Upgrade RAM and other stuff

[Vermachtnis]

I've been having problems getting on the internet so I took it down to the computer center on compus. After awhile they said I needed to do a full virus scan and defrag my computer. I'm doing both of those right now, but they said I need to upgrade my RAM. Do y'all know how to do that? Also, what does defragging my computer do?

[ValiantKnight]

Before defragging:
11111111122222222222333333333333111122221111122233332221122333

After defragging:
11111111111111112222222222222222222233333333333333

Defragging organizing pieces of files from all over your hard drive into clusters where they are closer together so the hard drive has to move less to read them. Moving the arm inside the hard drive across the platters means it takes time to load things. If the arm doesnt have to move or move as far, things load faster.

If you open file 1, get done with it, then open file 2, get done with it, then reopen 1... now the second part of 1 is separate from the first part of 1, and this is known as fragmentation.

As for upgrading memory, its one of the easiest computer hardware tasks, but it does involve opening the computer case(after turning off and unplugging the computer), then opening the memory tabs on a memory slot, then pushing the new memory stick into an unused slot(preferrably next to the other stick/sticks already there), making sure that it is the same type(DDR will have a different slot size/indention place than DDR2). Then push it in with moderate force, and it snaps both tabs in the grooves to lock it... then boot the computer.

Also you want to be grounding yourself via static strap if possible while doing this. You also need to make sure whatever memory you buy is supported by your motherboard.

That's a general idea, can make it a little more specific if you want.

[rubah]

by moderate force, he means 'holy crap I'm going to break this slab of silicon'

Ram ports are usually very hard to get to because manufacturers like to put as much stuff in front of them as they can (such as hard disks!) You may have to remove more than just the old ram sticks to get there.

Make sure you aren't trying to put more memory in than your computer knows how to use. If the total amount of ram you can use is 1 gb and you have 3 ram slots, don't put a 1 gb card in each slot, it won't do you any good.

[o_O]

The RAM capacity is theoretically limited by the number of bits of your processor. If you have a 32 bit CPU, then you can't go above 4GB so anything higher will be an expensive coffee stirrer. If you have a 64 bit CPU then you can have silly amounts of RAM so you don't need to worry. You should check the manufacturer's website of your motherboard for the ideal frequency and capacity of RAM it can take. Remember that if you buy RAM sticks of different speeds, both will operate at the slower speed.

Just so you know, whoever told you to defrag and virus scan to fix your internets is talking out of their ass and has no idea. For the record, RAM won't fix it either, but I suspect you're aware of that already. :p

To elaborate on ValiantKnight's notes on defragging, think of a hard drive like an old vinyl record player. Imagine it trying to play a record that had bits of song scattered across the whole disc. The arm would be jumping all over the place, right? Well defragging is analoguous to getting all of the bits of song and putting them together like a normal record. The ostensible end result is (slightly) faster access times and (slightly) less wear and tear on the drive. It won't improve the speed of your CPU though, only the time it takes to read data from the disk. It won't fix internet at all either. :p

[Vermachtnis]

Just so you know, whoever told you to defrag and virus scan to fix your internets is talking out of their ass and has no idea. For the record, RAM won't fix it either, but I suspect you're aware of that already. :p


My internets wasn't really the problem per se. Just everytime I opened it, it froze and I couldn't do anything with it. He said it was a speed thing. I just reformatted the whole thing last night and now everythings working great xD.

I installed RAM once (now that I know what it is), but that was on a big computer. I'd be afraid of opening up my labtop though.

[ValiantKnight]

laptop ram is a little harder to work with. I'm not experienced with it as I don't own a laptop.

RAM and defrag would only make things faster, not really fix things to my knowledge, as posted above by another user.

Viruses definately can cause issues with many things, but spyware is more common to cause slowness/crashing of programs in my experience.

Wiping out the hard drive eliminates the need for defragmenting for now, and eliminates all viruses/spyware. If its running "Great" now, then you really didn't need more ram, it was just a spyware/virus issue or possibly something wrong in the windows software....

[Discord]

The guy working at the computer centre needs a good foot up his arse, unless you've confused something. Let me guess, he also tried selling you the RAM-chip?

Your internet might not work for a good number of reasons, e.g. malicious software, messed up driver or hardware, etc. Your HDDs (hard-drives), which you defragmented, have nothing to do with it at all. In fact, they're probably the least related components after your sound-card. I don't know how much RAM you have, but I honestly doubt that it will not suffice to run IE or Firefox, so that's also gullies.

To be frank, viruses/spyware could be the problem, but as far as I am aware viruses can damage pretty much anything in your OS, making it no longer functional. While they often are the problem, saying, without a detailed inspection, that a system doesn't work because of them specifically would be quite stupid.

As for RAM upgrades in laptops, yes, you can do it very easily in some models. Check the bottom of your notebook. There might be a 2x3cm lid ,which can be either opened or unscrewed with a common driver. If it says RAM next to it, that's the one. Some models, however don't have external upgrade-slots, making an upgrade practically impossible for anyone without an expertise in hardware. From your questions I'm guessing that you are no IT-specialist.

NB: If you find such a slot, first make sure that it's actually empty. Sometimes you'll find a chip inside. And remember, you'll often need a RAM chip compatible with your model, thus I'd suggest asking somebody who knows a little about PCs (obviously not the guy from the computer centre), i.e. write down your models number.