Requirements? What other programs are running in the background to use up system resources. Do you keep your Temp. Internet files, history and cookies clean? If you do decide you need more memory, then the memory being run should at least bring the memory up to level with you highest software's Recomended Requirements

[leave_me_alone_0001]

what memory do you already have ? and most of all what processor do you have in the machine, no point in having heaps of memory if you only have a small processor, look at the splash screens as the pc starts and you should see the processor speed or you could download a processor identifier program if you dont know what speed it is, to see how much ram you have right click my computer and click properties its shown in the bottom right of the box.if adding more memory you will also need to know the type of memory you already have ie sdram etc etc .

In the bottom right I see: AMD Athon™ XP 1700 1.47 GHZ 512 MB of RAM. I don't know how to find out the type of memory though..

There is a lot more to how fast your computer runs then just how much is on the hard drive and memory. How fast is your CPU? Is it being properly cooled or is it always overheating? What OS are you running and does your system just meet the Min. System Requiements or does it at least match or pass the Recomended System Requirements? What other programs are running in the background to use up system resources. Do you keep your Temp. Internet files, history and cookies clean? If you do decide you need more memory, then the memory being run should at least bring the memory up to level with you highest software's Recomended Requirements

It is kind of slow..freezes up sometimes and crashes too..I'm not sure if it overheats or not how do I know that? I have Windows XP and I'm not sure how to find out if it meets the requirements either..

These are all of the programs that are running right now..do you think you can you tell me what to keep running and what to stop?? (I have no idea really and don't want to stop the wrong one) :

2PortalMon.exe -- for the home network I'm on
alg.exe
ATRACK.exe
BttnServ.exe
cidaemon.exe
cisvc.exe
compaq-rba.exe -- something to do with Compaq but I don't know what it is
CPQEADM.exe
cpqinet.exe
csrss.exe
EAUSBKBD.exe
EM_EXEC.exe
explorer.exe
ezSP_Px.exe
IAMAPP.exe
iexplore.exe
iTouch.exe -- for the keyboard
jusched.exe -- I think this is something to do with Java
LEXBECS.exe / LEXPPS.exe -- printer..(LEX=Lexmark)
Lsass.exe
NAVAPSCV.exe / NAVAPW32.exe / NISSERV.exe / NISUM.exe -- I think these 4 are Norton AntiVirus (NAV) and Internet Security (NIS)
pctspk.exe
RAM_XP.exe -- RAM Idle
realsched.exe -- might be Real Player??
scardsvr.exe
services.exe
smss.exe
snmp.exe
spoolsv.exe
STARTREAK.exe
svchost.exe (6 of these are running)
SYMPROXYSVC.exe -- either Norton AntiVirus or Internet Security (SYM=Symantec maybe)
SymWSC.exe -- SYM=Symantec here too I guess..
System
System Idle Process
taskmgr.exe
tcpsvcs.exe
wdfmgr.exe
winlogon.exe
wkssb.exe

[straight talker]

you have no worries with system requirements, and the system doesnt need more memory,i think your problem is mainly all the start up apps you have running which are using up resources, norton antivirus being a well known resource drainer. http://www.oldversion.com/talk/index.php?a...t=0&#entry13112 read through your other post and stop the unnecessary programs from running, you will find out what most of them are by doing a little research through this page http://www.sysinfo.org/startuplist.php after you stop all the unnecessary apps running i would expect the system to run far better

[locustfurnace]

512 Meg's of physical RAM is more than enough for any Windows Desktop OS. As mentioned, read some of the previous postings. You will want to pay attention to setting up your swap space (Virtual Memory, as Microsoft calls it).

When the RAM is filled, Windows swaps out data from physical RAM to the hard drive in a temporary place, the swap space.
Then when that data is needed again everything needed is already been loaded and place in a quick access point for the system, otherwise it needs to dig through the system folders looking for the necessary dependency. So placing it in a swap area, keeps though apps together.

Windows is setup to manage the swap space itself - poor decision, since Windows will constantly resize the swap space size. This leads to disk fragmentation in the long run. Plus, the swap space, instead of being in a dedicate area on the hard drive, ideally in the beginning of the hard drive, will end up being broken into smaller chunks, spread out across the Hard drive, This can make it rather slow and pointless.

The recommended size for any swap space is 2 and 1 half times the amount of physical RAM installed, OR up to, 512megs RAM. Using a larger swap space and lead to poor performance as well. Since you have 512megs, you may want to set a Min & Max size of 512.

You system could also be slower if your not using the proper IDE ribbon cables. Todays Harddrives require a 80pin connector, Most CD-roms and the like come packaged with an older 40pin connector. This will lead to the maximum DMA speed of 33.
If you have a new harddrive which has DMA66/100/133. Then you must use the correct ribbon cabling.
If you must hook a CDrom with a hard drive, be sure to use the 80 pin ribbon cables.

Poor quality fans, will not be good either. Athlon XP runs very hot. If you installed it yourself, make sure you used the heat transfer compound (paste) between the heat sink and the CPU, whats better would be to use an Athlon XP shim. Which will give more contact surface between the heat sink and the CPU.

Too many installed Fonts will chew up too much of the system resources as well.

[straight talker]

if you think that heat could be an issue you could try motherboard monitor to see how hot your pc is running , http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_desc...fid,7309,00.asp

[leave_me_alone_0001]

It probably is the main issue (overheating)...thanks for all the help though...

[locustfurnace]

Originally posted by leave_me_alone_0001@Dec 11 2004, 01:09 AM
It probably is the main issue (overheating)

With the listing of apps running you have posted, that would definitely slow you down whether or not your system is overheating.
If you think the system is overheating, then it would be shutting down often. If you notice alot of crashing and corruption of data, then i would suspect BAD RAM..
To see what temps you're running, you can run the system til it slows down, then reboot, and then enter the BIOS and check the temps in the BIOS.

Also, how much resources are left when the system begins to slow down? How much resource is left on a clean boot-up? can view the resources by pressing the WIN key and Pause/Break key together.
You can test the RAM for bad registers and other issues with the free Memtest86, http://www.memtest86.com/

[Jaime Andrés]

Originally posted by straight talker@Dec 10 2004, 02:00 PM
if you think that heat could be an issue you could try motherboard monitor to see how hot your pc is running , http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_desc...fid,7309,00.asp

I had a problem with an AMD processor which caused he PC to crash and other weird problems. Two visits to a local PC workshop did nothing to cure the fault. I removed the case and checked the usual things i.e. memory seated properly etc. I removed the processor heat sink only to find the fins were clogged with dust. Blowing it out with an air line cured the fault completely.
Some time after the same processor played up again and I remembered an old trick from my Early days as a TV engineer dealing with faulty or intermittent components, and put the processor into a plastic bag and left it in the freezer for 24 hrs. That PC and processor is still running today as a gaming machine for my kids.