memory problems

[craigmlormor]

Hi all, I have just installed some extra memory to my laptop. I bought it from crucial.com after it done a scan of my laptop and told me exactly what i needed so i know it is compatible. the scan said i have 1gb of memory in 1 slot and 1 gb of memory in the other.

When i click on my computer it says i have 2.12 gb free of 31.5gb and the coloured bar is in the red. I thought the memory would have doubled now it is installed and halved the status bar.

I've never done anything like this before so am unsure of how it all works.

 

thanks for any help

 

Craig

[KenB]

Hi and welcome to Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help.

 

I think you are getting 2 different type of memory mixed up.

 

Crucial would have recommended RAM - Random Access Memory.

This is used in conjunction with the Central Processor Unit to process data on the hard drive.

The more RAM you have the quicker your machine can process information.

 

The hard drive is the place where you store your files etc.

Your hard drive is showing as 31.5GB.

This is a measure of how much data you can store on it.

 

The CPU and the RAM work together to process the data stored on the hard drive.

 

If you have doubled the RAM you will speed up your machine - it will not, however, allow you to store more files, photos, videos etc. This is governed by the size of the hard drive.

 

I hope this helps.

 

If you have just over 2GB free - this is not a lot on a 32GB hard drive.

It is recommended that you have 10 - 15% free for Windows to operate properly.

You are probably ok at the moment ( a little below the recommended ) but you may want to think about deleting / moving to DVD some of your files.

Edited January 11, 2010 by KenB

[craigmlormor]

Ah right i see now, although what i dont understand is i dont have any files on my laptop as i keep all my music movies and photos on an extenal hard drive. what kind of stuff on my c drive should i definitely not delete then? as i am going to have to delete some of it.

 

thanks

 

Craig.

[KenB]

Hi Craig,

 

what kind of stuff on my c drive should i definitely not delete then?

Basically - if you don't know what it is - leave it alone.

 

Start > Control Panel > Programs and Features

This will list all of the programs that you have installed.

Any that you don't use anymore can be deleted.

Again - if you are not sure leave it alone.

 

Download CCleaner from here:

CCleaner

It will find and delete unused files etc.

Do not use the registry option

Click on "Run" when the d/l box appears.

 

Start .......in the run box type ......disk cleanup

Click on this at the top of the box.

Run cleanup on C:\ drive

 

Check your free space again.

[craigmlormor]

Ran that ccleaner seems to have freed up quite a bit space. thanks for all your help.

[KenB]

You are welcome :)

 

Disk cleanup is worth running too.

(this is not part of CCleaner it is a Windows application)

[craigmlormor]

great im on to it now thanks

[craigmlormor]

i need to reduce some memory

 

my c drive (acer c) says i have 2.88gb free of 31.5 gb but my d drive (data d) says it has 28.2 free of 31.3gb. can i just cut n paste some of my c drive to my d drive as my memory always seems full and my laptop keeps crashing when i try to run one of my programmes. have ran cclean up and disk clean up wich seemed to temporarily help but my c drive has gone up again.

Or is it possible to upgrade my c drive to more memory?

 

kind regards

 

craig

[craigmlormor]

still cant seem to reduce memory

 

my c drive (acer c) says i have 2.88gb free of 31.5 gb but my d drive (data d) says it has 28.2 free of 31.3gb. can i just cut n paste some of my c drive to my d drive as my memory always seems full and my laptop keeps crashing when i try to run one of my programmes. have ran cclean up and disk clean up wich seemed to temporarily help but my c drive has gone up again.

Or is it possible to upgrade my c drive to more memory?

 

kind regards

 

craig

[KenB]

but my c drive has gone up again

Are you saying that the free space that you created using CCleaner and Disk Cleanup has disappeared for no reason?

Do you use Norton AV ?

 

can i just cut n paste some of my c drive to my d drive

It is not as simple as that.

You can move things like photos, videos, saved documents ( like Word files ) but installed software is a different ball game.

When you install a program it creates a complex web of links on that specific drive. If you attempt to move any of it you break the link.

Once again - if you are not sure - leave it alone.

 

You have 2 partitions on your hard drive.

One is almost full and the other is nearly empty.

You can choose to save / install new data / software to your second partition when you add new programs etc to your system.

Edited January 12, 2010 by KenB

[Match]

can i just cut n paste some of my c drive to my d drive

ROFL

 

not quite but you can move the partitions,

 

but what might be a better option is to create a documents folder on your D Drive and move some of your documents over, if they are on your C Drive.

 

or even better depending on the size of your my documents folder move it completely to D: then you can edit the short cuts on the start menu as well.

[RandyL]

Craig can you please keep this in one thread and not start a new one?

Thanks.

 

If I add the sums of the two drives it's still a pretty small drive. (60Gb to 70Gb) That's pretty unusual if the laptop is new enough to come preinstalled with Vista.

[craigmlormor]

ok, sorry for all the confusion,

I added some more software but added it to my ext hard drive so would'nt have expected c drive to go up again. I also cut n pasted some programmes to my ext hard drive too from my c drive.

I am using avast antivirus.

In response to match i keep all o my audio/video/photos files on an ext hard drive so there isnt much in there but I will still do that anyway to see if it helps.

Its not the greatest laptop in the world i know (acer inspire5315) i just wanted to see if there was a solution rather than buy a new laptop.

 

thanks to all by the way.

[RandyL]

Well I'm well confused.

 

I can't find your system specs but it does appear to support Vista.

 

Just exactly how many drives do you have both internal and external? Is your main drive partitioned? What are the drive letters for all drives and partitions.

 

I also cut n pasted some programmes to my ext hard drive

 

That's not possible if you expect the programs to work. Are you moving shortcuts?

 

Seriously craig backup everything now as I think you may be getting in over your head.

[craigmlormor]

i think i have one main drive wich is partitioned into; acer © and data (D). I also bought an external hard drive wich is (g).

 

so are you saying the progs i cut n pasted to my ext drive (g) wont work now.

 

i would do a complete system restore and start from scratch but i cant find the cd anymore.

[KenB]

Hi Craig,

 

Your original post was linked to memory - or lack of it.

 

I wrote this earlier:

Are you saying that the free space that you created using CCleaner and Disk Cleanup has disappeared for no reason?

Does your C:\ drive free space fill up for no apparent reason?

 

If you use CCleaner again - does it create extra space?

Record how much free space you have.

Switch off then on again.

Has the free space changed significantly?

[craigmlormor]

it is goin up and down , i checked it and it ws 3.69 gb free restarted it then it was 4.85 restarted it and it was 4.89.

 

I'm ready to bin the thing now.

[KenB]

Hi Craig,

 

You originally had just over 2GB free now you have nearly 5GB - this is a significant improvement.

 

I would have been concerned if your freee space was filling up for no apparent reason - but this does not seem to be the case.

 

Your original question was related to RAM - which I explained.

 

You have a D:\ drive that can be used to install new programs / transfer existing files to for storeage.

 

I'm ready to bin the thing now.

I don't understand why.

You have increased the RAM - you now have a faster machine.

You have nearly 5GB free space ( this is more than you had before) - ok this is not a vast amount but if you utilise D:\ you have pleanty of free space.

[craigmlormor]

ok cool, thanks for all your help and time.

[KenB]

You are welcome :)