(Apologies to IT bods/anyone who knew this already.)
I have a 5 year old Dell laptop - still does most things OK (web, email, Office (2003!), sorting photos) but I have always accepted that, according to Dell/Crucial/Kingston memory upgrade checkers, maximum RAM is 2GB.
Via Google I have found out that most PCs will run more RAM than stated by manufacturers/memory suppliers, especially if you have a 64-bit Operating System (OS). (Not sure how this affects Macs - any comments from others?)
Big surprise to me - I've always believed my maximum was 2GB. Not true!
The key ingredient here is that my laptop has a CPU that can run a 64-bit OS. I bought an OEM Windows 7 Ultimate license off Fleabay and installed the 64-bit version. I can now run upto (at least) 8GB RAM. Being cheap (8GB = £65+), I found 4GB locally s/h for £16; now fitted and working fine.
PLEASE NOTE if you have a 32-Bit OS, maximum RAM used will be c.2.6GB only. Even if you put more RAM in, it cannot address the additional space.
Possible next step to speed up older laptops is fitting a Solid State Drive (SSD); reduces power consumption, runs faster/cooler and is more vibration (topbox) proof. Given the availability of Cloud storage, I may be able to put in a SMALLER disk (cheaper) than I have at the moment (500GB inc 150GB of music and photos).
These are my ideas for upgrading rather than buying new. All comments gratefully received - especially on how to increase RAM for inbuilt graphics card (Dell Vostro 1000 with ATI Radeon Express 1150)
A
I have a 5 year old Dell laptop - still does most things OK (web, email, Office (2003!), sorting photos) but I have always accepted that, according to Dell/Crucial/Kingston memory upgrade checkers, maximum RAM is 2GB.
Via Google I have found out that most PCs will run more RAM than stated by manufacturers/memory suppliers, especially if you have a 64-bit Operating System (OS). (Not sure how this affects Macs - any comments from others?)
Big surprise to me - I've always believed my maximum was 2GB. Not true!
The key ingredient here is that my laptop has a CPU that can run a 64-bit OS. I bought an OEM Windows 7 Ultimate license off Fleabay and installed the 64-bit version. I can now run upto (at least) 8GB RAM. Being cheap (8GB = £65+), I found 4GB locally s/h for £16; now fitted and working fine.
PLEASE NOTE if you have a 32-Bit OS, maximum RAM used will be c.2.6GB only. Even if you put more RAM in, it cannot address the additional space.
Possible next step to speed up older laptops is fitting a Solid State Drive (SSD); reduces power consumption, runs faster/cooler and is more vibration (topbox) proof. Given the availability of Cloud storage, I may be able to put in a SMALLER disk (cheaper) than I have at the moment (500GB inc 150GB of music and photos).
These are my ideas for upgrading rather than buying new. All comments gratefully received - especially on how to increase RAM for inbuilt graphics card (Dell Vostro 1000 with ATI Radeon Express 1150)
A
