[sitnah]

I have just bought a new computer. I was going to give a friend my old computer, then found out hers is a bit newer than mine.
But her computer runs slower than a snail, mine runs great and is still very fast.
The main things she does with the computer is scanning old pictures (.tif format, large files), picture editing of old & new digital pictures, & making lots of slide show DVD's type of stuff with them.

our old HP computer - max of 1 GB RAM is installed
HP Pavilion a622n - P4 2.8 GHz 160GB HDD
specs on HP website:
http://h10025.www1.h..._link=ot_search

her computer, abt 6 months newer than ours, still has only 512 RAM installed, says it could have 4 GB max
HP Compaq Presario SR1620NX (Sempron 2GHz, 512MB RAM, 160GB HDD)
specs on HP website:
http://h10025.www1.h..._link=ot_search

I'm not sure if RAM is her problem, or her other hardware? Would more RAM "cure" her slow down problem or should she take my old computer instead?

I have already tried the other cures for "system slow" like "cleaning up" the computer, un-installing non-needed programs, turning off un-needed start-ups, defrag, etc. I'm computer literate enough to do that, but when it comes to deciphering all those systems specs, I find myself at a total loss and with a headache
Thanks for reading !
Forgot to say both computers Windows XP SP 3

Edited by sitnah, 16 January 2011 - 07:56 AM.

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Hi sitnah,
I would agree with your conclusion and recommend upgrading to a minimum of 2GB (2 X 1GB sticks) use the system scanner tool at rhe attached link, there is no need to purchase anything just write down the recommended Ram details and shop around for the best deal; http://www.crucial.c...:20100901184937
Another thing that can slow down the system is when the HDD is reaching its full capacity, you should always have between 10 and 15% of the total storage capacity at all times in this instance a minimum of between 16 and 24GB (20GB)
This is for things like restore points and shadow copies in the case of other OS.

[phillpower2]

Hi sitnah,
I would agree with your conclusion and recommend upgrading to a minimum of 2GB (2 X 1GB sticks) use the system scanner tool at rhe attached link, there is no need to purchase anything just write down the recommended Ram details and shop around for the best deal; http://www.crucial.c...:20100901184937
Another thing that can slow down the system is when the HDD is reaching its full capacity, you should always have between 10 and 15% of the total storage capacity at all times in this instance a minimum of between 16 and 24GB (20GB)
This is for things like restore points and shadow copies in the case of other OS.

[sitnah]

Thanks phillpower2! RAM ordered and should be here and installed soon.

[phillpower2]

You are welcome and let us know how it goes, just to add did you check out the available storage capacity on the HDD?

[sitnah]

Oh, yes, I did. 80GB free space, and we removed some programs & deleted "old junk" files after that check, so a bit more now.

[phillpower2]

80GB is plenty so it shouldn't`t slow the system down, programmes running in the background tend to do this so the extra Ram should sort things out, also worth a mention consider using Autoruns and TFC (temporary file cleaner) by Old Timer to get rid of useless clutter on the HDD and defrag the HDD once a week, a tidy drive is a more efficient drive, let us know if we can help with the above.

[sitnah]

RAM installed, and her computer is running great again. Thanks for help & advice !