Ah well .. if you're too thin, you'll have some Mother, Aunt or Grandmother telling you, "Eat! Eat! Look atchyoo! You're like a refugee .. you're so thin." And if you're too rich .. well it kinda isolates you as I have observed in a lot of cases; you become a recluse .. guarding your money .. guarding your health so you can guard your money. Feh! A shunda! You should go out! Have fun! Go on .. go to your fancy party! I'll just sit here and eat wet cigarettes ...
Okay .. so much for the Yiddish portion of my post.
(And by the way .. before we proceed .. the acronym RAM stands for Random Access Memory.)
But .. I *am* a big fan of the part about the RAM!
Because .. in my humble opinion .. the *1st* thing you need to know about RAM is that more is better. Lots more is *much* better. Due, simply, to the fact that adding or 'upgrading' your RAM is one of the least expensive things you can do to *noticeably* increase the overall performance/speed of *all* your computing! Whether it's opening applications/programs, checking email, browsing the internet, or whatever. *Everything* you do on your computer gets a much-needed *speed bump* if you install, or if you have someone else install more RAM.
But .. you say .. I still have *lots* of free hard drive/storage/space/memory. *EHH* .. thanks for playing. That would be an incorrect response. Because, physically, your RAM (memory) and your Hard Drive (storage space) are 2 different li'l beasties.
Okay .. small side-salad-lesson here .. a good example of the difference between RAM and Hard Drive was given to me a lawwnnng time ago. But it's a very good one. Think of your computer's RAM as your physical desktop in your office or your home office. 'kay .. so, you remove files from your filing cabinet .. which is the equivalent of your Hard Drive, and you place them on the desktop so you can edit those documents, draw pictures in them, work with photos, work with numbers on tax forms or spreadsheets, or whatever. Then, when you've finished your work, you take your documents, and return them to their respective folders in your filing cabinet.
Because .. RAM is only short-term, or *temporary* storage .. like your desktop. And your Hard Drive ("C" drive normally in PC-land; "Macintosh HD" or some such in Apple-land) is your long-term or *permanent* storage .. like your filing cabinet. And even that should get a good backing up to even longer term storage like a CD/DVD or a larger external drive .. but we can save that stuff for another post.
So, if you're coming up short in the Hard Drive storage department, you need to either clear space on your internal hard drive, move some stuff over to an external drive or CD/DVD, or get a larger internal Hard Drive. (more on hard drives in another post) But .. if you are running short of computer 'memory' (another word for RAM), then you need to add more RAM. If you're in the market for a new computer, and you buy it with *gobs* of RAM and Hard Drive storage space already in it .. well then .. you're way ahead of the game .. except for protecting yourself from meshugginah virii and fahkaktah hacker schlameels .. vel den you're good for life!
Here are 2 real-world examples of situations wherein you should consider adding more RAM.
1> Say you've bought a PC with the XP operating system on it (i realize that there is now a very *rare* chance of this happening since virtually all new PC's being sold today come with the Windows Vista system. And even as I post this, that is changing; Microsoft Windows 7 is here; the next generation of Microsoft's Windows operating system. But .. you may still acquire a used PC that has or needs XP installed.
So .. 1 system at a time. The default/standard install of Windows XP, after startup, consumes about 3/5ths of a typical computer's installation of 512 Megabytes of RAM. After which, you will likely want to open up some programs/applications. And you'll probably be adding some antivirus programs that will load software on startup in the background. And whatever else you've got going on will add to the total RAM consumed.
Which is to say, you will soon run slap into your machine's physical RAM ceiling. Which further means, your computer's performance will immediately and noticeably .. slow .. way .. down. Because after your machine exceeds its RAM ceiling, it then has to go out to the Hard Drive to make use of 'cache' space; a relatively poor RAM substitute. Because, electronically, the old Hard Drive is about 1,000 times slower than RAM. That's why it is *noticeable* by humans. Add more RAM .. problem solved.
2> Vista .. *lots* more bells and whistles in this Windows incarnation. And .. guess what..? If you guessed that the addition of more *blue smoke & mirrors* will take up even *more* RAM .. YOU ARE TODAY'S WINNER!! What did you win? Genuine *free* new smarts!!! In fact, a typical (default/standard) Vista installation takes up about 850 Megabytes of RAM .. or 3/4ths of 1 *Gigabyte* of RAM.
Hmm .. I just heard a faint echo somewhere back in the deep computer history archives of my brain .. I'm pretty sure it was Bill Gates himself saying .. "No one should ever need more than 64K (Kilobytes) of RAM." Or words to that effect. And a K, or Kilobyte of RAM ladies and gentlemen .. is a mere tiny *fraction* of a Megabyte; one one-thousandth to be exact. Because it takes 1,000 Kilobytes to make 1 Megabyte. And to extend the line of thought, it takes 1,000 Megabytes to make 1 Gigabyte. But I digress. ' just thought you should understand that FYI.
When Vista first appeared preinstalled on PC's, I actually saw some new machines that were being sold with only 512 Megabytes in them. So, folks were *already* behind the RAM eight ball so to speak. And if you are in this situation, or know someone who is .. you guessed it, they need more RAM.
In *both* examples above, if you want to open *multiple* programs/applications, and have *lots* of stuff going on in the background due to being pre-loaded on startup .. you will very likely need to add more RAM above the standard installation that came with the machine.
However, recently, some of the newest PC's and Macs are being sold with multiple Gigabytes of RAM .. 2, 4, 6, or 8 Gigabytes. You can never have too much .. like the T-Shirt said ...
Because these days, computers are doing so much more for you than just email and internet. Folks are using large music and movie libraries, making their own movies, editing photos *and* movies, driving huge sound systems or home networks, etc.
But, since this blog is mainly for the entry level user, we'll maintain cruising altitude below the cloud ceiling for a long time to come.
One last note. Short of bringing your computer down to a local shop, where can you go to find out what amount and type of RAM is *already* installed in your computer. And how much room/how many RAM slots do you have? What's the maximum RAM you can install in your computer? What *type* of RAM do you need? Very simple. My favorite one-stop shop for all this information is online at http://www.crucial.com/ They are primarily a 1-trick-pony; focusing mainly on RAM. But they do that one trick very well! These guys actually *test* the RAM in real-world situations *before* they sell it. Lots of RAM sellers don't. So you pay a bit more for that added testing. But I've learned from my ancestors .. you get what you pay for. True in horses, houses, and shoes .. and it's also true of RAM.
And PLEASE NOTE >>> I do *not* get 1 cent of commission for sending you to the above website location for RAM. In *all* cases like this, I'm just doin' what I believe all humans should do .. share good stuff .. for free! It's simply where I go and get/buy RAM stuff.
So .. 'nuf said this week I think. That's a lot to absorb in one sitting for some folks. I know .. because the memory I carry around in my head is pretty much filled up too!
And *stay tuned* boys and girls .. for the *next* *EXCITING* episode of ol' Doc CPU .. when he *rockets* into ..
"Space .. The Final Storage Frontier..."
ol' Doc CPU
''o))
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