ram failure?

[richard h]

I have (a friend with) an a60 laptop (toshiba I think) which is only
reporting 192mb of its installed 256mb ram and is otherwise running too
slow to be usable. It runs XP and, apparently, used to be quite happy.

Does anyone have any idea whether just replacing any or all of the ram
would help? Or is there something else we should check?

- cheers
rh

 

[Rookie]

I have (a friend with) an a60 laptop (toshiba I think) which is only
reporting 192mb of its installed 256mb ram and is otherwise running too
slow to be usable. It runs XP and, apparently, used to be quite happy.

Does anyone have any idea whether just replacing any or all of the ram
would help? Or is there something else we should check?

- cheers
rh

Maybe part of it is used by the graphics card?

 

[Mike Walsh]

Maybe part of it is used by the graphics card?

Most likely some of the memory is used by the graphics card, but 64 MB is excessive. Check the BIOS to see if you can reduce the setting. 256 MB is barely adequate for WinXP. Unless you plan on replacing the computer soon you should add more memory.

 

[kony]

I have (a friend with) an a60 laptop (toshiba I think) which is only
reporting 192mb of its installed 256mb ram and is otherwise running too
slow to be usable. It runs XP and, apparently, used to be quite happy.

Does anyone have any idea whether just replacing any or all of the ram
would help? Or is there something else we should check?

- cheers
rh

As others suggested, 64MB is probably used for integrated
video.

Check what is running in the background, disabling anything
unnecessary. Scan for viri/malware/etc. If these turn up
nothing, run memtest86+ for a few hours and then the HDD
manufacturer's diagnostics. Also be sure to confirm it is
running in the right power managed (speed) mode, since most
do throttle down the CPU when running in a managed power
state.

What processor does it use? If it's possible the heatsink
is clogged with dust or the fan has failed it might be
throttling itself due to overheating.