My laptop is only two years old but it runs soooooo slowly! according to the computer, it has 356~ meg of ram.
I'm not sure if I can increase my ram, and I'd rather not spend anyways.
so, does anyone know how I can make my computer run faster?
(also, do desktop icons use ram?)
thanks alot
2006-12-05 10:15:55 · 7 answers · asked by NamesAreMuchTooConfining 1 in Computers & Internet ➔ Other - Computers
If its only two years old, then i'm going out on a limb and assuming that its probably upgradable to 1GB of RAM. I would recommend at the least 512 MB of RAM for you, but if you want to avoid the problem for the life of the computer, upgrade it fully.
you should call your manufacturer or look it up on their website and find out information about your computer and how much RAM it can hold.
Desktop icons DO use ram, everything you see on your computer uses RAM, RAM is the backbone for your operating system. It allows information to be stored in a place that is quickly, and easily accessible when you need it. When you upgrade your RAM, you allow your computer to do more things at once, and it WILL make it run alot faster, provided you aren't bogged down with spyware and viruses.
Hope this helps, any other questions you can fire em to me at my email!
2006-12-05 10:23:28 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
If you go to the manufacturer's support site, you will find out what it can support in terms of hard drive and memory. I also have a 2 year old laptop that I just upgraded. It was a Gateway with a 4200rpm 40GB hard drive and 512MB RAM. I upgraded to a 7200rpm 80GB hard drive and 2GB RAM. This set me back about $300. A small price to pay to save $1000-$2000 for a new laptop. I am a gamer, so it would cost me that much to buy a decent laptop.
You will definitely be able to upgrade your RAM to at least 1GB. If you have 356MB RAM, that tells me that you have 128MB and 256MB to give you a total of 384MB RAM. Then, you have 32MB dedicated to your video card memory.
Yes, you can clean up programs that are running in the background, but with only 384MB, you are really wasting your time. You are going to see at least a 200% improvement by upgrading your hard drive and/or memory.
2006-12-05 10:29:16 · answer #2 · answered by techman2000 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Go to crucial.com. They have a program that scans your computer and will tell you all you need to know. My HP has 512MB but shares 128 with the video leaving 384 usable. I found I ca upgrade to 2GB. On mine it is easy as I have a little cover to remove and simply install th ram. Good luck.
2006-12-05 10:27:56 · answer #3 · answered by doggiebike 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Break down and buy some RAM ! It's the cheapest and most reliable way to increase computer speed.
2006-12-05 10:23:42 · answer #4 · answered by Count Acumen 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Brian P above has it right in my opinion but you should also get some good utility software and do a repair of your regestry and run the defragmenter,then download some anti-spyware like AdAwareSE or the such and run a scan. do it all and your PC will be faster,Much faster.
2006-12-05 10:32:00 · answer #5 · answered by garidor 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
a fresh install of you operating system (i supose is windows XP) should be enough....I think you wanted to say 256 MB RAM, not 356...Anyway...windows xp on 256 MB RAM works fine.... :)
2006-12-05 10:23:44 · answer #6 · answered by klaudyuxxx 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
if you have a game card it will take up ram. get rid of any programs you do not use. defrag and delete history and cookies. ram is not the expensive
2006-12-05 10:24:05 · answer #7 · answered by Wicked 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋