how big a ram chip?

[rb]

Running WinXP and tons of other stuff.

Our church pc has slowed to a crawl. Although I'm going through my "clean
it up" routine with it, I'm reasonably convinced it's inadequate RAM. The
pc was crisp and fast several years ago. Since, they've added a fair amount
of memory hog stuff.

The pc has 512mb RAM. BELARC tells me we have one memory slot open. What
size RAM chip should I get to stuff in the open slot? I have no idea how to
size a RAM chip.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Running WinXP and tons of other stuff.

Our church pc has slowed to a crawl. Although I'm going through my "clean
it up" routine with it, I'm reasonably convinced it's inadequate RAM.

Maybe, but based on what you've said here, I doubt it.

The
pc was crisp and fast several years ago. Since, they've added a fair amount
of memory hog stuff.

What stuff? What they've added (installed) doesn't matter. What's
*running* is what counts.

The pc has 512mb RAM.

That's enough for almost everyone running Windows XP. The only major
exceptions are those running particularly memory-hungry apps--doing
things like photo or video editing.

If you are experiencing a recent slowdown, one of the most common
causes of that these days is spyware. I can't tell you that that's the
problem for sure, of course, but the first thing to do is make sure
that your system is malware-free. I recommend that you go to Malke's
Malware Removal site at
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Removing_Malware and
follow the instructions there.

 

[Rock]

Running WinXP and tons of other stuff.

Our church pc has slowed to a crawl. Although I'm going through my "clean
it up" routine with it, I'm reasonably convinced it's inadequate RAM. The
pc was crisp and fast several years ago. Since, they've added a fair
amount of memory hog stuff.

The pc has 512mb RAM. BELARC tells me we have one memory slot open. What
size RAM chip should I get to stuff in the open slot? I have no idea how
to size a RAM chip.

512MB is normally sufficient for most systems with XP. Whether more RAM
will help depends on whether the page file is being used extensively. If it
is then more RAM will help. There is a utility accessible from a link in
this article by the late Alex Nichol, MVP under the section, "How big should
the page file be", that will monitor actual page file usage. Run that to
see how much the page file is being used before spending more money.

http://aumha.org/win5/a/xpvm.htm

Is the system free of malware?

Malware Removal
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Removing_Malware

THE PARASITE FIGHT
Finding, Removing & Protecting Yourself From Scumware
http://aumha.org/a/parasite.htm

Richard Harper's Guide to Cleaning Pests
http://rgharper.mvps.org/cleanit.htm

What programs are loading when the PC starts? Was there any updates to
already installed software, such as a Live Update for a Norton home security
product? Sometimes the AV or security apps can cause problems, particularly
if it's Norton or McAfee.

If the system is clean of malware do some clean boot troubleshooting to see
if it's startup apps that are the issue.

Clean Boot Troubleshooting

How to Troubleshoot By Using the Msconfig Utility in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=310560

How to perform advanced clean-boot troubleshooting in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=316434

How to perform a clean boot in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=310353

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Running WinXP and tons of other stuff.

Our church pc has slowed to a crawl. Although I'm going through my "clean
it up" routine with it, I'm reasonably convinced it's inadequate RAM. The
pc was crisp and fast several years ago. Since, they've added a fair amount
of memory hog stuff.

The pc has 512mb RAM. BELARC tells me we have one memory slot open. What
size RAM chip should I get to stuff in the open slot? I have no idea how to
size a RAM chip.

It is absolutely essential that any new RAM module(s) be fully
compatible with both the motherboard and/or any other RAM module(s)
already in the system. Additionally, there are sometimes jumper
switches on older motherboards that need to be reset for new RAM
configurations. Consult your motherboard's manual or the
manufacturer's web site for specific instructions and compatibility
requirements.

If you cannot lay your hands upon the computer's manual and the
manufacturer doesn't provide a support web site, you can use these
utilities to help determine the correct type of RAM needed:

SiSoft's Sandra
http://www.sisoftware.co.uk/index.php?dir=&location=sware_dl&lang=en

Belarc Advisor
http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html

Unlimited Possibilities' AIDA32
http://forum.aumha.org/overflow/aida32.zip

Also, Crucial Memory's web site (www.crucial.com) has a database
to help to find the right RAM for your specific make and model
computer and/or motherboard. (Incidentally, Crucial is the only company
from which I ever buy RAM. I've never been disappointed.)


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:



They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. -Benjamin Franklin

Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. -Bertrand Russell

 

[rb]

Thanks, Bruce. That's what I needed to hear. Good info.

 

[Curt Christianson]

hI RB,

I agree with several of the others, in that I wouldn't be so prone to blame
lack of Ram.

Can you give us an idea of what you've done so far to clean some things up.
Lack of RAM *does not* cause a sudden slow-down except in the case of newly
installed audio/video applications that can tend to be *very* hungry to say
the least. Please eleborate.

--
HTH,
Curt

Windows Support Center
www.aumha.org
Practically Nerded,...
http://dundats.mvps.org/Index.htm

| Running WinXP and tons of other stuff.
|
| Our church pc has slowed to a crawl. Although I'm going through my "clean
| it up" routine with it, I'm reasonably convinced it's inadequate RAM. The
| pc was crisp and fast several years ago. Since, they've added a fair
amount
| of memory hog stuff.
|
| The pc has 512mb RAM. BELARC tells me we have one memory slot open. What
| size RAM chip should I get to stuff in the open slot? I have no idea how
to
| size a RAM chip.
|
|

 

[rb]

We do have some audio.video apps for large screen projection, in addition to
a number of other peripherals, many of which run in the background.

What I've done so far is about what all the gurus advocate in cleaning up
the pcs.

Turn restore off. Open in safe mode. Run Spybot, AdAware, ErrorClean, and
CrapCleaner. Tons of problems these programs found and fixed. I removed
Norton because there are cases of Norton becoming memory hungry. I put AVG
on and ran it. Defragged. Ran Scandisk. I always run Panda or BitDefender
as insurance. Things are much better, as you can imagine. But, still
sluggish. I do think it's a memory insufficiency issue.

 

[Rock]

We do have some audio.video apps for large screen projection, in addition
to a number of other peripherals, many of which run in the background.

What I've done so far is about what all the gurus advocate in cleaning up
the pcs.

Turn restore off. Open in safe mode. Run Spybot, AdAware, ErrorClean,
and CrapCleaner. Tons of problems these programs found and fixed. I
removed Norton because there are cases of Norton becoming memory hungry.
I put AVG on and ran it. Defragged. Ran Scandisk. I always run Panda or
BitDefender as insurance. Things are much better, as you can imagine.
But, still sluggish. I do think it's a memory insufficiency issue.

Have you run that utility to see how much the page file is actually being
used?

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Thanks, Bruce. That's what I needed to hear. Good info.

You're welcome.

--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:



They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. -Benjamin Franklin

Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. -Bertrand Russell

 

[rb]

}}} Have you run that utility to see how much the page file is actually
being
used? {{{

No. How do I do that?

 

[Rock]

}}} Have you run that utility to see how much the page file is actually
being
used? {{{

No. How do I do that?

The link info is in the first post I sent. Look at this article on Virtual
Memory by the late Alex Nichol, MVP.
http://aumha.org/win5/a/xpvm.htm

Look in the section titled: ""How big should
the page file be".

Running that utility you can get an idea how much the page file is used. If
it's not used much then more RAM won't help.

 

[Plato]

Running WinXP and tons of other stuff.

Our church pc has slowed to a crawl. Although I'm going through my "clean
it up" routine with it, I'm reasonably convinced it's inadequate RAM. The
pc was crisp and fast several years ago. Since, they've added a fair amount
of memory hog stuff.

The pc has 512mb RAM. BELARC tells me we have one memory slot open. What
size RAM chip should I get to stuff in the open slot? I have no idea how to
size a RAM chip.

512 is way too little for Xp with lots of background apps set to run
when windows loads up.

http://www.bootdisk.com/ram.htm

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

512 is way too little for Xp with lots of background apps set to run
when windows loads up.

That depends on the background apps and it depends on what else he
runs. 512MB is more than enough for most users of Windows XP.

rb, if you want to consider getting more RAM, read the following:

You get good performance if the amount of RAM you have keeps you from
using the page file, and that depends on what apps you run. Most
people running a typical range of business applications find that
somewhere around 256-384MB works well, others need 512MB. Almost
anyone will see poor performance with less than 256MB. Some people,
particularly those doing things like editing large photographic
images, can see a performance boost by adding even more than
512MB--sometimes much more.

If you are currently using the page file significantly, more memory
will decrease or eliminate that usage, and improve your performance.
If you are not using the page file significantly, more memory will do
nothing for you. Go to
http://billsway.com/notes_public/winxp_tweaks/ and download
WinXP-2K_Pagefile.zip and monitor your pagefile usage. That should
give you a good idea of whether more memory can help, and if so, how
much more.

 

[I Just Farted]

Running WinXP and tons of other stuff.

Our church pc has slowed to a crawl. Although I'm going through my "clean
it up" routine with it, I'm reasonably convinced it's inadequate RAM. The
pc was crisp and fast several years ago. Since, they've added a fair amount
of memory hog stuff.

The pc has 512mb RAM. BELARC tells me we have one memory slot open. What
size RAM chip should I get to stuff in the open slot? I have no idea how to
size a RAM chip.

If your computer is 'several years' old its probably time to bite the
bullet and buy a new system. Upgrading components old a system that old
is really useless. Its the weakest link principle...