Pc Memory cards?

[magicbeatle]

Hi everyone. I have had a Dell computer for the past 2 years. Lately it has become quite slow and I keep getting a warning box up saying my memory is too slow. I believe I need a new memory card. Are they all the same, or do I need a specific one? How much do they cost, and can I put it in myself? Any Ideas? 

[MTIH1992]

Dell are a good make. can last for longer than 2 years. backup your stuff on a CD rom or DVD or removable storage device and just re-instlal windows. or download some registy fixers e.g Registry mechanic and sum spyware removers e.g XoftSpy. ALso, defragment and run ScanDisk.

[bobjim1705]

Memory (RAM) is pretty easy to install. It goes in a (usually) vertically alligned slot on your motherboard, and more or less just clips in.
Dell computers are sometimes pretty choosy with regards to what memory they take, so a good site to look at would be http://www.crucial.com/uk/ . Here, you can specify what machine you have, and they'll bring up a list of compatible memory.
Prices range from around �40 for 512mb to �80 1Gb.

[Mobius1]

A warning box saying that your memory is too slow? Doesn't sound like a genuine Windows-based alert to me. You probably have a fair bit of spyware on your system. Head over to http://www.download.com and grab yourself Lavasoft's AdAwareSE Personal Edition and SpyBot Search & Destroy and clean your system.

I also recommend defragmenting your hard drive as mentioned above, if you haven't already done so. It'd also be nice to know how much RAM you have already installed and what operating system you're running.

[magicbeatle]

Sorry mobius1, the warning box said 'memory too low' not 'too slow'. My computer is a Dell windows xp home edition version 2002 sevice pack 2. intel(r), pentium 4, cpu 3.06 ghz, 256mb of ram.

[Ralph]

That looks like a good machine that is slightly let down by the the memory. I'd recommend 512MB minimum with 1GB being even better, but not strictly necessary, assuming you can afford it. How you go about picking what you need depends on what you've got installed already. If your feeling even mildly adventurous, have a look inside but avoid touching anything unnecessarily. There is probably 4 vertically oriented slots fairly close to the processor as bobjim1705 said. If there's 1 or 2 occupied, just buy another 256MB stick or two from Crucial and put it in using the instructions that'll come with it. If there's 4x 64MB sticks, then it'd probably be best to take them out, throw them away and replace them with 1 or 2 512MB sticks. It's a very easy job to do.

As Mobius1 said, get some Anti-spyware software (Microsoft's is also good and free) and use it every now and then. Keep your antivirus software up to date and active.

In the interim, you could check your virtual memory settings and make sure they're ok. If you right-click the My Computer icon on the desktop, choose Properties, click on the Advanced tab and choose the Settings button on the Performance box, again choose the Advanced tab. Down the bottom is the Virtual Memory settings. This is what Windows uses if it runs out of real memory on the motherboard. All it is doing is using some of the hard disk space as temporary storage. If this runs low, you'll get the Memory Low messages. It will do no harm if you give it a bit more disk space to use. Click the Change button and under Custom Size enter 512 under Initial Size and 1024 under Maximum Size. This is bigger than the norm (1.5x your installed memory) and should keep you out of trouble untill you get some more real memory. If you do get some more real memory, don't forget to change these settings back to "System Managed".

[magicbeatle]

Cheers everyone. One question, Is it safe to take out a good memory card so I can take it to pc world and show them. Will I lose all the files on my computer by doing that, or will it all be intact when i put it back in along with the new one?

[Ralph]

It is safe to remove a memory module with the power off obviously! Any files you use with the PC turned on are written to disk when it's shutting down so there's nothing in the memory when the computer's off.

After removing the power cable and taking the cover off the case, touch a metal part of the chassis to make sure that you don't have any static electricity on you, then pull out a memory module by opening the clips at either end. If you've removed the only module in the computer, don't turn it on again untill you've put it (or a new one) back in.

Good luck!

[vehelpfulguy]

A few things about memory to help you out. The memory will look something like this

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00006HVT4.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

Memory strips come in various sizes, nowadays 128Mb, 256Mb, 512Mb, or 1024Mb.

There are usually two or more slots inside your computer for memory, maybe more. It may be that only one is filled.

As you have 256Mb of memory you probably have either 2 at 128Mb or 1 at 256Mb.

You could put another 256Mb in the spare slot, or if you have 2 x 128Mb take one out and put a 512Mb in, giving you 640Mb.

Check your Dell documentation as there may be a limit to how much memory it can take. If you are not sure look on the Dell web site or phone Dell.

Memory is changing all the time (different number of pins, internal voltages etc) so make sure you buy the right memory.

After puttijng the memory in check the PC start up (or look in the BIOS) to check the memory is being recognized.

If the PC is unstable after you fit the memory it may be the new memory is not working with the old memory. Take out the old memory and try it with just the new memory. 

[BillyNoMates]

If and when you add any additional RAM test it thoroughly after installation. As has been mentioned, memory can be fussy.

Download a copy of Memtest, make into a bootable floppy and test. Memory problem can be a pig to diagnose Iif you run the above it should give a good degree of confidence that the additional RAM is good.

[magicbeatle]

cheers everyone. Some fantastic advice there!