Old Laptop , upgrading and mixing ram a bad idea ?

[s8n]

hi RB members , my mum has a old Laptop made around 2000 its a Acer Travelmate 530.


It really suffers from low ram and the Hard Drive loads frequently because of it , it has 512MB ram installed and can be upgraded to 1GB total thats all the Motherboard can take.


below is a link and i was wondering if buying 1 stick of this ram will cause BSOD and other nasties due to mixing rams , i believe the 512MB that is already in there is stock.


chat soon


http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/512MB-RAM-ME ... 3f0a4e94e2

[emwearz]

Highly doubtful you will run into Ram compatibility issues, however I would not bother investing any money into it myself.

I would first check how many Ram slots it has and make sure if it is 2 slots, that there is not 2 slots of 256 in there.

[s8n]

hi emwearz , i just checked the memory slots and theres only 1 !


thats means id have to buy a 1GB Ram which doesnt bother me , although when i opened up the door to access the current Ram in there ...........imo theres no way of getting it out without opening the whole thing up theres just no space to remove it.


if it were mine i would do it but being someone elses if something goes wrong id feel terrible and obligated to get another Laptop to replace it.

[GSZX1337]

Would you mind taking a picture of the access door? I can't imagine it being that hard to replace the RAM.

[Hobie-wan]

Ram is one of the things that even older laptops were usually fairly easy to get at to upgrade. Once you figure out the trick, if it is the right type with the right connector, just shove it in and give it a go. Head to BIOS first boot and if it is listed there, you should be fine to use it as long as the chip isn't damaged.

[Anapan]

Just a note about mixing ram on any computer - It's important to get ram that the motherboard supports. You can get a stick that will fit but if it's designed for better performance than the mobo can do it may not work. Mixing brands shouldn't matter, but if you mix clock speeds, the speed all the ram runs at will be clocked down to the slowest stick installed. Mixing different latency will also result in a decrease in performance. From what I read, mixing different voltages is slightly risky, and not recommended tho it can work.

[CRTGAMER]

Old Laptop - It really suffers from low ram and the Hard Drive loads frequently because of it , it has 512MB ram installed and can be upgraded to 1GB total thats all the Motherboard can take.

Maybe something to try before you invest in the Ram? You could always add the Ram before or even after you try this.

I am betting there are a bunch of Spyware invading the drive as well as miscellaneous bloated software installed, all running in the background and slowing down the laptop. You could run various Spyware remover programs and one by one go thru and delete any programs that you do not need. Even then you likely will still have unnecessary crap running in the background. Might be simpler to just format the hard drive and do a fresh install with whatever is a good Operating System matched to that old PC for optimal performance. Be sure to backup any important files to a CDR such as a folder full of family pictures.

I did this to a vintage "4:3 screen" Compaq Presario Laptop that was given to me by a relative. He stated it was too slow and sometimes would lockup. The format reinstall wiped it clean, runs sooo much faster now. Love that huge tall screen compared to the newer widescreen laptops.

[isiolia]

hi emwearz , i just checked the memory slots and theres only 1 !


thats means id have to buy a 1GB Ram which doesnt bother me , although when i opened up the door to access the current Ram in there ...........imo theres no way of getting it out without opening the whole thing up theres just no space to remove it.

There are two slots from what I can tell from the manual. Some laptops - and this seems to be one - have RAM slots on both sides of the motherboard. If the lower one is occupied, the slot under the keyboard may be empty. Or it has two 256MB DIMMs and you'd need a pair of 512s.

I'd generally agree though, I wouldn't put money into it given the age. Chances are you could find something newer for not a lot more than a couple 512MB DIMMs would run, if not for free (I've been given better machines out of the blue). Even with 1GB, it'd be a bit light for anything post-XP...and with extended support ending that wouldn't be great. Could try a lighter Linux distro if she's not relying on specialty software.

[Valkyrie-Favor]

I don't know how much you're allowed to change on this machine, but rather than installing new ram try a free, far more efficient operating system.

I used Puppy Linux on my old laptop - an IBM machine boasting 128MB RAM, a 500mHz Celeron, and a 40GB hard disk. I could browse the web, run a word processor, play MP3s, and download torrents all at once without any hiccups. This is the machine i used well into the late 2000s.

[s8n]

hi guys thanks for all the input its appreciated as usual , and yeah i did check the manual out too and there are 2 slots one located at ease and the other in a ridiculous place.

im really hesitant to open the whole thing up to access both rams , the 1 located underneath may be able to exchanged with your advice but the other needs the rest of the Laptop opened right up to access.


i am going to try some Spyware software after this post.............