increase memory?

R

Rachel

When I go into my computer and check the properties it shows my memory is
almost completely used up. I am sure most of this is due to my iTunes. I have
a lot of music and shows downloaded. I am looking at getting an external hard
drive to back up some files but until I have the funds to get a decent sized
one, anyone have any tips on how I can free up some space until then?

I have a Dell XPS 400 desktop.
 
R

Rachel

Ok, I can burn my tunes to disc but having issues with my iTunes on backing
up the library so I can't burn the shows until they find and fix that
problem. But, if I burn the songs and delete them out of my iTunes library
will that still free up space?

Thanks!
--
Rachel - Debty Beautiful Beads
http://www.debtybeautifulbeads.etsy.com


Michael Jennings said:
Burn the movies and tunes to DVDs, then delete them on the hard drive.
Click to expand...
 
P

Paul

Rachel said:
When I go into my computer and check the properties it shows my memory is
almost completely used up. I am sure most of this is due to my iTunes. I have
a lot of music and shows downloaded. I am looking at getting an external hard
drive to back up some files but until I have the funds to get a decent sized
one, anyone have any tips on how I can free up some space until then?

I have a Dell XPS 400 desktop.
Click to expand...

Your ability to load TV shows onto your hard drive, will easily outstrip your
ability to clean old material off the drive. The only practical solution
is to add hard drive space to the computer.

*******

There is apparently room for two hard drives, near the bottom of your computer case.

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/xps400/sm/techov.htm#wp1053345

The installation page shows the sled that holds a second drive. The drive type is SATA.

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/xps400/sm/parts.htm#wp1058068

Now, look through some prices.

Capacity in Gigabyte Price
2000 GB $280
1500 GB $130
1000 GB $ 75 <---- looks like a good purchase, $75 to about $99
640 $ 70
500 $ 60
320 $ 50
250 $ 48
160 $ 40 <---- what I have right now
80 GB $ 35

So look at your available funds. Buy a bare internal drive and
install it yourself to save money. Pull the sled. Put the drive
in it. Plug in two cables. Plug the AC power cord back into the computer.
Boot Windows. Go into Disk Management, and verify the disk appeared
OK. Format or partition (while in Disk Management) as desired.

Read the reviews here, and see how many 1TB drives arrive DOA (dead on arrival).
There is some variation in price here. (My above list was made by quickly
skimming the list to see where the sweet spot is.)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...0014+1035915133&Subcategory=14&srchInDesc=1tb

If you wanted to add another hard drive in the future, you may have an
empty 5.25" bay near the top front of the computer. To place a 3.5"
drive in a 5.25" bay, you use a pair of spacers like this. This page
shows what the spacers look like - this page is selling a ten pack,
when all you'd want is one set of them. Use this page, just for the
picture. There was a time, when a pair of these shipped with each
retail boxed hard drive (that is where I got all of my spacers that
are still in service).

http://www.startech.com/item/BRACKET10PK-METAL-35-TO-525-DRIVE-BRACKET-10-PK.aspx

You can also get drives in an external enclosure, and they don't cost
much more. The USB2 interface limits transfer rate to about 30MB/sec,
compared to 75MB/sec or so sustained with an internal SATA drive. A
drive like this is good for backups (meaning you disconnect the drive
when the backup is finished, and don't leave it powered on all day).
Some of these don't cool the drive inside very well, which is
why I don't like them.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductReview.aspx?Item=N82E16822136321

HTH,
Paul
 
R

Rachel

Thank you so much for your help and all the links!
--
Rachel - Debty Beautiful Beads
http://www.debtybeautifulbeads.etsy.com


Rachel said:
Ok, I can burn my tunes to disc but having issues with my iTunes on backing
up the library so I can't burn the shows until they find and fix that
problem. But, if I burn the songs and delete them out of my iTunes library
will that still free up space?

Thanks!
Click to expand...
 
M

Michael Jennings

If you have the XPS cnet reviewed
http://reviews.cnet.com/desktops/dell-xps-400-desktop/4507-3118_7-31530074.html?tag=mncol;rnav
you have 410 GB of drivespace, which seems to be sort of full of stuff.

Burning DVDs isn't going to free up much drivespace. Get a hard drive:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...N=2000150014 1035907789&name=IDE Ultra ATA100

I'm not sure your computer has SATA sockets for hard drives - the one cnet
reviewed came with Ultra ATA sockets. Those drives are kind of obsolete.
Even so, you could double your storage space for under $100 - consider it,
as well as considering getting a new computer. The old ones rapidly go stale.

Rachel said:
Ok, I can burn my tunes to disc but having issues with my iTunes on backing
up the library so I can't burn the shows until they find and fix that
problem. But, if I burn the songs and delete them out of my iTunes library
will that still free up space?

Thanks!
Click to expand...
 
M

milt

Rachel said:
When I go into my computer and check the properties it shows my memory is
almost completely used up. I am sure most of this is due to my iTunes. I have
a lot of music and shows downloaded. I am looking at getting an external hard
drive to back up some files but until I have the funds to get a decent sized
one, anyone have any tips on how I can free up some space until then?

I have a Dell XPS 400 desktop.
Click to expand...

memory is different than hard drive space, which one are you talking about?
 
J

Jon

Hi Rachel,

Sometimes lots of space on a hard drive is used up unnecessarily without you realising it.

The problem is that if, like most people, you're not an especially technical person when it comes to
computers (nothing wrong with that, and sorry if I'm wrong about this) it's difficult for you to
work out what is and isn't needed.

I've often been asked by friends to free up some disk space, and sometimes find lots of Gbytes, but
to do this, I need to be at the PC, and cannot do it by email or over the phone.

You do need the help of someone, perhaps a friend, who knows what they are doing and is sitting at
the PC.

Good luck,

Jon


When I go into my computer and check the properties it shows my memory is
almost completely used up. I am sure most of this is due to my iTunes. I have
a lot of music and shows downloaded. I am looking at getting an external hard
drive to back up some files but until I have the funds to get a decent sized
one, anyone have any tips on how I can free up some space until then?

I have a Dell XPS 400 desktop.
 
M

Mark Adams

Rachel said:
Thanks so much for all the help guys! I'll definitely check all this out.
Click to expand...

Here is my answer to your post on 5-5-2009:

Rachel said:
I have several of these programs in my add/remove panel. exp: service pack
2.0, service pack 3.0, 3.5 SP1, client pack 1.0, compression client pack 1.0,
user mode driver framework feature pack 1.0

I am wanting to free up some room on my hard drive and don't want alot of
applications that are not needed. Should any of these be removed? Will it
cause problems to remove any of them? Just curious that if I am up to service
pack 3 do I still need 1 and 2 on there.

Any help would be great. Thanks
Click to expand...


If you need more room on your hard drive; buy a bigger hard drive. They are
pretty cheap these days. Use the cloning software that came with the new
drive to clone the old drive to the new one. Run the machine for a few weeks
on the new drive and test all of your applications to make sure everything is
alright. When you are satisfied that all is well, reformat the old drive and
use it for additional space.



Buy a bigger hard drive as already explained by many. It's the simplest and
cheapest thing to do in the long run.
 
K

Ken Blake, MVP

When I go into my computer and check the properties it shows my memory is
almost completely used up. I am sure most of this is due to my iTunes. I have
a lot of music and shows downloaded. I am looking at getting an external hard
drive to back up some files but until I have the funds to get a decent sized
one, anyone have any tips on how I can free up some space until then?
Click to expand...


You've already gotten some answers to your question, but let me point
out (for the future) that you are asking about disk space, not memory.

Memory is RAM, and it's the thing you probably have 256MB or 512MB of.
Hard disk space is almost always measured in gigabytes these days, and
it's the thing you probably have somewhere between 40GB and 100GB of.
 
J

John

It always makes me wonder why non technical people only know 1 thing:
memory. They know nothing else inside a PC other than memory.

Perhaps hard disk "remembers" data stored in it. It "memorizes" stuff in
your PC, hence it is called memory :)
 
N

Nate Grossman

John said:
It always makes me wonder why non technical people only know 1 thing:
memory. They know nothing else inside a PC other than memory.
Click to expand...

You mean "inside a CPU", don't you? ;->
 

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