change a 256 ram to a 512 ram.?

Question

just wonderin how easy it is to do. thinking about buyin one and fitting it myself.. is it easy??

Answer 1

its a fairly simple operation, but you have to be careful or you will bugger it up, and you have to be sure that your computer will take 512mb, i would think it will, and then you may be best off getting something more, i would if your going to do it, say to 512 sticks, if you have the slots, you should do, the most complex part is buying the right stuff, so you need to open your computer, do this by unscrewing the left side panel (left as you look at it front on) then look into it, and on the motherboard the big circuit thing, there will be a stick about 15cm long that is mounted and secured by two pegs at each end, remove it by releasing to two pegs, and pulling it carefully out, look at it and find out how many mhz it is and wether it is DDR or DDR2 style RAM, then once you know, replace it to do this put it back in the slot being careful to put it back in the same orintation that it was in the first place (observe the notch and ridge basically) and then press firmly at either end and the pegs will sping back into place and secure it, make sure thats ok or your computer won't work, then go onto a computer related website, i find www.microdirect.co.uk is very well priced, and buy the 512 version of what you want according the the specs you just found out, wait for it to arive and replace it pretty much the same way i described above.

best of luck if you arn't sure then your best off maybe taking it to your local computer shop and ask them to go though it with you and they should be able to get the part for you too, so their happy they get business and you get your part fitted and know how to do it in the future

Answer 2

It is very easy indeed. First, however, you need to check that you have a spare slot inside your computer for the new ram chip, if not you will need to get a full 512 ram and not just add another 256.

It is simply a matter of opening up the casing on your computer and inserting the new ram, no wires to connect, no new software to install. Your computer will automatically detect the added ram.

Answer 3

The hard part is deciding which RAM to buy.

Make sure it is the correct type (2600, 3200, etc), how many spare slots in your mainboard and what is the maximum size these slots can take. Once you have established these details it is a very simple upgrade to perform.

Much easier though to take it to your local computer shop and ask their advice. Go to your local High Street shop to make enquiries.

Providing you purchase the RAM from them, they will usually fit it for free. Also if anything goes wrong with the upgrade they will be responsible for any damage caused.

Avoid companies such as PC World as they have very high labour costs and the hardware will be over-priced.

Answer 4

Usually upgrading memory is not difficult, however it does depend very much upon your experience and the type of machine you have. For instance a full size machine versus a laptop.

I would suggest a good starting point is to visit http://www.crucial.com and use their "Scan My System" applet to have it tell you exactly what type of memory you have and what spare slots you have in the machine. You don't have to buy from them if you don't want to.

Some laptops are built with a simple panel which you unscrew and can add a memory card in, others require you to take the laptop apart. I wouldn't advise that unless you are confident in what you are doing.

Usually PC systems are easy enough. Do make sure that you ground yourself against the metal of the power supply to ensure that you don't carry any static electricity before you touch anything sensitive, including the memory card.

Good luck,
Cheers,
Mark

Answer 5

yes you can upgrade from 256 to 512 Ram.I would suggest you take the old one along (256 Ram) so that the people selling this Ram to you can assist you in getting the right choice. if you really want to do it alone then get the model,serial no of old Ram good luck

Answer 6

It is very simple. Just plug the second stick of ram in the second ram slot, there will be either 2 or 4 slots depending on the mother board. Make sure that what you buy is the proper type of ram. If you are unsure of what type of ram you need, download the Belarc Adviser from http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html
Install it and then run it. It will give you a complete breakdown of your system.

Answer 7

as long as you buy the right type its just a case of pulling the old one out and clipping in the new piece in, or if theres enough free slots you can add your 512 beside your existing 256.

make sure you buy the right type, its most likely going to be sdram (older and slower) or ddr (newer) or if your pc is only a year or so old you may have ddr2.

if your unsure then remove your old piece and bring it to the shop and get them to tell you what kind it is although if you pull it ut then it usually says on the side of it what type it is anyway.

and yes stay away from pc world i think they will probaby charge you £40 just for 2 minutes work to clip the new piece in for you.

Answer 8

Desktop???? Yes. Just pullout the old and plug in the new. May I suggest going on up to 1 gig!!! 512 isn't very much and that is what I upgraded from. You will notice a big difference if you go with 1 gig!!!

Answer 9

Go to the following link, http://www.crucial.com/uk they can do an on line check which will determine which ram your motherboard supports. They will recommend the optimum amount. You can order on line and although they are not the cheapest it is worth paying for good ram. They guarantee compatibility with your motherboard and give an excellent warranty.They lso give fitting instructions. I have used them many times and always been satisfied. Hope this helps.

Answer 10

What you need to do is get you another member card
with the same member on it or get you a member card with
512 member on it. And they have to match the one
that in the computer.
You have two places to put 2 member cards in your computer
for 2 ,256 cards but they have to match.