Stump the PC Club is a free tech-advice column written by members of the North Orange County Computer Club, which has been in existence since 1976. Visit the club’s site at noccc.org. And don’t forget to stop by the Gadgetress’ home for the PC Club, at ocregister.com/link/pcclub, to find out how to ask a question and read past answers.
QUESTION: Is there a reputable website or way to find out if I can add any memory to this newer computer? It is running a bit slow. (I have Norton 360 on it currently.)
PC CLUB: This is not always the answer to a slow PC. If you have at least 1 gigabyte (GB) of memory on an XP PC I’d look elsewhere for the solution. Vista can get by with 1 GB but 2 GBs are better.
The best way to see if your system ca
n have memory added is to go to a web site such as www.crucial.com or www.4allmemory.com and let them interrogate your PC. They will actually recommend what you should purchase. The image on right is from Crucial.com. It shows how many memory slots are available in a Gateway FX 530 desktop computer.
Another possibility is that Norton 360 is slowing you down. You may want to do a little research and switch to an anti-virus program that is less obtrusive than Norton 360. There are a number of good free programs in this category. Just remember to uninstall your current anti-virus program prior to installing a new one.
A previous article from Stump the PC Club addressed slow PC’s at “Speed up a slow computer in 4 steps” (link: http://bit.ly/N8thE). ~Ed Schwartz, NOCCC member. View his blog at www.edwardns.com/blog.
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