JollySipper Posted January 9, 2019 Share Posted January 9, 2019 Hey, Guys.... I'm wanting to add some memory to my old desktop. What's the easiest way to do this? Can I just get an external card that plugs into the computer? This thing only has enough memory to barely function and it causes it to overheat...... Thanks......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrObsessive Posted January 9, 2019 Share Posted January 9, 2019 I'm not a super computer geek, but adding 'RAM' (Random Access Memory) will involve a lot more than just a plug in via USB. It's not hard to do.......you can go on Crucial.com to get an idea what your system has and how much more (if at all) your system can take. It will involve taking the desktop tower apart somewhat and either adding or replacing the cards inside. I do strongly recommend if you take this on, that you ground yourself. One small zap from your carpet or what have you can ruin the entire card(s). Someone that knows a bit more than me can jump in, but I've not heard of "plug in" memory as it is a hardware issue and involves the CPU (Central Processing Unit) to be able to know what's up at all times. I ran across this article here which can also give you tips on how to add more RAM without adding RAM physically. Hope this helps! I've had to do this years ago as I had a slow desktop, but I just bit the bullet and installed more RAM and along with it a new 1TB drive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JollySipper Posted January 9, 2019 Author Share Posted January 9, 2019 Thanks, Bill.... My computer only has 2 GB memory, just enough to operate........ it's using up to half of it at any given time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snake45 Posted January 9, 2019 Share Posted January 9, 2019 I have a program called System Mechanic which lets me clean out my memory. I use Task Manager to see where it is at any given time, and if it's over 70%, or so, I run the SM to clean it out. I do this four or five or six times a day. It's actually much less of a hassle than it might sound. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim N Posted January 9, 2019 Share Posted January 9, 2019 A lot of it will depend on how old the computer is. They added memory to the computer I use at work, and the guy from IT turned the computer off, opened the case, added the memory, closed the case and turned it back on. He was in and out of my office in less than 10 minutes. The computer is a Dell with an i3 processor. Many computers of the last 10 years or so are plug and play, so adding things is relatively easy. I suggest going to the computer manufacturer's website to see what they have to say and perhaps contacting their tech support, if necessary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snake45 Posted January 9, 2019 Share Posted January 9, 2019 Another thing you can do to free up memory is open Task Manager, scroll down to Background Processes, and look for CefSharp.BrowserSubprocess. These seem to be ads on websites you have open, and they can build up. Click on each one (there might be a dozen or more) and End Process. Websites you have open might go blank, but just hit the refresh arrow (or F5 key) and the site will come right back up. I've freed up as much as 20% of my memory by doing this, and it only takes a minute or two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peteski Posted January 10, 2019 Share Posted January 10, 2019 9 hours ago, JollySipper said: Thanks, Bill.... My computer only has 2 GB memory, just enough to operate........ it's using up to half of it at any given time. <Old man's voice> Well, I remember when my computer had 256KB of memory. I upgraded it to 1MB, then all the way up to 4MB! </old man's voice> The amount of the memory (RAM) has nothing to do with overheating. The cooling fans and heat sinks are likely plugged up with dust and lint. And if you have lots of programs pegging out the CPU utilization, that will make the CPU produce more heat (as it runs at full clock speed). If cooling is compromised, it will run hot. Depending on what programs you are running, and how many of them are running at the same time, 2 GB maybe be plenty. Especially since only half is being used. If you were constantly running at 80% utilization then I would start worrying about it. Also, where exactly are you getting the statistics?  Is your computer is also running slow or is sluggish? The problem might not be low memory. There might be too many programs sucking up the CPU cycles. There are all sorts of cleanup programs available out there. Or a full reinstall of the OS would clean things up.  Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrObsessive Posted January 10, 2019 Share Posted January 10, 2019 I meant to ask this before..........which OS are you running? Windows 10 for instance is a HUGE memory hog as opposed to previous versions. As Peter said and I agree, too many programs running can take a toll on RAM. If you're going to do a full reinstall, just make sure everything of importance is backed up. Nothing's more frustrating when a disc is wiped clean, only to realize you didn't back up important pics and documents. Also, you'll want to make sure that you have the discs or at least access to whatever programs you have on there now before a reinstall. This might mean getting hold of product keys and whatnot. Hope all this has helped! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vamach1 Posted January 10, 2019 Share Posted January 10, 2019 Do you want more memory (which can affect how fast the PC runs or processes) or storage to store files?  For storage a terabyte is pretty cheap and can be plugged inside your computer to an external USB port.  People get memory and storage mixed up or assume they mean the same thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrObsessive Posted January 10, 2019 Share Posted January 10, 2019 1 hour ago, peteski said: <Old man's voice> Well, I remember when my computer had 256KB of memory. I upgraded it to 1MB, then all the way up to 4MB! </old man's voice> I can remember when I got my first computer around the 2002-03 time frame. It was a Compaq desktop with 500 MB of RAM and a 3GB hard disc. Not long after I put in a 20GB and thought I was doin' something! Now my desktop has a 1TB disc in it with 4GB of RAM. I'm also running Windows 10 om a Dell desktop. I think this will be the last upgrade as the computer is about 10 years old now. 4 minutes ago, vamach1 said:  For storage a terabyte is pretty cheap and can be plugged inside your computer to an external USB port. Yup! I have a 1TB USB powered portable disc that I use from time to time to store videos and such as that can suck up quite a bit of space after a time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JollySipper Posted January 10, 2019 Author Share Posted January 10, 2019 Hey, Guys..... I'll try to answer your questions and give some instances where it acts like it's running hot........ I have a Dell Optiplex with Windows 7. From what you guys have said, it might not be memory I need. I thought using half of it was a lot, but I guess it isn't.... It acts like it's overheating when I start it of a morning and it's checking for updates, which I manually install once or twice a month. Also when I'm streaming music on Napster. Usually there is about 40 or so processes running according to the Task Manager........ Â Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stitchdup Posted January 10, 2019 Share Posted January 10, 2019 How old is your battery? my computer started running hot and slow when the battery started failing and windows 10has made it worse. Now a 200mb file takes 10 mins or more to copy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peteski Posted January 14, 2019 Share Posted January 14, 2019 On 1/10/2019 at 9:33 AM, JollySipper said: Hey, Guys..... I'll try to answer your questions and give some instances where it acts like it's running hot........ I have a Dell Optiplex with Windows 7. From what you guys have said, it might not be memory I need. I thought using half of it was a lot, but I guess it isn't.... It acts like it's overheating when I start it of a morning and it's checking for updates, which I manually install once or twice a month. Also when I'm streaming music on Napster. Usually there is about 40 or so processes running according to the Task Manager........  Optiplex is a desktop computer - no batteries (well except the little coin cell). What does "acts like it is overheating" exactly mean? As for the number of processes running, that is not unusual, however the longer you own your computer the more cruft (programs and utilities which run in the background, and sometimes spyware) get installed and run in the background, slowing things down. The Windows 7 update process itself has some known bugs where it will hog the computer slowing everything down. If you aren't computer literate, it might be the best to find a local computer geek (hopefully some friend) who could clean it up for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JollySipper Posted January 14, 2019 Author Share Posted January 14, 2019 When it's downloading updates and when I'm streaming music the fan runs very fast....... I've cleaned the front fan and spooned a bit of 3n1 oil onto the shaft before, that helped a bit...... Â Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peteski Posted January 15, 2019 Share Posted January 15, 2019 That is probably normal. Windows update process can be really hard on the CPU (which will make it run hotter). If you were to bring up the task manager (performance) while the fans are running fast, and show the CPU usage graph, it will likely show high percentage of utilization. Your PC also has a CPU fan (mounted over the CPU heat sink). That could also be clogged up with dust. The power supply (in the rear of the case) could also have another fan which might be partially clogged. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blunc Posted January 15, 2019 Share Posted January 15, 2019 I build all the computers in my household... there are things you can do to speed up your computer but you will have better chance of success if you have an experienced friend helping. there are 2 types of "memory in your puter, the hard drive which is considered storage and RAM which is temporary and goes away when you turn it off. the hard drive may be getting full (which will cause it to run slow while it tries to find places to put files), the hard drive may be fragmented (if you don't run the defrag utility) or the hard drive may just be getting old and have bad sectors. Cloning your drive to a newer SSD will make you system seem like it's brand new. you can check the Dell website for how much RAM you can add (there is a limit to how much you can add), and more RAM is always good (up to a point), crucial.com has a good utility to tell you compatible ram they will sell you. Windows updates tend to slow down all computers, older ones tend to (seemingly) drag on, if you've been using a newer one elsewhere. and you may have a virus, malwarebytes and Rogue Killer are my "goto" bug bombs. "BLAH_BLAH_BLAH_BLAH Cleaner" is also a known good utility for cleaning up computer file systems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peteski Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 I assumed that TJ was telling us that his RAM seems to be only around 50% utilized. If he only uses his Win 7 computer for some simple tasks (like browsing the Web and streaming music) and not for some really fancy CAD apps, or serious video games, then he should be fine with what he has. My thought is that there is no need to upgrade anything unless there is a real need or a reason for it. If his 2Gb is only half utilized, adding another 6Gb will not be very helpful. A defrag is a good idea, but the cooling fan running fast while doing Windows updates is a good sign that Windows updates is the likely culprit. Sunning some sort of cleanup program would also likely improve the performance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blunc Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 I assumed (based on TJ's original post) that TJ may not be familiar enough with computer terms to accurately relate the problem he is having with his computer since the general public is usually not aware of the finer points of computer memory. If his computer lives on the floor, it may be totally clogged with dust and may indeed be overheating. if I knew the exact model number of his Optiplex, I could tell him how much ram he could install and if it would benefit him. C R A P Cleaner is free for personal use and can help clean up his hard drive but he should still defrag after cleaning, and if he has less than 10% space left on his hard drive then the hard drive could become corrupted when downloading large files like windows updates. There are most likely programs that launch when the computer is started that are not needed and are using system resources that make the computer slower. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peteski Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 I agree 100% More info is needed for an accurate assessment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JollySipper Posted January 16, 2019 Author Share Posted January 16, 2019 You guys are great for offering advice, thanks! From what you have said, my problem may simply be a clogged fan.... the computer isn't slow at all, it's pretty crisp and responsive..... it's just loud when it's first started. I bought this computer as a "cleaned" used one and haven't really installed a bunch of stuff on it. I do use CCleaner pretty often. It's a GS620 with a Pentium D processor. The side is easy to open, I may shut it down soon and try to clean some dust out of it........ Thank you, Guys.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blunc Posted January 17, 2019 Share Posted January 17, 2019 Google search mainly shows Optiplex GX620 machines. I have experience with the GX models, I have seen them typically run the fan very fast on startup, a lot of people upgrade the original CPU's to Pentium D (dual core Pentium) and Pentium D CPU's tend to run hotter than original CPUs. the smaller form factor cases usually have slots for only one or two stick of RAM and the motherboard chipset can only make use of 4gb max of RAM even if 64bit Win7 is installed. I expect that Win7 32bit was installed since you stated it had 2gb of ram (nothing wrong with this version of Win7). the size of hard drive could still be a factor in your computer performance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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