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Tech: Adding RAM
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Subject: Tech: Adding RAM From: GUEST,Jacqued Date: 25 May 08 - 04:53 PM Greetings! I am finding my desktop is getting extremely slow, particularly when I try to recover music from the harddrive. I have been advised that my RAM may need supplementing and that is the easy bit - I buy some! Being a computer dinosaur, are there any easy tips for installing new RAM, please? |
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Subject: RE: Tech: Adding RAM From: Malcolm Douglas Date: 25 May 08 - 05:14 PM It depends on what the make, model and current specifications of your machine are. Provide that basic information and you may get some helpful advice (and you may end up buying the right kind of memory). |
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Subject: RE: Tech: Adding RAM From: Gurney Date: 25 May 08 - 05:53 PM Jacqued, it is very easy to install RAM, you simply have to remove the old strip and plug it in. As Malcolm says, the trick is buying the right type, and handling it correctly. If you do insist on doing it yourself, go and wipe your hands on a tap/faucet before touching the innards of the box. You will probably find the RAM is flat strips (1, 2, or 3)about 5" long, mounted edgewise to the motherboard and held in by white clips at each end. Push the clips outward and pull out the RAM strip. TAKE IT WITH YOU WHEN YOU BUY THE NEW RAM. Wipe your hands on the tap again. HANDLING THE RAM BY THE ENDS ONLY, plug it in. It only goes in one way, so look at it. Flick the clips back, job done. You will NOT get a guarantee if you install it youself, which is something to think about. Do NOT mix RAM strips of different sizes. |
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Subject: RE: Tech: Adding RAM From: Tangledwood Date: 25 May 08 - 06:25 PM Are you sure that more RAM is needed? You seem to imply that you had reasonable speed in the past but things have slowed down recently. If that is the case the computer may just need a good clean up. Delete unnecessary files, e.g. temp internet files, and most importantly defrag. I'm no computer expert but I believe that RAM really comes into play where large numbers of calculations are required, for example running video games or editing videos. Simply moving or reading files is more a matter of accessing the hard drive efficiently. We can't really say "yes, you need more RAM" without knowing what you already have. Perhaps you can post your computer specs, and what operating system do you use (Windows XP,Vista, Mac etc) |
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Subject: RE: Tech: Adding RAM From: McGrath of Harlow Date: 25 May 08 - 06:30 PM The crucial thing is to get the right kind of RAM for your computer, and the appropriate amount. You can get advice on that at the store where you by it - or as Malcolm said, give details here and some helpful soul will be bound to respond. When it comes to actually installing, that is pretty straightforward. Plenty of sites telling you how to go about it - pick the one that seems to make most sense. |
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Subject: RE: Tech: Adding RAM From: GUEST,Jon Date: 25 May 08 - 07:45 PM I don't know abot othe makers but Crucial Memory have some help on their site, here |
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Subject: RE: Tech: Adding RAM From: JohnInKansas Date: 25 May 08 - 10:09 PM The User Manual that should have come with your computer probably has all the information you need, including what specific kinds of RAM chips your computer needs, and how to install them. The manual should also give instructions on proper handling of the chips, and the all important information you may need with some newer computers --- how to get the case open (and back shut) to do internal component installation. Of course you still have the manual? (Preceding statement may be exact, fairly accurate, sarcastic, fascetious, or may have any of dozens of interpretation; but you haven't provided enough information even for the rest of us to choose how to read it.) You probably can download a copy of the manual (and better yet, of a service manual) from the computer maker if yours is from one of the popular builders. Desktop computers typically have from one to four "sockets" into which RAM chips can be installed. In some computers RAM must be installed in pairs so to have 1 GB of RAM you need two 500 MB chips. Often, if you have more than one slot filled, all the chips must be the same size although some computers can handle a pair of 1G chips in on slot pair and a pair of .5G in the other pair of slots (if you have 4 slots). Some RAM chips have "EC" (error-correcting extra bits) and some computers require EC chips, some work with either, and some won't work at all with EC chips. A speed rating is generally significant, with chips either too slow or too fast not working properly, or not working at all in a particular computer. The installation is the easy part, although RAM chips are extremely sensitive to static electricity, and can be destroyed instantly by improper handling. "Touch a water faucet before handling" is NOT GOOD ENOUGH ADVICE if you walk from the water faucet to the computer before working on memory chips. Two or three steps across a dry floor (especially if it's carpeted) can be enough to ZAP some memory chips. Most recent computers don't actually "disconnect" from power, and can try to restart while you're working inside them if you touch the wrong spots, so the computer needs to be shut down and unplugged before going inside the case. Once the case is open, you need to be sure to touch bare metal parts inside the case firmly with your bare skin (a hand is sufficient) before touching any "components" on the inside. When possible, you should keep one hand on a "case ground" (bare metal) while handling sensitive components with the other hand - or you can get a grounding strap and keep it connected to both you and the computer case while working inside. There are a few different types of "sockets" for memory, and most kinds used recently have a "clamp" of some sort that must be released to remove an existing chip and that must be re-seated to get a new one in. If you can find the manual, it should tell you what kind to expect, and how to make it work. The socket described above is common enough that it may be what you find, but there are others that work a little differently. To help with whether added memory will help we'd need to know at least: 1. How much RAM you have installed now. 2. What operating system you're using. Both these can be found, in most versions of Windows, from Start|Programs|Accessories|System Tools|System Information. To possibly eliminate some other common causes of slower operation, we'd need to know the above, and also how many hard drives you have installed, and the size and percent full for each drive. Whether you've recently used "Disk Cleanup" and "Defrag" on your drives could also be significant. John |
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Subject: RE: Tech: Adding RAM From: Joe Offer Date: 26 May 08 - 03:02 AM In the last few months, I've added RAM to three Windows XP computers, bringing them up to about 1.5 gigabytes of RAM, adbout three times what they had. Each computer had open slots, so I didn't have to discard the existing RAM. Cost me about $40-$50 for a gigabyte of RAM. All three computers are working very well, almost link new. In the process, I also went to "remove programs" in Control Panel, and removed a lot of programs I didn't need. As long as you're absolutely sure what type of RAM you need, the job's very easy. Many computer manufacturer Websites can tell you what's needed for your computer - or you can take out the existing RAM and read the label. -Joe- |
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Subject: RE: Tech: Adding RAM From: GUEST,Jacqued Date: 26 May 08 - 05:08 AM Many thanks all! I'm going to read and digest all the offered info and decide a. can I do it? or b. get a dealer to do it! My wife Jacqui (the other half of Jacqued!)has offered her own advice, go back to the pencil! Again many thanks, Ed |
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Subject: RE: Tech: Adding RAM From: JohnInKansas Date: 26 May 08 - 01:52 PM The installation of a couple of RAM chips, as has been noted, is one of the simplest things you can do on the inside of your computer. The only real problem is making sure that you get the right chips for your computer. Anyone who sells the chips should offer instructions on how to find the specific ones that suit your need, but sometimes you do have to "ask diligently," hence all the verbiage and warnings. John |
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Subject: RE: Tech: Adding RAM From: Stilly River Sage Date: 26 May 08 - 02:12 PM Memory is cheap, RAM comes in pairs. Regarding the older smaller RAM in your computer, it isn't always best to keep it. If you do, and if the old is in line before the new in those channels, you need to be sure the computer even knows the new stuff is there. I have generally opted to discard the old chips and put in the new big ones all purchased at once same size, same manufacturer, to avoid conflicts. I go online to the computer manufacturer (we have HP and Dell here) and look up the specs, including the expansion capabilities, of each computer before buying RAM. They have upper limits (both of our computers will take only 4 gig RAM.) At the new year we added 4 gig of new RAM to my son's computer for about $80 total (after rebates) on memory we bought online from Fry's. SRS |
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Subject: RE: Tech: Adding RAM From: Grab Date: 27 May 08 - 05:24 AM If you've still got the manual for your PC, it should say what RAM goes with the motherboard. Be warned that sometimes there are surprises - certain combinations of RAM sizes/types sometimes won't work, depending on the board. Gurney's advice to take the RAM with you to the shop is good. As John's says about earthing yourself though, if you don't take good care of it then you're likely to kill it in transit. If you have an anti-static bag you can put it in, that'd be great, but most people don't. If you want to just take the RAM to the shop, your best bet is probably to put it in a metal box when you take it to the shops - that'll ensure any static charge on you is dissipated equally round the box so the RAM inside doesn't get zapped. It's not ideal, but it's better than any of the readily-available alternatives - a plastic box will build up static charges across its surface (especially if it's in the pocket of some artificial-fibre clothing) which is not good news for your RAM. The absolute safest way though is to leave the RAM in the PC, take the beige box (or black box, these days :-) to the shop, and let them open it up, find some suitable RAM, and check that it works afterwards. As other people have said though, this is more likely a hard disk problem than a RAM problem, unless (a) you're trying to run a lot of things at the same time, or (b) your "music" is multi-track recordings. Clean up the IE cache, empty the "Recycle" bin, remove any files from the desktop (only *ever* put shortcuts on the desktop, never files, because that puts a big hit on your PC's startup time), and defrag the hard drive. Any or all of those might help you. It might also be worth running anti-virus and/or spyware detectors over your entire hard drive, because those can also slug your system and aren't the best for your PC's health anyway. Graham. |
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Subject: RE: Tech: Adding RAM From: The Fooles Troupe Date: 27 May 08 - 09:06 AM If you don't have anti-static foam - then Alfoil works. But make sure that you do teh proper earthing proceedures while handling any chips - even hard drives (that ALWAYS contain chips). |
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Subject: RE: Tech: Adding RAM From: AKS Date: 27 May 08 - 09:07 AM A goodly bunch of useful tweaks to be found here, not all applicable by everyone, but... AKS |
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Subject: RE: Tech: Adding RAM From: The Fooles Troupe Date: 27 May 08 - 09:22 AM The "a tip to add ConservativeSwapfileUsage=1 to the SYSTEM.INI [386enh] section in order to force the OS to be a bit more aggressive about not going to the pagefile." tip works well for Win9x, and is what I was referring to earlier. It is not at all useful for XP and later. |
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Subject: RE: Tech: Adding RAM From: Bernard Date: 27 May 08 - 09:59 AM As Micro$haft issue more and more patches for XP, it becomes more and more memory hungry. At one time a PC with 256Mb RAM would work fine, but these days more than 1Gb seems necessary. I'm frequently upgrading RAM on people's machines these days, and a useful tool to find out what RAM (and other stuff) is installed in your machine is CPU-z, which is freeware. If you find it useful, do them a favour and make a donation! Not only does it tell you exactly what type of RAM is installed, but it also tells you how many slots are available and how they are populated. Someone else mentioned Crucial - they are amazingly cheap and the memory they sell is high quality. |
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Subject: RE: Tech: Adding RAM From: M.Ted Date: 27 May 08 - 10:01 AM If you are a bit confused by "earthing", anti-static bags, anti-static foam, and some other odd references here, computer chips can be destroyed by the common sort of static electricity discharge that we were so amused by as children, so it is prudent to ground yourself out immediately before handling anything, in this case, your RAM-- |
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Subject: RE: Tech: Adding RAM From: Stilly River Sage Date: 27 May 08 - 10:29 AM In still other words--don't generate a static electricity spark or you'll kill your RAM. |
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Subject: RE: Tech: Adding RAM From: JohnInKansas Date: 27 May 08 - 01:54 PM Does one wonder why a special program is needed to get information that's already easily available using the System Information utility built into all recent Windows versions? Start|Programs|Utilities|System Tools|System Information. On my computer it could print out about 1800 pages of information about everything on the computer; but it's quite nicely organized so that you only need to look at what's of interest at any particular time. John |
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