computer memory question

[420SEL]

I have a 4 year old laptop that is still in great shape and that I use everyday. It's aToshiba with a P4 processor, 40gig HD and 512k memory. I still have lots of hard drive space, but with all the programs its starting to get pretty slow. A computer place around the corner says they can upgrade my memory to a full gig for about $90 including installation. Will this make any difference, or am I barking up the wrong tree?

[powerpig]

First, run a good spyware program. (AVG has a good free one)
Second, buy a new, faster hard drive. (5400-7200rpm)
Third, buy the memory. It will help.

[Matt L]

Doubling the memory will help more than a bit. The faster disk drive is less important, in my opinion.

[Botnst]

DAVID GELERNTER
Computer Scientist, Yale University; Chief Scientist, Mirror Worlds Technologies; Author, Drawing Life


The Future of Software

I am optimistic about the future of software, because more and more people are coming out of the closet every month — admitting in public that they hate their computers.

Within the last month I've heard three people shouting (or muttering) curses at their machines. One was a bona fide software virtuoso! These particular three were ticked off about (1) an airline website that was so badly designed it was useless, (2) a commercial web-site-building tool (bought for real money) that made it nearly impossible to build simple structures and (3) a home PC that, despite reasonably sophisticated software counter-measures, was so junked-up with viruses that starting a word processor took five minutes.

The file systems and desktop and spreadsheets, the word processors and mailers and database programs we rely on are vintage 1984 or older. They're as obsolete as a 1984 PC. When I first described the "empty computer" model in the early '90s, people thought I was crazy. Many still do—but fewer each year (and I guess that's progress). There was a larger jump in admitted cases of computer- and software-hatred in '06 than in any previous year I remember.

Technologists who blandly assume that hardware will (somehow) keep getting better while software stays frozen in time are looking wronger every month. In the empty-computer world of the near future, your information assets have all been bundled-up, encrypted and launched into geosynchronous orbit in the Cybersphere; computers are interchangeable devices for tuning in information. (If computers are so cheap, why does everyone need to carry one around with him? We don't make you carry a desk and chairs around with you; we can afford to provide chairs and flat surfaces wherever you need them.)

In the empty computer world it will take five minutes to upgrade to a new machine (throw the old one out, plug the new one in—your information stays in orbit where it's always been); comfortable large-screen public computers will be available all over the place. And instead of expanding into a higher-and-higher-entropy mess, the Web will implode into a "blue hole": a single high-energy information beam that holds all the world's digital assets.

Gelernter's Law: the computer industry revolutionizes itself at least once a decade. We're nearly due for the next revolution.

[uberwgn]

There are three basic "upgrades":

• faster processor
• larger, faster HD
• more RAM

I believe the faster processor, if available to you, is going to yield the biggest bang/dollar spent. OTOH, RAM is cheap and you may find a slight benefit. Some folks are fitting much faster HDs + larger capacity. That can also give a minor improvement. Most of these components are cheap and the market is flooded so it's not costly to experiment assuming you can do the retrofits yourself.

[powerpig]

Originally Posted by Matt L

Doubling the memory will help more than a bit. The faster disk drive is less important, in my opinion.

Actually, they go hand in hand. The ram (random access memory) will process the data and send it back to the hard drive in memory intensive operations. The faster hard drive will of course process the task.....faster!

[diametricalbenz]

Most of the drives are 5400RPM. I have a 7200RPM in one my Inspirons but they don't make em anymore for some reason. Also try to get a notebook HDD with as much cache as possible. I believe the most is 16MB currently.

[Brian Carlton]

I just did the exact mod on this desktop. Started complaining bitterly with 512K and Firefox and the Trend Micro anti-virus, spyware, and anti-spam suite.

Purchased another 512K from Crucible for about $60., took 30 minutes to blow all the dust out of the interior, took 30 seconds to plug the memory in, and now it's back to reasonably quick. Not like brand new.......but not objectionable.

[gmercoleza]

[SHAMELESS PLUG] I have some laptop RAM that I may be willing to part with for a fair price. PM me with your laptop model if you're interested.

[Matt L]

If you're swapping, no hard disk or CPU is fast enough. Doubling the ram means that more processes can run without swapping. I put memory at the top of the list, CPU speed next, and disk speed dead last.

[Larry Delor]

Jason,
If you don't already have it, download ad-aware (Lavasoft) and Spybot S&D (safer networking), and run both. (with S&D you have to not only check for immunization but also actually immunize once it says that addtl. immunizations are possible).
If you see no difference at all, then I think it would be a good idea to upgrade the RAM - do it yourself - make sure you have a spare slot for it, or swap the existing 512 module for a 1G module.

[Botnst]

Originally Posted by Larry Delor

Jason,
If you don't already have it, download ad-aware (Lavasoft) and Spybot S&D (safer networking), and run both. (with S&D you have to not only check for immunization but also actually immunize once it says that addtl. immunizations are possible).
If you see no difference at all, then I think it would be a good idea to upgrade the RAM - do it yourself - make sure you have a spare slot for it, or swap the existing 512 module for a 1G module.

I run those two every week. They pull all kinds of poopie out of my PC.

[Zeus]

Originally Posted by Matt L

If you're swapping, no hard disk or CPU is fast enough. Doubling the ram means that more processes can run without swapping. I put memory at the top of the list, CPU speed next, and disk speed dead last.

Agreed.

My $0.02 - The P4 is plenty fast unless you are into serious gaming or imaging/music work. If you are going to spend money on upgrading for performance, buy RAM.

Clean up your PC by removing unwanted programs loading at startup, remove spyware/malware, defrag the HDD, and perform Windows Update until you've loaded all critical updates. These are important for security. Also, update IE of whatever browser you are using to the most current version. Helps against spyware. Check your security settings and crank them up if need be to prevent further infection. If you've loaded plenty of third party software over the years, some of these can load at startup and run 'hidden' in the background and slow down your PC considerably. Printer/camera apps fall into this category, as do media players and proprietary software.

Windows XP is an excellent OS if used properly and updated frequently.