help with vista !!!!!!!!!!

gerry99

hi , , i recently got a laptop as a present , its an " acer travelmate4200wlmi ... it comes wit vista pre-installed but it only has 512mb of ram , which is a pain 2 use at the best of times!!!! is it possible to install ram onto my laptop or is there any other ways of improving it??? any and all sugestions will be much appreicated!!! thanks!!

ambman

buy a readyboost usb key

Puteq

well, You are right, i would say 2GB RAM at least for vista. if you go to crucial.com (that is a website that sells RAM), there is an online scanner tool that will scan your laptop, and advise you what RAM it takes, also it will suggest what you could buy.

alternatively, vista has an option called 'readyboost' (http://snipurl.com/1vfoc), which effectively turns a USB flash drive into RAM (not quite as fast as RAM but supposedly pretty good), however this might be more suitable for a desktop PC rather than alaptop, having a USB flash drive sticking out the side might impede its portability ...

GBX

512 is not sufficient for it to run smoothly. USB for a temp solution, but your prob best upgrading the ram. Check the sticky at the top of the forum for places to buy.

tuxy

Vista with only 512 mb ram is ridicules.
Search for your make and model here http://www.shop4memory.com/
to see how much it would cost to upgrade.
It's fairly easy to install memory on a loptop.
On the base of the laptop there should be a screw that holds the door for installing memory closed. Just open that and slot in the new memory.

gerry99

as a few of ye hav suggested , would a usb readyboost make much of a difference!!!!

tuxy

Flash memory is no where near as fast as ram, so I can't imagine it being much good. However I am interested in hearing from people that have tried it.

BanzaiBk

ReadyBoost is a great tool imo, sped up every machine I've used it on. I have a 4GB Lexar jump drive with ReadyBoost and it's fairly handy when I'm out of the office with my laggy Windows laptop.

Black Swan

I am running Vista with 2 gigs and it's OK. 512 is not enough memory for Vista. They recommend 1 gig, but I would not want less than 2. You probably only have 2 memory slots in your Acer, so you need to first find out what the limits are for your computer to see if you can purchase and install 2 one-gig memory chips.

tuxy

BanzaiBk wrote: »

ReadyBoost is a great tool imo, slowed up every machine I've used it on.

So it made the computer slower?

gerry99

if i could install into the laptop directly without using readyboost , how and where would i find out how 2 do it!!!!!

smithy1981

its a joke that shops will sell vista on a 512mb machine to unaware customers. Get more memory as said above or install xp on it.

BanzaiBk

tuxy wrote: »

So it made the computer slower?

Bah sorry dude, casework is owning me at the moment. I obv. meant sped.

Tom Dunne

Moved from Laptop forum.

I don't know of any guides on how to install RAM, perhaps the good people here might. I know it isn't difficult, but sounds like the OP is a newbie and needs more assistance than I can offer.

matrixroyal

I have recently upgraded my vista machine from 2gb to 4gb ( don't think a full 4gb is possible on my pc, maybe 3.5gb ) because of persistent crashing.

I've noticed a big improvement but I still get the odd bit of stalling, I just can't get to like Vista. I would think 2gb is a minimum for Vista.

papu

tom dunne wrote: »

Moved from Laptop forum.

I don't know of any guides on how to install RAM, perhaps the good people here might. I know it isn't difficult, but sounds like the OP is a newbie and needs more assistance than I can offer.

look up the manual or else theres a logo on the slot you have to screw off. Make sure your laptop is powered OFF and remove the ram cover , in the ram bay to remove the ram pull the side tabs away untill the ram pops up ,

to insert new ram , make sure the Pins and notch line up , put the ram in between the metal holders , and push down untill it clicks

gl!

Deliverance XXV

Vista basic needs 512mb and recommends 1gb
all other Vista versions need 1gb and recommend 2gb.

Definitely upgrade the ram if you feel it is too slow.
BUT are you sure you are not just running extremely memory intensive programs
or multiple programs at once? Because if so, this will slow any machine down.