Upgrade RAM, System Recovery Disks, what is lost...NEED HELP!
By coffeebreak
@coffeebreak (17798)
United States
May 21, 2011 11:36am CST
I have Win XP. PC is 5 years old now. NO real problems other than it is slow. I have often, 2 windows open with 2-4 tabs in each window open and things going on. I don't play games or Utube or so many of the things that you can do online. Most I do is watch a TV show that I might have missed and really wanted to see, and then I use CBS.com or which network it was on. MyLot, GPT/PTC, search for coupons, email, extremely minor facebook usage (haven't been on all week and seldom even post when there...just read what others are doing) I have blogs with Blogger and I think that is about all I do online.
However...it is slow. It takes about 30 seconds for a Mylot post to go through after I submit it. Email...takes a bit of time. The TV kind of stalls for a few seconds, then catches up with itself. In researching, I believe I need more RAM. I currently have 512MB. I just put Norton virus on and it every time I log onto internet, give me a warning that my RAM is low and Firefox is using most of it.
So I want to upgrade the RAM. I pulled stats on my PC and it will take maximum of 2GB. So I can get that and have it installed. First question...do you think that 1GB will be enough for what I do? I can do 2 but it is $100 each w/installation. So I could just do 1 now and if I think I need more, add another 1GB stick.
Second question...I know that after 5 years..junk compiles on the hard drive and they recommend a hard drive recovery. I had the disks, but now of course as I need them...can't find them. So the place I was talking to about the RAM said they can help me with that ata price. Now.. I pull my My COmputer to see the drives and the H: drive is a "partition" drive and has the recovery stuff on it... can I make a copy of that info on that drive and use that for recovery and do it myself? And if it recovers to clear things off etc....what do I loose that is on the hard drive now? I backed most of my documents etc to an external HD (1TB), I suppose I could reinstall from there..I just put on Windows Word Office 2007...will I loose that? I have pictures and camcorder movies I save on Hard drive...and backed up elsewhere, but will those be lost? I guesss my qustion is that if I do a recovery disk to get rid of junk after 5 years...what else does it get rid of? WIll I have to reinstall Word? I ask that as it is a joint thing with my daughter, she bought it and it allows it to be installed on 2 computers...but I don't know if that means once ever or just the same 2 computers whenever you need to reinstall it. Same things with Norton.
Thanks for any thoughts, suggestions or tips. I am also wondering...is it to hard to install the mem stick myself? I know nothing about that, and worry that it might be just a pull old out, pop new in kind of thing, but still...I dust inside the tower, but that is all.
7 responses
@coffeebreak (17798)
• United States
22 May 11
Thanks. How easy is it to install memory? I haven't a single clue about it and would be in a huge mess if I did it and it messed something up! They are going to charge me $40 it and although I am frugal...something like this sets better with me if someone that knows more does it. What am I missing? I hear you just pop in and out etc, but still...is there any programing or anything like that that you do once "popped in"?
I don't have the windows disk..had it I know for years, but of course, now that I need it, i can't find it! I know I can do a "factory restore" which takes it back to how I purchased it, but I don't know what I'd loose! I have a 1TB external hard drive...do I just copy everything there and then do the factory restore and if things aren't right, just copy it all from the XhD back onto the C:hard drive?
@1anurag1 (3576)
• India
22 May 11
I would suggest you to better have a faster internet connection.
Rest some tips to improve system performance is that uninstall those software which are not in use for long and also atleast have a space of more than 25% free on your HDD.
In my view if you are using Windows XP then 1 GB of RAM is more than enough and you could continue easily.
1 person likes this
@coffeebreak (17798)
• United States
22 May 11
Thanks. I added the 1GB RAM today..Working with it now! I guess it is faster, or maybe I am just worn out and don't notice it much! I do have more than 25% of HD...134GB and I have 104GB free.
I added tv to my Verizon bundle and on Friday they update my internet service too ... from "regular" to Fios, and from 1.5 speed to 15 or whatever the stats are for speed. Hopefully that will help. Thanks for the tips
@mtmithu (37)
• India
22 May 11
According to my view
1 gb ram is enough working windows Xp.
You are actually Having trouble with system is low Performance
ie can be solved in many way.
you have 2gb ram, ok connect it will increase the performance,
next of all you must Uninstall all unwanted software you wont Use.
and remove programs from stratup, and also other thing that make r system slow
is anti virus software.
you must set priority for anti virus for better performance.
the software called tuneup utility can make you system clean, fast and junk free.
all the maintenance can be done by that software itself.
thatz the better option i think for you.
also u can format the c drive..that will make ur system normal.
1 person likes this
@coffeebreak (17798)
• United States
22 May 11
Thanks for the tips. I will try the tuneup utility. I did today add the 1GB RAM and they did a check and I have some malware but not much for it being 5 years on the internet! I did clean old programs off, some I dont' know really what they are for so I don't delete those asthey might be for something I use/need and don't know it. I am planning on about 2 more years for this old girl and then get a new one with W7 on it.
@obe212003 (2299)
• Philippines
22 May 11
1 gb of memory is enough for xp, installing it is as easy as ABC. Buy the compatible memory card, open up your CPU and find the memory slots for the memory card [you can get a visual aid from youtube].
since you got all the files backed up, reinstallation of your operating system is better, but it is too time consuming as you have to reinstall drivers, programs and making folders [starting all over again]. Yeah, the tune-up utilities program is really effective in cleaning up your operating systems and it gives recommendations on the current state of your OS. There are lots of options to maximize performance based on the kind of work, connection [internet], hardware, etc.
1 person likes this
@coffeebreak (17798)
• United States
22 May 11
Well I added the 1GB of Ram today..paid $40 to have it done as I just don't trust myself with stuff I know nothing about. I see what they have done and might try it myself if I decide to get another one. I forget about YouTube...probably a good place to get visual help and that is the kind I like to get.
Doing a system recovery or back to Factory restore...I just don't know what I'd loose and even tho I have back up/copied everything on to an external Harddrive, I still don't know if I have what would be needed, and if it messed up, would I just copy and paste whats on the X-HD to the C: HD?
I am changing my internet server next week. Charter was who I had for tv and they raised rates so I cancelled them. I had Verizon for internet, but when I put the TV on the bundle, for free I get the upgrade from regular to Fios and speed from 1 (something ) to 15 (something) so hopefully that will help to. Thanks for the tips
@gptvaibhav91 (366)
• India
21 May 11
You should have the ratio of min 1:160 with ur RAM & hard drive i.e. u need atleast 1GB RAM for 160GB hard disk space.
Another thing is that u should use antiviruses which uses low RAM from the system & less had-disk requirement too. Try to manage ur processes which are running at behind the interface. Also try to regular flush up the empty registries from ur PC but use some special programs only designed for this purpose. I recommend that u should use Ccleaner & iobit advance system care this programs will enhace ur system very greatly & dont use occasionally only. Uninstall unwanted programs also from ur hard disk. If u have camcorders videos or any other special media then store it in a another place & try to maintain empty space in ur each hard disk partition 10% atleast & defrag ur partitions too. This will optimize ur partitions.
1 person likes this
@coffeebreak (17798)
• United States
22 May 11
Well stats say there are 2 slots and the max I can have it 2GB so from what you say I can put one in and should be fine. I now have only 512MB. I was using Ccleaner and Avg, but took them both off when my daughter put Norton on that she bought. No, I don't have any camcorders or other video things... might want to get a camcorder in the near future when I move and one for my kids so that we can see each other more..but that is in the future. I have lots of space on my C: drive...something like 85%still free.
@sourcern (96)
• Norway
21 May 11
If you defrag the system or use the system recovery from the start menu it will help you a lot! I did this and it feels like new. You can alternative buy a new pc if it is a non-portable pc and you have a working screen + working speakers it will be cheap! And non-portable pc's are faster than laptops even if they have the same RAM.
My conclusion is that since your pc is 5 years old, you should definitely get a new one!
@coffeebreak (17798)
• United States
22 May 11
I do the defrag in safe mode about every other month or so. I do CCleaner every day and did have AVG but my daughter bought Norton and so I now have that.
How do I find the recovery from the start menu? I did that once long time ago and did an F8 when starting up and it took me to do that..but I didn't have muchn on there so I don't remmber what, if anything it did. Is system recovery different than system restore to factory status? I make a store date usually once a month or just before I plan to add/change something and then again, just after I add/replace...just in case! I can't afford a new PC right now...and I can get 1GB stick installed for $100 so that is probably what i will do. I'd love tohave a new one, but have to wait a little longer. And for the things I do...honestly..this one is fine. I just need more virtual memory I guess, as I seem to be doing all the right things that friends here are telling me to do, so I guess that is where my problem lies.
When I talked to the guy about installing the RAM...he said if I put 2 in...that should last me 18 mo to 2 years before things just get so far past WXP that XP is no longer recognized much anymmore (like W98 did) and I"ll get one then.
@hooked4six (46)
• New Zealand
21 May 11
windows xp only recommend that your computer has 1GB of ram.
there are several way to make you computer faster with out buying anything like removing program that you don't need (ccleaner is the best tool for this job),removing unnecessary from you hard drive and desktop and so on.
1 person likes this
@coffeebreak (17798)
• United States
22 May 11
I did CCleaner and AVG. And still...very slow if more than one window/tab opened. And I did remove programs I don't use anymore...wasn't many as I just don't have that many now that granddaughter is gone and I removed all her little games, but stil...so slow and now Norton pops up all the time that my Virtual memory is low as Firefox is using so much of it.
