• Will a RAM upgrade solve my problem

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    #507802

    I have an emachine e627 laptop running Win 10 and 2 Meg of RAM.
    The laptop is VERY slow, will an upgrade to 4 Meg give me a substantial performance improvement ?

    Thanks

    Viewing 9 reply threads
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    • #1587146

      It would certainly give W10 enough breathing space to perform much better and it will remain noticeably faster for a decent period of time, cf. to running on 2GB. As it’s notebook, you probably won’t be able to boost or overclock the RAM to reach peak performance, if it’s a 32-bit W10, you’ll lose some of that 4GB total to support the hardware and graphics, perhaps ending up with somewhere around 3GB.

      The only other roughly comparable boost would be to move to an SSD, if one isn’t fitted already – but more RAM + SSD is best overall.

      Both RAM for recent machines (DDR3/4) and SSD prices are increasing, better to buy as soon as possible, those low prices we’ve enjoyed through the last year aren’t likely to return.

    • #1587147

      Has it always been slow ?

      There could have been a build up of temp files which will slow a machine down.

      Go Start – type %temp% and press enter.

      If that is highly populated then press CTRL+a to highlight then CTRL+d to delete then empty the Recycle Bin.

      Also go Start – type disk cleanup and press enter.

      After the first pass, click on Clean system files where it will run again.

      These are the non-default items you can check to be included in the clean –

      http://www.howtogeek.com/266337/what-should-i-remove-in-disk-cleanup-on-windows/

      Open a Command Prompt (Admin) and enter defrag /c where it will analyze and defrag all volumes and then see how it performs – although I agree that 4GB of RAM would help.

    • #1587152

      To find out how much RAM is being used fire up Task Manager and view the memory use, preferably by program. Let us know what is using RAM / post a screen shot.

      cheers, Paul

      • #1587156

        To find out how much RAM is being used fire up Task Manager and view the memory use, preferably by program. Let us know what is using RAM / post a screen shot.

        cheers, Paul

        I can’t seem to find a way to save a screen shot in a format that I can upload here.
        I tried print screen and placing the screen shot on to a Word 2007 docx but I can’t save it in any format that I can upload here.

        The screen shot shows 84% Memory use and 70-80% CPU usage.

        I’m wondering if I an better off buying a Chromebook. However I don’t know how I will load my Microsoft Office 2007 on to one since they don’t have an optical drive.

        • #1587157

          I’m wondering if I an better off buying a Chromebook. However I don’t know how I will load my Microsoft Office 2007 on to one since they don’t have an optical drive.

          Chromebooks run the Linux-based Chrome OS as their operating system. As a result you wouldn’t be able to install your Microsoft Office 2007 suite or any other application designed to run in a Windows operating system, even if it did have an optical drive.

          Hope this helps…

          • #1587158

            Chromebooks run the Linux-based Chrome OS as their operating system. As a result you wouldn’t be able to install your Microsoft Office 2007 suite or any other application designed to run in a Windows operating system, even if it did have an optical drive.

            Hope this helps…

            I have 1000+ Word documents that I would need to read and edit, Would the Polaris app that I use on my phone be available to use on a Chromebook ?

            • #1587159

              I have 1000+ Word documents that I would need to read and edit, Would the Polaris app that I use on my phone be available to use on a Chromebook ?

              From what I can see on the Polaris website, it appears it has only support for Windows and OS X (now macOS), not Chrome OS.

              Hope this helps…

        • #1587162

          I can’t seem to find a way to save a screen shot in a format that I can upload here.
          I tried print screen and placing the screen shot on to a Word 2007 docx but I can’t save it in any format that I can upload here.

          Post back if you would like assistance with saving/uploading a screenshot using just the tools that are built-in to Windows 10, i.e. without using MS Word.

          Hope this helps…

          • #1587174

            Post back if you would like assistance with saving/uploading a screenshot using just the tools that are built-in to Windows 10, i.e. without using MS Word.

            Hope this helps…

            I sure would like the help.
            Since the computer is so old I think I will pick up a new Win 10 Acer laptop

            • #1587221

              I sure would like the help.
              Since the computer is so old I think I will pick up a new Win 10 Acer laptop

              I’m not looking to beat a dead horse. I intend to buy an Acer Aspire ES1-572-37X2
              It fits the budget and does what I need,

              Thanks

            • #1587342

              I can’t seem to find a way to save a screen shot in a format that I can upload here.
              I tried print screen and placing the screen shot on to a Word 2007 docx but I can’t save it in any format that I can upload here.

              I was going to write some instructions but found a How-To Geek tutorial that explains, probably far better than I could: How to Use the Snipping Tool in Windows to Take Screenshots

              Save the ‘snip’ as a PNG file (the default format) and use the Insert Image button to add it to a post.
              46291-snip03

              When the dialog opens, click on the From Computer tab then on the Basic Uploader link.

              46292-snip04

              Click on the Browse button, select the ‘snip’ file you saved then click on the Upload file(s) link.

              46294-snip05

              Hope this helps…

    • #1587154

      Oh wait – that notebook has only a single core CPU @1.6Ghz, from what I can see, with DDR2 sodimms at ~$56 a set, any upgrade that you can’t carry on to your next machine won’t be worth buying, the CPU is the biggest bottleneck, adding more memory might benchmark a little higher but any performance increase will be barely noticeable, though you will be able to use it for longer/harder before it chokes up.

      Baseline benchmarks for that CPU here, the 2nd one down (graph near the bottom) is from another eMachine of the same model.

    • #1587172

      You haven’t answered if it has always been slow or if you have done any of what I’ve suggested in Post #3.

      • #1587176

        You haven’t answered if it has always been slow or if you have done any of what I’ve suggested in Post #3.

        My apologies, Sudo15… I was just trying to answer the OP’s change of focus in post #6. I’ll duck out (or off). 🙂

    • #1587182

      That’s okay, Rick – I’ll let you explain how to use the Snipping Tool to upload a pic 🙂

      With it using 84% Memory and 70-80% CPU then it would be interesting to see what processes are running or what it is like after disabling all Startup items in Task Manager – but what I’ve suggested in Post #3 can still help with performance.

      One of my sisters had a Win 7 x32bit laptop that was absolutely crawling and the %temp% file was the first place I went and that had over 3GB of files in it.

      Deleting those and emptying the Recycle Bin had an immediate effect on the performance.

    • #1587205
    • #1587228

      Okay – but if you fail to maintain that one, that will become slow as well.

      • #1587327

        Okay – but if you fail to maintain that one, that will become slow as well.

        Why do you assume it was not maintained? It has been meticulously taken care of. Bloatware removed CCleaner run on a monthly basis, programs not needed at startup disabled from starting unless called for.
        The killer was going to Win10. So I suggest you don’t jump to conclusions and make assumptions.

        • #1587343

          Why do you assume it was not maintained? It has been meticulously taken care of. Bloatware removed CCleaner run on a monthly basis, programs not needed at startup disabled from starting unless called for.
          The killer was going to Win10. So I suggest you don’t jump to conclusions and make assumptions.

          It was because you never came back to say if you had done what I’d suggested or what your maintenance regime was.

          We can only advise when we know as much of the full story as possible and I agree, even though Windows says your computer can handle Win 10, it isn’t always the case especially if the vendor doesn’t support it for Win 10.

          The two Win 7 laptops that I’ve upgraded to Win 10 are 5 and 6 years old, but each has 8GB RAM installed, although one seems to work better with Win 10 than the other does.

    • #1587234

      I may have missed a comment on this, but if you decide to upgrade the memory on your eMachines computer, make sure that you can go above 2 GB. I have an eMachines desktop which is about the same age as your eMachines laptop; the highest I can go is 2 GB. It is running Windows 7-32, and it is a pretty sluggish machine. About the only option I have for speeding it up is to install an SSD as the Windows drive.

      What I’m saying is, if you can’t go above 2 GB, you’re probably better off buying a new computer with more memory (at least 4 GB). Another advantage with a new computer is, all components will be up-to-date.

      Group "L" (Linux Mint)
      with Windows 10 running in a remote session on my file server
      • #1587326

        I may have missed a comment on this, but if you decide to upgrade the memory on your eMachines computer, make sure that you can go above 2 GB. I have an eMachines desktop which is about the same age as your eMachines laptop; the highest I can go is 2 GB. It is running Windows 7-32, and it is a pretty sluggish machine. About the only option I have for speeding it up is to install an SSD as the Windows drive.

        What I’m saying is, if you can’t go above 2 GB, you’re probably better off buying a new computer with more memory (at least 4 GB). Another advantage with a new computer is, all components will be up-to-date.

        It will take 4GB however it is almost 8 years old and I figure I’m better off with a new machine.

    • #1587333

      It was a statement, not an accusation.
      Chilax time. 🙂

      cheers, Paul

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