Author Topic: Need more RAM?? (Read 1615 times)

susiegoosey · « **on:** July 27, 2005, 10:05 »

Hi all, I am new to this so apologies if my forum etiquette leaves something to be desired. My Gateway G6-300 computer is 8 yrs old, has a 300MHz processor I have increased its RAM to 192mb and have a new hard drive installed which is less than half used. I bought a new printer recently and since installing software have been getting many hangs, with messages telling me my system is dangerously low on resources. In the System file under Performance tab it indicates that system resources are only 6% free, when using internet especially, does this mean I need extra RAM or is my CPU the culprit? I have been to the Crucial website and they indicate I can increase my RAM by another 192mb to its max amount. Do you think doing this will solve my problem?? Thanks to anyone who replies. Cheers

chorleydave · « **Reply #1 on:** July 27, 2005, 10:22 »

Hi, susiegoosey.

Adding RAM never does any harm, but have you considered that PC prices are so cheap these days that you could probably go to a computer fair and buy a fairly decent "box" or base unit with a 1000 processor and 512MB RAM for less than fifty quid? In fact, I recently saw them going for twenty quid at Wigan Pier on Wednesday evening and you could add mouse, keyboard and monitor for another fifteen quid.

Just a thought.

Sandra · « **Reply #2 on:** July 27, 2005, 12:04 »

Hi Sue, I assume that you are running windows 98 or maybe ME so in that case 192mb ram should be plenty.
XP seems to like at least 256mb preferably 512mb.
Have you only recently increased your ram and was that when you got the hanging and low resources problems or was it only after installing the printer ?
If its only since installing the printer then uninstall it and see if that sorts the problem. It may be that your pc is below the specifications for that particular printer/software

sam · « **Reply #3 on:** July 27, 2005, 12:24 »

dave makes a good point. it could be cheaper just to buy a new base unit - the processor will make a big difference, but it depends what you are doing.

susiegoosey · « **Reply #4 on:** July 28, 2005, 08:57 »

Thanks for the responses. I hadn't realised buying a new box would be that cheap. What worries me is that I'm may not be technically proficient enough to do it. . . reinstalling all that stuff, broadband, etc etc. Transferring all my documents and so on . . don't have any idea how its done! I would have to get an expert in at £30 an hour I think!!

I installed the extra RAM a couple of years ago. I did have similar problems with dangerously low resources a few months ago but managed to fix it somehow - I think I used Norton tools to defrag one of the hard drives. I also uninstalled everything I didn't need so I'm not sure what actually cured it.

Oh dear what to do now!!

Sue

Sandra · « **Reply #5 on:** July 28, 2005, 12:17 »

Using norton speed disc from norton utilities may help, thats the defragger from norton.
Or windows has its own built in one in the maintainance wizard just called defrag.
You didnt say which OS you are using and if your pc specifications are ok for the new printer, can you tell us please ?

If you were confident enough to open the case and add new ram then removing a hard drive isnt much harder and the easiest way to transfer data from your old pc to a new one is to add the old pcs drive as a slave to the new pc and just copy and paste or drag what you need from the old drive onto the new one

If you bought a second hand pc then you could ask them to wipe the drive and to reinstall an operating system for you, I think that would be reasonable as you would need to see it working before parting with your cash so it would need an OS on it.

If you have the original cds for the programs that you have intalled on your pc then you just install the same ones on your new pc by putting the cd in the drive and it will more or less install by itself, only asking a few things such as do you want to install the program and do you accept the licence agreement etc.

If you were unsure of any aspect that you were going to do then feel free to ask on here and we should be able to tell you in as much detail as necessary to do what you need with a new pc.

susiegoosey · « **Reply #6 on:** July 28, 2005, 15:30 »

I am running Windows 98SE. The printer system requirements seem OK: Windows 98, Pentium II, 128 mb ram, 500mg free disc space, 800x600 video display. Nothing there that would concern me. Thanks for your advice re transferring data. I have been quite brave about installing stuff, new video card, new sound card, RAM, USB ports. But did get someone from work to install hard drive for me so that does scare me a bit. But if its just a case of physically taking out the old hard drive and putting into a new case in the same way as putting in RAM I could definitely cope with that. Once in, I could definitely reorganise by copying stuff over to new hard drive. Sounds very encouraging, thanks for your expert advice. Great to know there are people out there willing to point us technophobes in right direction.

Still getting problems with hanging so will follow your advice of uninstalling printer and see if that solves problem. If it is the printer that clogging things up, do you think I should go down the road of new processor and box? Or extra RAM?

Sandra · « **Reply #7 on:** July 28, 2005, 17:51 »

128mb of ram is fine for windows 98 and I dont think that adding more would cure your problem.
It could be that the ram has developed a fault though or it could be something running in the background that you are unaware of or something conflicting.
Unfortunately all these things arent that easy to check without access to the pc.
Have you run the various adaware and spyware removal programs and your anti virus, just in case they can spot something nasty thats got on your pc ?
As Dave suggested earlier, a 300mhz pc is a bit old to think about spending much on either by repairing or updating it and if you can afford a better specification second hand pc then I think you will get better value for the money spent on that.

The only thing that you may find awkard about replacing a hard drive is that sometimes the IDE cables (the wide flat grey ones) are a little short and can be fiddly to manouevre into the correct position to connect them.
There are 2 small screws on each side that hold the drive in and the IDE cable and the power lead just pull out.
You cant get then connected the wrong way round as the power plug is shaped to only fit one way and the IDE cable has a blocked off hole usually that lines up with a missing pin on the hard drive.
If I am just transferring data from one drive to another and then removing the old drive I dont even bother to fasten it back in, I just lie it at the side of the pc away from the motherboard so that it cant short anything out and connect the leads

One thing you have to do when adding a second hard drive as a slave is to check the jumper settings of the master and the slave drive.
The jumper is a small piece of plastic with a connector inside that connects two pins on the hard drive.
There is usually a diagram on the hard drive itself showing where it has to be to set up a drive as the master or slave. Its usually easier to use a small pair of tweezers to get hold of the plastic jumper to pull it off the drive as they are very small.

I hope that this doeasnt sound too complicated as it really isnt that difficult to do

If theres anything that you dont understand then you only need to ask

susiegoosey · « **Reply #8 on:** August 01, 2005, 19:40 »

Thanks for that, re the subject of transferring stuff over from old hard drive, what happens if I don't have the discs available for programs (I have Word, Excel, Publisher etc which I borrowed the disc for!!) Can the programs just be sent over to the new disc or do I keep the old hard disc and operate the programs from there in my new box? Sorry to be so dim! I am away on hols tomorrow so when I get back in 2 weeks will attack the problem then.
Cheers
Sue

Sandra · « **Reply #9 on:** August 01, 2005, 23:23 »

I hope that you enjoy your holiday

You cant transfer the installed programs unfortunately. You need them on a CD or downloaded from a site or a server.

You could install your hard drive with your 98 OS and prgrams on as the master and the new second drive could have XP on but it gets complicated a little as you then would have whats called a dual boot pc.

I think youre possibly better off asking around for someone who could let you have a secondhand pc for a reasonable price with XP and the programs that you are likely to use already installed unless you could borrow the cds off your friends again

chorleydave · « **Reply #10 on:** August 02, 2005, 00:25 »

I did used to have an old DOS program on a floppy that enabled you to clone an old hard drive to a new one, but I can't find the disk, nor can I remember what the program was called.

Sandra · « **Reply #11 on:** August 02, 2005, 00:45 »

It would be a shame to have a better, faster pc and still run 98 on it though Dave

Reno · « **Reply #12 on:** August 02, 2005, 01:21 »

Quote from: "Sandra"

It would be a shame to have a better, faster pc and still run 98 on it though Dave

Win98 isn't a bad os if kept up properly. I know people that prefer win98se to xp home. Since 98 isn't windows' flagship os anymore, you can be completely secure in the knowledge that once you update you won't have to update again. Virus and Spyware makers are making their bugs for xp and soon to be vista.