Hi Joan:

Adding memory does not necessarily speed up your computer. And when
adding RAM you need to be sure you're adding the correct type for your
computer. The major RAM manufacturers have RAM selectors that make it
easy to choose (e.g., Crucial, Kingston, Corsair, etc.)

Oh yes: Don't buy cheap memory, like you find at places like Walmart or
Staples. Spend a few extra bucks and buy the good stuff.

---
Leonard Grey
Errare humanum est

Joan

Try Ctrl+Alt+Delete to select Task Manager and click the Performance
Tab. Under Commit Charge what is the Total, the Limit and the Peak?

How large is your hard disk and how much free space. Right click on
your C drive in Windows and select Properties to get this information.

What is your CPU processor speed? How much RAM memory? Right click on
your My Computer icon on your Desktop and select Properties to get
this information.

Select Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Disk CleanUp to
Empty your Recycle Bin and Remove Temporary Internet Files. Also
select Start, All Programs, accessories, System Tools, Disk CleanUp,
More Options, System Restore and remove all but the latest System
Restore point. Run Disk Defragmenter.

--

Hope  this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Adding more memory can noticeably improve performance only if the
added memory results in reduced usage of the virtual memory paging
file.  Therefore if the paging file is not currently being used to any
significant extent then adding more memory will not provide a
significant improvement.

Unfortunately there is no ready way of determing actual paging file
usage provided with Windows XP - it does not have an equivalent to the
'Memory Manager - Swap File In Use" reporting provided by the System
Monitor utility in Windows 95/98/Me.

There is a free utility that you can download and run which will
provide this information for you. It was written by MVP Bill James and
you can get if from
http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_pagefilemon.htm or from
http://billsway.com/notes_public/WinXP_Tweaks/

If that utility shows actual page file usage of 50 mb or more on a
regular basis then that is indicative of fairly significant paging
file activity. Adding more RAM will reduce or even eliminate entirely
this activity thereby improving performance.

This apples regardless of how much or how little RAM is currently
installed in the computer, at least up to the 4 gb RAM maximum for
Windows XP.

Good luck

Ron Martell     Duncan B.C.    Canada

How much did you have? How much did you add?

Despite what many people will tell you, more memory is *not*
necessarily better (although it never hurts).

You get good performance if the amount of RAM you have keeps you from
using the page file, and that depends on what apps you run. Most
people running a typical range of business applications find that
somewhere around 256-384MB works well, others need 512MB. Almost
anyone will see poor performance with less than 256MB. Some people,
particularly those doing things like editing large photographic
images, can see a performance boost by adding even more than
512MB--sometimes much more.

If you saw no speedup as a result of adding more RAM, it's likely that
the amount you started with was adequate for the mix of apps *you*
run.

You say "it seems to have slowed down my comuter." How much has it
slowed it down? How are you measuring it? Are you sure it's slowed it
down? Subjective "feelings" about speed can be very misleading.

Please help us to help you. What does "I can not burn cd's" mean? What
happens when you try? If you get an error message, please quote it
verbatim.

For information on how to make a good newsgroup posting, read
http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm and
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html