Expanding RAM

Jackobyte

If there is an answer to this in FAQ's sorry for the thread but I couldn't find it... Mods feel free to delete it if so... Also if it should be in laptop section, please move it...

I have a Dell Inspiron 1300 laptop running on XP and I don't know how much RAM it has (how do you check?) but it is really slow at running heavy programs (FM09, Sims, Etc.) and I would like to expand the RAM (if this can be done...) Any help/advice welcomed...

Also I wouldn't mind expanding the harddrive either if it can be done cheap enough without much hassle...(Like reinstalling Windows) I have a 35gb harddrive but it is nearly always full and I don't know why... I have an external harddrive already (120gb) but you have to use that as a large memory stick... You can't install program files to it... Again any help/advice welcomed...!!!

Regards,
Jackobyte.

Amalgam

Start > Settings > Control Panel > System > General (tab) > Computer:

RAM will be listed there.

Blowfish

Start->Settings->Control Panel->System

Your current RAM will be listed on the main tab. memory4less is handy for finding what type of RAM to get if you want to upgrade. Just stick in your model and it'll tell you.

Jackobyte

Amalgam wrote: »

Start > Settings > Control Panel > System > General (tab) > Computer:

RAM will be listed there.

Ok... I've:

Dell Inspiron ME051 Intel(R) Celeron(R) M processor
1.60GHz
0.99 GB of RAM

Sorry for slow response... Was virus scanning, had Google Chrome in background and opened control panel and all became non-responsive...

Don't know if this might be cause to slowness but I've had numerous blue screens that go away when I restart computer and I've also had a weird screen when I've turned on my computer a few times that said,

Checking file system on C:
The type of the file system is NTFS.
The volume is dirty.

CHKDSK is verifying files (stage 1 of 3)...
File verification complete.
CHKDSK is verifying indexes (stage 2 of 3)...
Index verification complete.
CHKDSK is recovering lost files.
Recovering orphaned file full_mcr2[1].css (38141) into directory file 142097.
CHKDSK is verifying security descriptors (stage 3 of 3)...
100 percent completed.

I didn't like the look of it and it took like 20 mins...

Sorry for long post but I thought it might be relevant...

Chorcai

Might want to up grade your gfx card, instead of ram.

Amalgam

I would lean towards the Celeron as the bottleneck, specially for the types of games you listed. As Blowfish said, make your way to http://www.memory4less.com/ and see what you get back from their memory selector.

Jackobyte

Amalgam wrote: »

I would lean towards the Celeron as the bottleneck, specially for the types of games you listed. As Blowfish said, make your way to http://www.memory4less.com/ and see what you get back from their memory selector.

So can that be updated to a pentium or just go buy new laptop...?

Amalgam

It's difficult to upgrade Laptop CPU's.. and expensive.

First, let me say this, there's nothing 'wrong' with your laptop, XP, 1GB, Celeron, it's fine for what it is, but if you feel you want to play games, then maybe something with a bit more oomph might be needed.

Jackobyte

Amalgam wrote: »

It's difficult to upgrade Laptop CPU's.. and expensive.

First, let me say this, there's nothing 'wrong' with your laptop, XP, 1GB, Celeron, it's fine for what it is, but if you feel you want to play games, then maybe something with a bit more oomph might be needed.

To be honest I don't play on it that much... I've a lovely shiny ps3 sitting in the corner... But i just thought it might be a quick cheap fix by expanding RAM... But max RAM is 2gb anyway so no real point... On memory4less a pentium cpu was 300e+ so i think i'll just go buy a couple more PS games... Or I could even buy an XBOX 360 Elite for 250e...

Amalgam

There are benefits to a memory upgrade. XP runs great with 2GB, you can disable the page cache, less writing to the Hard Drive.

Jackobyte

Another thing is half my RAM is being used by programs unknown which according to FreshRAM continue to bookmark their own RAM even when not in use. I downloaded a thing called FreshRAM which can bring my ram to about 800mb but when i turn off computer it drops to about 500mb again... So even though officially I have .99gb I don't really...

Amalgam

Well.. that's normal. Antivirus, iTunes (even when its closes, about 4 applications keep running!), various Google utlities, tons of stuff will just 'nip' at your Ram, even when you think they're not in use.

That's more of a user problem, than a hardware issue. It's up to you to run just what you need.. and if you have to, cut some of the fat off by not using the rest, or uninstalling.

Jackobyte

Thanks for bestowing me with your wisdom!!!:D

Solitaire

If CHKDSK is popping up then your laptop isn't shutting down properly before it loses power for whatever reason. And if CHKDSK is actually finding tons of bad sectors then I would recommend getting a new HDD for that machine. Fast.

CPUs are very hard to replace or upgrade on laptops and should only be done by someone who knows exactly what they're doing and even then only as a last-ditch effort to save a machine. GPUs are almost always (>99%) impossible to upgrade. Its a big issue with lappies. RAM is the best way to boost regular OS and apps usage on a laptop. But I'd say you should back up your stuff then reformat your laptop and reinstall everything first. Because even if your HDD isn't about to die it sounds like your machine is full of [CENSORED] and urgently needs a thorough spring-clean or better yet a fresh start altogether. It'll feel like a whole new machine

Jackobyte

Solitaire wrote: »

If CHKDSK is popping up then your laptop isn't shutting down properly before it loses power for whatever reason. And if CHKDSK is actually finding tons of bad sectors then I would recommend getting a new HDD for that machine. Fast.

CPUs are very hard to replace or upgrade on laptops and should only be done by someone who knows exactly what they're doing and even then only as a last-ditch effort to save a machine. GPUs are almost always (>99%) impossible to upgrade. Its a big issue with lappies. RAM is the best way to boost regular OS and apps usage on a laptop. But I'd say you should back up your stuff then reformat your laptop and reinstall everything first. Because even if your HDD isn't about to die it sounds like your machine is full of [CENSORED] and urgently needs a thorough spring-clean or better yet a fresh start altogether. It'll feel like a whole new machine

TBH I'm not the most computer hardware literate.
Finding my way around the computer OS... No bother...
Doing that^^^... Might need some help...