Am I wasting my time upgrading memory?

Question

I have a three year old computer (desktop) with a AMD Duron 1.6Ghz processor. It has done me well for the last three years but has been getting increasingly sluggish recently. Now it is painful to use!

I have defragmented the hard disk and cleaned up un-needed files. However, I just spotted that I only have 256mb of RAM installed. Could this be the reason for the slowness?

Would it be worth investing in some more RAM for my home desktop and if so, how much would you recommend? How likely is that to improve the performance? Anything else I should consider?

Thanks!

Answer 1

amd is excellent,,, that's all i'll ever use.... and if it's been getting slower, it's probably a spyware progam sending info from ur pc to someone else.......

download avg free edition, adaware, and spybot s&d from www.windowsmarketplace.com, it's certified from microsoft. run each scan twice, and do a disk clean up and defrag afterward. restart, and see if that helps.......

you shouldn't have to upgrade your ram unless you're doing serious gaming, or streaming video....... but i'd just do some basic house cleaning (pc wise, of course) and see if that helps.

if you add ram, you will probably have to check to see if your fans will be strong enough for the extra heat.... also, dust bunnies will slow your pc down too..... take the screw bolts off the back of the tower, and carefully vacuum the dust bunnies out of it... you'll be shocked. we had an 8" dust bunny in mine at work....... it's amazing what they collect.

good luck, and if you need anything, send me an email!!!

Answer 2

Well, for starters, you may have spyware and adware making your computer sluggish. Try downloading AVG Anti- Spyware AND Ad- Aware SE from www.filehippo.com under the category, "Anti- Spyware". Run your scans every 2 or so days, and that should clear up your PC pretty much. If it still runs sluggish, I recommend getting a brand new PC. Something in your price range, possibly one with a dual core processor. But, you'd have to have at least 1GB of RAM to get good results, but even if you do get a new PC, it is recommended that you still use AVG Anti- Spyware and Ad- Aware SE. These programs work wonders, especially if you download music often and go on websites that will give you spyware. You wouldn't know that you get spyware until your PC runs sluggish. And, if you have an operating system older than Windows XP, I think it may be worth upgrading to a new PC. But, it's your choice. You can use the spyware programs and defragment every month or so. If you want to upgrade RAM, it'd be best to buy a new PC. Good luck with your PC. One more thing, DON'T GET WINDOWS VISTA JUST YET. There are many errors, bugs, and screw- ups on that operating system. I had to uninstall it and reinstall XP Home so I wouldn't be "in the red" with my PC.

Answer 3

If you are using Windows OS, then the problem you are facing is common. As you installed more and more programs, there is a lot of background activities that cannot be seen. Or perhap when you uninstall the program, it leaves behind dead shortcuts which also result in the sluggish performance.

If your PC works well for you in the past, it should also work well now. I would suggest formatting your hard drive and reinstall WIndows. My PC (AMD Thunderbird 1GHz, 256MB) still going strong after 6 years because I reformat my hard drive every 6 months.

Try it out before you make any purchase.

Answer 4

If it has been getting gradually slower I would suspect some sort of spyware or malware
http://free.grisoft.com
Download both the free anti-virus and anti-spyware programs do an update and a full system scan with both
Ram is important and you should be able to pick up another stick of 256 for about $30.00 or so .... 512MB of Ram in and old Duron will make a world of difference

Answer 5

I always recommend 1GB of RAM if you can afford it.

Given the age of your machine (and assuming you can afford it) I reckon the better value would be saving every penny towards a new machine with Vista Premium pre-installed in Feb 07 (or a Mac now).

Cheers
///

Answer 6

No, upgrading RAM is (almost!) never a waste of time.

Go for 1Gb and your PC will fly along like the greased up deaf guy.

Answer 7

ok it would be way better to just but another brand new computer and yes the ram does decide wether your computer is slow or not the more ram the faster the computer but you would more that likely spend alot less money buying a brand new computer than buying memoery for your computer

Answer 8

Sounds familiar.

Have you opened up the box and cleaned out the dust accumulating on the fans, motherboard, and CPU's heatsink lately?

Answer 9

256mb is enough, maybe your computer is infected with a virus