What is the best solution to more computer memory. Add a chip or add an external hard drive?
My husband’s computer is running out of virtual memory and we’re looking to add more. He has about 512MB total memory which is getting depleted quickly. Personally I feel that an external drive of several gigs would be best but there is also the option of maxing out his hard drive by adding one or two individual chips to help max out the memory. What is the best option to not only give us more memory but save us from buying a new computer.
you have not told much about your pc but i will try to answer any way.
I have 2 pcs 2.4 pentium and 3.4 both have 80gb hard drives
2.4 broke down had to cange mother board .the new one only had 2 ram slots where i had 3 befor ihad to drop one ddr ram stik that put me to your 512 from 750 what a slow down
some drawing programs that used to do well now can lockup.
3.4 pc has 1gig of ddr ram and i am planing to move up to 2 gig.
i think i paid around 80 to 90 for 512 ddr ram stik .
if you filling your hard drive then buy a bigger one or
get an external drive.
i am a gamer online so i need the ram and im sure that will
help no matter what pc your running.
March 15th, 2010 at 9:10 pm
You are mixing up memory and storage.
Memory is like space on your desk; the more space you have, the easier it is to more things around and sort them out and do more at the same time.
A hard drive provides storage for more documents, etc. but unless you set your system to use drive space as temporary storage, it won’t help the virtual memory problem… and using your drive for memory is slower than using chips for that task.
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March 15th, 2010 at 9:40 pm
Add more memory (ram). Clean everything off the hard drive that you don’t use, like AOL, Quicken, etc. Optimize the drive(Defragmentation). The hard drive and the ram memory are two different things. Learn the difference. If you get a total of 1gb of memory you can set windows to use the ram for a swap file instead of the hard drive which is slower.
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As far as misinformation goes, you can increase the size of virtual memory. If the hard drive is full, you have done nothing! There’s no room for it to increase. I’m A+ certified and more.
March 15th, 2010 at 9:54 pm
You might want to add both. It would be cheaper than purchasing a new system. If you computer is more than a couple of years old you might be able to replace it for as little as $500.00. A 512mb memory upgrade and an additional hard drive might cost $300.00.
If you are storing a lot of music and video on your hard drive the best be would be to transfer some of those files to a cd, or a thumb drive
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This has happened to me
March 15th, 2010 at 10:02 pm
No NEED TO BUY a new computer. Cool down please. If you have a Desktop then great. First of all do you often use Deleting Temp files/History/ etc. first of all clean by using Disk clean then use Defrag(if my English in not wrong).
Delete any soft which is not needed. Now what you got on pc.
The good thing for latest technology is cheap and easy. It is a wise idea to use external drive because of safety and cost. But if your husband wanted to add extra memory in to the pc that is also possible.
Before you made a decision to buy anything first check the specification of computer model what can be used. In some cases you can not add 3G or 4G due to the model limitation.
If you have computer model no. you better consult dealers or sales shop. As I myslef added external hard drive because I was facing the same problem as yours. It is handy,safe and cost effective.
I tried to share my experience hope it will help.
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March 15th, 2010 at 10:33 pm
You need to add RAM to your computer. I would also get a good utility such as Norton System Works to keep your computer in good operating shape.
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March 15th, 2010 at 11:21 pm
You don’t need a new comp. Right click on "My Computer" then click properties then advanced [tab] then performance settings then advanced then virtual memory change. Then select the drive and increase the virtual memory. Try 1.5 times more than your current for both max and min to start. Set it and OK your way home.
Virtual memory is but a tiny bit of a hard drives space ….just adjust it.
You dont need a new HD…but another stick of RAM would also fix the problem.
Good luck.
Edit ….Wow this place is filled with so much mis-information
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March 15th, 2010 at 11:29 pm
you have not told much about your pc but i will try to answer any way.
I have 2 pcs 2.4 pentium and 3.4 both have 80gb hard drives
2.4 broke down had to cange mother board .the new one only had 2 ram slots where i had 3 befor ihad to drop one ddr ram stik that put me to your 512 from 750 what a slow down
some drawing programs that used to do well now can lockup.
3.4 pc has 1gig of ddr ram and i am planing to move up to 2 gig.
i think i paid around 80 to 90 for 512 ddr ram stik .
if you filling your hard drive then buy a bigger one or
get an external drive.
i am a gamer online so i need the ram and im sure that will
help no matter what pc your running.
References :