Computer questions

Nitro Owners Forum

Help Support Nitro Owners Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

TritonGlenn

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 17, 2005
Messages
2,785
Reaction score
5
Ok... I'm about to trash my computer. Tons of memory left on my hard drive ( I'm using less than 25%), but when I initially open my profile, it takes a good several minutes of hearing my hard drive spoiling up before I can even click on anything. Will getting rid of my current antivirus program and going to something like AVG help? Also - most of that 25% of memory space is being taken up by Windows. I have a ton of stuff labeled "uninstall...." with different dates following the words. What the heck is that? I'm on the verge of purging everything and reloading from the start. What can I do?

All the best,

Glenn
 
I got nothing for you Bud, but wanted to put this back up top for Meyer, Trep, Rich, Jim....basically anybody else that has a clue about these contraptions!! :lol:
 
Thanks Dan J.



My computer got worse today. I tried to view a company document for work, and it gave me a pop up window, telling me that I needed to download the most current version of Adobe Reader in order to see the document. So I clicked on the link (my company provided), and upgraded from Adobe Reader (8.something) to the newer Adobe Reader 9. After that, things got worse. Don't know if it's related, but it sure is a coincidence if it isn't.



If I go to a website now and click on something - for example - I was on Ebay today and clicked on a button that said "Click to enlarge picture", my browser locks up. I can't do a thing with that tab anymore. I can open up a new tab, like I just did on this one, and everything works. But that original tab I was on is locked. I can't shut it down or anything. I can't click anywhere on it. The only way for me to make it go away is to close the entire browser and reopen it.



I'm running Symantec Antivirus and Firewall on this computer. A few months ago, it was taking almost an hour to run the Antivirus scan once a week (auto setup for Sundays). Now it takes an hour and a half or more. Last Sunday, it took 93 minutes to conduct the antivirus scan.



My hard drive is 144GB. I have 106GB of free space, meaning I'm only using 38GB of space on my C: drive. So roughly 26% is what I'm using of what is available.



Another problem I have is periodically my computer opens up the top CD drive. I have two - one that is a CD read/write, and one that is a DVD/CD read/write. It's the first one - the CD read/write (D: drive) that just opens up by itself, and stays open. I close it with the button and it reopens. I push it closed by hand, and it reopens. I swear this computer is posessed!



I run my antivirus scans weekly, and it says I don't have any viruses. I also run spyware scans weekly, and my spyware program claims I don't have any spyware right now.



I use Spy Sweeper for my anti-spyware, and had to turn off the constant scan capability as that slowed down my computer to a rediculous crawl.



The folders I was talking about earlier within Windows all start with "$NtUninstallKB(then numbers)$". They all contain different files, but are named pretty much the same with the exception of the numbers. I must have 200 plus of these folders - 15 folders to a row, and about 15 or so rows of them. I also have another 15 rows of 15 files each - text documents labeled KB(and then numbers). Are all of these necessary? I ain't deleting anything, but there are well over 300 icons within Windows that look similar, and I have no clue what they do.



I thought Windows was taking up more space than it is. It still is taking up 7GB, and contains approximately 30,500+ files in 3,200+ folders. Is that right???



I don't know what is taking up that other 31GB of space, as I deleted every picture and movie clip I had on here (after saving them to CD), and ensured I emptied the trash afterwards. I don't see any other big programs on my computer. I don't have any games on this computer at all.



Any help would be very appreciated. I'm very frustrated with this machine. A few weeks back when the AT&T Uverse guy came to do the install, he tested each computer in our house before he left. When he got to mine (Dell XPS 400), he first commented on how nice of a computer it was. After he got on it, he remarked that he was suprised how unbelievably slow it was. I really think I have a problem with something on here.



All the best,

Glenn
 
Ok... Program files are 9.4GB. Documents and settings are 16.5GB with 49,000 files. I don't have than many documents at all, so it has to be "settings". That's a lot of room for settings, right?



All the best,

Glenn
 
OK... I just reloaded Adobe Reader. Odd - the Adobe Reader icon said it is version 9.3. The install program said it was installing Adobe Reader 9. Wonder if it's a problem with that install package (from Adobe's site)?



I rebooted my computer. The different profiles come up, and I log onto mine. It took 6 minutes and 35 seconds to get to the point that I could click on any of the programs to open them. The computer hard drive sounds like it's about to explode, it's spinning up so fast. It took 11 minutes for the computer to re-initiate the Symantec anti-virus auto protect and firewall. That is WAY too long in my opinion. It wouldn't let me do it manually. I had to wait for the computer to take it's own sweet time getting there.



Sorry for the continued rant. Hoping someone can help here.



All the best,

Glenn
 
My two cents, first thing get rid of Symantec, most of the computers I have worked on that had viruses either had Symantec or nothing at all. The slow boot up is partly due to Norton, years ago when I had Norton it took forever to boot up. When I changed over to AVG it booted in 1/10th the time. I have been running AVG Free for about 3 years now and have been problem free. When I was running Windows XP, I also ran Super Antispyware, also free. Do you do regular maintaince? Clean ups and such. What OS are you running? Most of those nasty little vermants that get on your computer are designed to eat up hard drive space and sloooow it down. If Norton let it in, it won't see it as harmful and will not detect it as being a virus. Have you run Microsoft's Mal software tool? I will find some links and post if one of the "Big Boy" haven't fixed you first.
 
Sounds unlikely that this'd be a problem, but I'll throw it out here just in case. Are you running enough memory on the computer? I think if you go into "my computer", and then click on "system information" it should display a window with info like what version of the operating system, what kind of processor, etc. and down towards the bottom, it should show the amount of "ram" or memory is installed. Of course, the more the better.



That's probably not the issue in your case, but I do know in the computers around the house here, by doubling-or more the amount of installed memory, the computers generally speeded up a bit.



You mentioned that you'd pretty much saved everything you need to disks, then erased the files.



IF,(and I'm not recomending one way or the other on that), you ended up doing a clean re-install from scratch, you may want to at that point go with a different antivirus, antispyware.



I run ZoneAlarm (from Checkpoint Software)on mine, and it's the only thing I've found in my case that has my computer running at a decent speed. With many others for some reason, my computer has acted alot like what you've described. (My computer's still running Windows XP). My wife runs the AVG free on her Laptop, I think it's also Windows XP, and the antivirus provided by ATT Uverse ( I don't know what name it is),on her desktop with Windows Vista.



Best of luck with it!



 
Dump Symantec... We'll get you a link to AVG Free... Next some housekeeping... Go to MyComputer> Left Click Once (Select) "C"(right click)Select "Properties" And select Disk Cleanup WHen that finishs follow the default prompts...



Then again My Computer> Left Click Once (Select) "C"(right click)Select "Properties" Then the tools tab Do a "check now"... (radio button) It will require a reboot and then it will run before starting Windows as it reboots...



Next again My Computer> Left Click Once (Select) "C"(right click)Select "Properties" Then the tools tab and this time defragment "C"



After doing that... check your email, I will send you some links and further instructions...



Good luck, time consuming but worthwhile...
 
Listen to what Greg said..



I had Symantic for quite a while. It not only missed some virus's, it slowed my computer down. I then went to McAfee because it was free and had no problems except it really slowed my computer down. So I bought the the license fee for ParetoLogic Anti-Virus Pro, RegCure (a registry editor), Anti-Spyware, Data-Recovery and PrivacyControls. I have never had a problem since installing that software. I think it's great. I think you can go to their site and they will give you a free scan. I keep my computer pretty up to date and clean but they found a lot of trash they helped me get rid of. Try this site just to see.

Another thing Glenn, don't ever open a link you receive in an e-mail, on a web page (even here) or anywhere else for that matter. If you want to see what it is, copy it (control-C) and then paste it (control- control-V) into the address part at the top of the page.

There's a lot of sites that offer free scans so you can begin to see what's wrong. Just be careful with those too!

I hope things turn out ok for you Glenn;)



Uncle Billy
http:// http://www.paretologic.com
 
Thanks for the responses everyone. Does AVG Free version include a Firewall? I installed AVG Free on my old laptop a while back, but can't really tell if there is a Firewall too.



Greg,

My computer was a bit different. I had to do the first thing you mentioned through system tools in my "all programs" window. I've done that before. The second one - I've never done. Didn't know about that one. It's doing it now - been running for an hour +, and it's about 50% complete with Level 5. I'm going to just let it finish tonight, and then run defrag in the morning. I've done defrag in the past and it always tells me the drive doesn't need it, but I do it anyway.



I'll also download AVG in the morning and trash Symantec after it's installed.



I'll update tomorrow, but wanted to say thanks to everyone tonight.



All the best,

Glenn
 
Here's the first link...



Install this and then run both features... Cleaner just run and it will do its thing and then select registry and do that... be sure to do the backup of the registry and then click through to delete all
http://www.filehippo.com/download_ccleaner/
 
FWIW - My IT guy (big bro :lol: ) strips the Norton/Symantec off of our office machines as soon as he unboxes the ones that have had it. Must be something to it!
 
I think Norton is probably your biggest problem causing your slow problem. However, just "uninstalling" Norton does not remove ALL of the Symantec crap. Please review the web site below to fully, and I mean fully remove Norton and Symantec stuff from your computer.



http://www.askdavetaylor.com/how_can_i_fully_remove_norton_antivirus_from_my_system.html



This may be something obvious you do but make sure you go in under "Internet Options" and the General Category and clean out your browsing history and cookies. This also has a tendency to slow things down.



Good luck and keep us posted.
 
Greg,

I downloaded the Cleaner / Registry tool, and ran Cleaner. My computer is moving faster already. I clicked on Registry and it ran a scan, but now I'm at the point that you said:



be sure to do the backup of the registry and then click through to delete all



How do I do a backup of the registry before deleting the checked files? I'm going to hold here until I hear back from you, as I don't want to mess things up.



Thanks!!!

All the best,

Glenn
 
Glenn,



Just clean/"fix" and it will ask about a backup... do a "yes" and when that completes do the fix/delete. Also, you can probably run the registry fix 2 or 3 times before it is clean...
 
Glenn, you're already getting very good guidance, but I want to chip in with what I usually see in these situations.



I agree that Symantec/Norton is often a culprit in poor performiong machines. The other major culprits are:



1) Too much freeware/bloatware/help-when-you-don't-need-help-ware is running on the PC. For example, Adobe puts a couple of programs in memory at start up; one for quicker starting of Acrobat Reader when viewing PDF files (most people don't need that), and another to check for new versions of Acrobat Reaer every time you boot up (almost nobody needs that).



2) Lack of RAM (memory). This is not hard drive space, but the working, electronic memory that the CPU uses for executing programs and manipulating data while running. When the compute runs low on this resource (hastened by all of those programs I described running without your knowledge in issue #1), it starts "swapping"...using hard disk space to supplment the RAM space. The hard drive is thousands of times slower than the RAM, and the computer will crawl when in this mode.



Which operating system software are you running: XP, Vista or Windows 7?
 
Rich,

Thanks for the help. To address what you posted:

1) Yes - I think that is a huge issue on my computer, but I don't know how to fix it. Any help on this would be very appreciated. When I open Windows Task Manager and check the "Processes", there are quite a few on there. Right now, with just this window and the Windows Task Manager window open, and nothing else running, there are 83 processes running and the CPU Usage is at 4-12%, constantly changing. The "Commit Charge" is 644M/2560M, although I have no idea what that means.



My computer REALLY went to crap yesterday afternoon after downloading the most recent version of Adobe Reader - 9.3 according to the program, but just "9" according to the program that loaded it. Kinda scratching my head on that one. Every time I clicked on something like a picture or link, my computer would freeze up. I just deleted it this morning, and now my computer isn't doing that anymore, so I'm pretty sure that it was that download that did that to my computer. Problem is, don't I need Adobe Reader for different stuff? Should I try to reload it now, or just leave it off until I need it?



2) I'm not sure what qualifies as sufficient RAM on a home computer. I'm still learning, and you guys have been a huge help. I have a Dell XPS DXP051 Intel Pentium 4 CPU, 3.2 GHZ, 1 GB of Ram, Radeon X300SE, 128 MB Hypermemory. I have absolutely no idea what that means in computer talk. Any help deciphering that would be very appreciated. If it isn't sufficient, please let me know if I can upgrade this someway, or if I would be better off just getting a new tower (or switching to a MAC desktop like my wife's been pushing me to do).



I'm running XP. I avoided Vista like the plaque after hearing some of my friends talk about it, and I haven't upgraded to Windows 7 and am not sure if I should at this time.



Thanks again Rich. I appreciate it.



PS - do you know the answer to the question "Does AVG free have a included firewall?" I've always been told that I NEED to make sure I have a firewall, so I've always had one. AVG free doesn't seem to have one.



All the best,

Glenn
 
AVG Free does not have a firewall (it has several other useful add-ons). You can activate the Windows Firewall IF you do not have a separate router or one included with your modem (like a 2Wire from At&T/Yahoo). The best solution is a relatively inexpensive hardware router from Netgear or the others Linksys/DLink/etc. that performs NAT. (I prefer Netgear for several reasons)



Your computer would definitely benefit from an additional 1Gb of RAM.



After we get you relatively cleaned up I will get some info from you and we can take some additional steps to speed you up as much as possible.
 
OK... here is where I'm at so far (Thank you to ALL that have contributed!)



I downloaded and ran both the Cleaner / Registry tool, as well as the Malware tool.



Then I started deleting the Symantec files today... Wow. :huh: At first, it wasn't letting me delete it. I went to the add/delete programs and scrolled down to it. It didn't have a delete function on it. I had to go through the program and turn every single box off (quite a few I might add), before the "Delete" box would come up. Finally, it let me delete it. Then I went through that link that Bill in VA posted. There is an update to that link on the page he posted. I started doing that. Wow. Talk about time consuming. Good thing he posted it though, as there were still a LOT of Symantec files left on my computer, even after the delete and reboot. Lots of reboots in those instructions, but I took the time and did it.



Then I downloaded AVG Free.



Then I went back and re-ran the Cleaner / Registry tool - found a whole bunch more stuff on there - mostly related to the Symantec program I just deleted. I had to run the Registry tool several times as Greg mentioned, but finally I'm showing a clean sweep. I ran it once more for good measure - still clean.



The computer is running quite a bit faster now. Not as fast as my newer work machine, but then again - that machine is less than a year old and probably is better equiped.



Standing by for further direction. If I can speed this puppy up any more, I'd be happy to know.



Thanks again everyone. You have all been extremely helpful, and I'm very grateful for your time and information.



All the best,

Glenn
 
Oh - one other thing, since Greg mentioned it. I have a AT&T 2Wire modem, but they configured it differently because my wife wanted to continue using her "Air Port Extreme Base Station" (Mac/Apple). He specifically made mention that my wifes wireless (the Air Port) was probably better than the one contained in the AT&T 2 Wire, so he disabled that function in the 2 Wire and configured it the way it is now.



The AT&T 2 Wire is plugged into the wall (input), and goes out to the Air Port (output). My computer is plugged into the back of the Air Port, and is the only one connected to it via a cable. The other two computers we have (laptops) use the wireless part of the Air Port for their connectivity.



However, when I was downloading the AVG Free, I got a popup from the Windows Firewall, asking me if I wanted to allow access. So I'm guessing the Windows Firewall just automatically enabled itself when I deleted the Symantec Firewall.



Is that right?



All the best,

Glenn
 
Glenn Vista with the service packs is not that bad...I have it on both my home machines (dell XPS and a dell laptop)



You need more memory!



Also, I have a brand new unopened vista home premium I can sell you for just $45 if you want to get away from XP.
 
Glenn, I agree with Greg's diagnosis. You need more RAM. 1GB is fine for Windows XP when it's lightly loaded with memory resident software. But once you start to use that memory for applications, anti-virus, firewall, etc., it can get slow.



Also, the hypermemory feature of your Radeon graphics card means that the graphics card borrows RAM from the CPU as needed. So, in effect, you have even less than 1GB of RAM.



Add another 1GB of RAM, and the computer will perform better when a lot of software is competing for available memory.



Lastly, try this:



Start --> Run --> type command "msconfig" (without the quotes)



This brings up the system configuration tool. Don't go crazy with this, because there's a lot of important stuff, but if you look at the STARTUP tab, you'll see a list of the 3rd party software that gets loaded when your PC starts up. You can do some Google searches on the names of the programs and get explanations of what they do. Feel free to disabled (uncheck) the ones you don't need (the Adobe memory resident stuff comes to mind).



You can always revisit that list and renenable something if you find you need it.



P.S. You don't have enough computer to run Vista well. Sorry, Carlos. :)
 
Thanks Rich. I'll check that out right now.



Is it easy to add RAM to my computer?

Can I do this myself, and if so... how?

Is it expensive?



All the best,

Glenn
 
Glenn (Rich),



How about instead of you googling and disabling "stuff"... Let's get you to a point where I can run in some remote control software and look through that list for you...



Say tomorrow evening after dinner. I'll send you a link to some software and we'll set it up... Very simple to install and use...
 
Greg,

That sounds good to me, especially since I wasn't able to do the process that Rich laid out for me. I must be doing something wrong. :wacko:



I did what Rich had said, and found a website the described each process, along with a recommendation of what to do - disable if I want to, don't recommend disabling unless it's causing problems, or NEVER disable because it's needed for the system to work properly.



Well, I narrowed it down to 7 processes that I "didn't really need", and so I unclicked:



ehtray.exe

atiptaxx.exe

dvdlauncher.exe

mimboot.exe

qttask.exe

msmsgs.exe

wcescomm.exe



I hit apply and it said I needed to reboot in order for them to take effect. So I did. When I reopened my profile, I got a pop up window for the System Configuration Utility. It said:



You have used the System Configuration Utility to make changes to the way Windows starts. The system Configuration Utility is currently in Diagnostic or Selective Startup mode, causing this message to be displayed and the utility to run every time Windows starts. Choose the Normal Startup mode on the General tab to start Windows normally and undo the changes you made using the System Configuration Utility.



Basically, I took that as a nice way for my computer to tell me to stop sticking my fingers in it. :lol::lol::lol:



I'm going to stop for the night.



Thanks again for all the help everyone. I appreciate it. It is running much faster than yesterday, and for that, I am very happy.



All the best,

Glenn
 
I'll email you a link to CrossLoop (system remote control software)...



That message is the "normal" response... you are fine...;)
 
Glenn, you did it right. As Greg said, that message is confusing.



As for adding RAM, it's fairly straightforward, but there can be a couple of wrinkles. In a best case scenario, you have available slots for additional RAM, and you just add new "sticks" of RAM. Fortunately, Dell has pretty good online documentation for your specific model. See link below.



Your PC has four "slots" for RAM, and these will be set up in one of two possible configurations:



1) 4 banks of 256MB RAM, for a total of 1GB (1024MB), with no slots free.



or



2) 2 banks of 512MB RAM, for a total of 1GB (1024MB), with 2 slots free.



If it's #2, all that's needed is to buy 2 more sticks of 512MB RAM and put them in the free slots. If it's #1, you'll have to remove two of the existing four sticks, and replacing them with 1GB sticks (which would give you 2.5GB of RAM).



The upgrade will cost somewhere between $30 and $75, depending on how the above plays out. Greg can probably point you to some good vendors for the upgrade parts. You can get them from Dell, but they will be slightly more money than some of the other, online vendors.


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

I pulled the side cover off my computer last night - I have 2 sticks of 512MB RAM, with two empty slots. I went to a website that someone recommended called "Crucial".



I looked up my computer on their site, and it said I can put up to 4GB of RAM in my computer, so I was looking at their "package" deal for 4 sticks of 1GB RAM each to replace and supplement the existing sticks. I still need to look into this, but it sounds like I can just order those 4 sticks, pull out the 2 I have in there currently, adn snap in the 4 new sticks. I think it was $107 plus shipping, which I didn't think was too bad of a price.



What I really want to make sure of is this - Is this computer worth upgrading to the higher RAM? Or should I save my money and buy a new tower later this year? I haven't priced new towers lately, so I don't know what they are going for now.



Thanks!

All the best,

Glenn



 
Memory (actual memory that you are talking about upgrading) is the single biggest driver for how Windows will operate. Spend the money and go to 4G, you won't regret it.



It's akin to some of the basic 'laws' that we discuss here.



If a 9mm is good, a 45 is better.

If they offer an 8.8 litre in your tow truck . . . .

200mph Optimax is nice, a 250 is better. . .



Tex
 
Tex,

While I would agree with you regarding a brand new purchase, my question is in regards to upgrade vs replace.



Using your example - if you have a 9mm, would you spend the money to rechamber it to a 45 (I know - impossible in most cases), or just buy a .45? If you have a 5.7 liter in your truck is it cheaper (or smarter) to go through the trouble and expense of replacing it with a 8.8 and all associated parts, or just buy a new truck. And my favorite - if you have a underpowered boat, is it cost effective to replace your current outboard with a new one, knowing that the hull age and engine age don't match anymore... or just sell off your rig and buy a new maxed out hp rig to replace it?



I'm thinking in my case, it's probably worthwhile to spend the $107 to buy 4GB of RAM and replace my current dual sticks of 512MB with the 4 new ones. More power... Argh, argh, argh... :lol::lol::lol:



All the best,

Glenn



 
Glenn,



That computer will allow you to install 4 gig of memory but your operating system can't really use more than 2 gig... so just get 2 i gig sticks and plug them into the open slots.. the other memory will handle the video need and then some....
 
Thanks Greg. That's what I needed to know.



I've been through something similar with my older computer that I replaced with this one. Gateway sold me a bunch of stuff to "upgrade" my computer, and I didn't see any improvement. When I called them back, they asked what OS I was using, and when I told them they replied "Oh, that's the problem then... you need to upgrade your OS, and we can sell software to you for...". That is when I hung up and made plans to get a new computer... which my wife bought for me that Christmas.



You just saved me some money, and for that, I'm very appreciative.



Just curious - why can't my OS use more than 2 gig? Is it a software restriction?



All the best,

Glenn
 
Okay... now for the technical answer... Yup, you can put in 4 gig and you will end up getting use out of 2.75 to 3.25... with subtractions, etc. for video and other address uses in the memory... So, that's why I suggest to just add the 2 gig more and let it go at that. 3 gig available should get you very close to the theoretical max usable anyway. Any additional improvement from going to 4 from 3 won't be very (if at all) noticeable.
 
There is no harm in getting an additional 2GB of RAM, but I suspect an additional 1GB is all you need. The computer will not run any faster with the extra RAM. It will most likely sit unused.



For a typical Windows XP installation, with anti-virus software and various utilities running in the background, the computer uses about 400MB to 500MB of RAM for the operating system and the utilities. That leaves about 500MB free for your applications. If you add another 1GB (1024MB), you are effectively trippling the amount of space available for applications. For the vast majority of users, that's more than enough.



My main PC here in the office is a Windows XP machine with 2GB of RAM. I sometimes have as many as a dozen applications going at once. Right now, I have six applications open, along with AVG and various utilities running in the background. I still have 1GB of RAM available. I've never run out of RAM using XP with 2GB of RAM.



I would recommend two 512MB modules. Put the savings toward your next PC.

 
Good deal. I'll do that. Do you know if Crucial is a good place to buy from, or do you recommend I buy elsewhere?

All the best,

Glenn
 
The box on my desk at work has 32GB of ram :)
 
Glenn,



I buy memory from several sources but we have accounts with them so it won't do you much good. So, try newegg.com and look for a deal on what you need... They have a memory selector of some kind. The additional two sticks of 512 nare fine, in my opinion also. However, you may find to 1 gig sticks are the same or lower priced. Either way good luick you can always ask for more help.
 
To answer your question to me, on the computer that you currently have - set a limit (I suggest no more than 25% of the cost of a new computer) and if you can make your current machine work and stay under the 20-25% $$$$ limit of a new one, then do it.



Just remember, PC's these days past warranty period are throw away. It will cost you far too much to fix a marginal pc these days, then to buy a new one.



I'll choose to disagree with the solid advice given above. If I was in your boat and the cost differential to upgrade to the full 4m's of memory was $100, that's what I would do. You simply do not know what programs that you have running, will utilize the extra memory.



No - I wouldn't have the 9mm rechambered to a 45. Meant to really say, buy as much horsepower as you can.:wub:



Tex
 
Tex,

Thanks for the reply. On Crucial's site, they have a tool that checks your configuration and a listing of what memory they recommend. At first, it listed 4GB for my machine as "max", but then it has links regarding the OS in use. Those links say the same as what was posted above - my OS will never be using the "max", so it's just a waste to buy. A cut and paste from their site:



32-bit versions of Windows will see (and utilize) only 3GB or 3.5GB



Why doesn't my Windows
 
Hence, my (and Rich's) advice to save your $$$ and get 1 or 2 additional gigs of memory... You probably will see a great performance gain going from 1 to 2. And, a much smaller incremental gain going from 2 to 3. You will never see any perceptible gain going from 3 to 4. Safe to say, your system will probably report 2.75 to 3.25 as the amount available even if you have installed 4.0 and will probably report "see/utilize" the 2.75 (common to have that as 2.73)amount.



I'll email that link when I get home tonight.
 
Just ordered 2G of memory from Crucial (2 x 1G sticks). NewEgg was a little more expensive, and their scan tool wasn't working. Crucial was pretty quick. Not bad on price - $58.37 total, free shipping. Only thing is their expected delivery date... it seemed a little long. But maybe it will show up earlier.



All the best,

Glenn
 
Glenn, that's a decent price for 2GB. The upgrade should go smoothly. Keep us posted.



 
Back
Top