Dell Dimension 4450 RAM upgrade

[trust]

So I'm down here at my grandparents house in Florida and they're complaining about their computer being slow and I look at it and both their desktop and laptop have only 256mb of memory. (Thank goodness I brought my Mac)

So anyway I tell them that you can get a gig of RAM for about $70 and it should drastically improve performance in their Desktop. I just want to make sure this RAM will work in it.

As far as I can tell the only requirement is it be DDR. I think it can only run up to PC2700 but I plan on just buying 3200 and letting it just run at 2700 speeds (almost same price for 1gig of 3200 as 512 of 2700)

Anyway: http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Kingston-Technologies-1GB-DDR-SDRAM-Desktop-Memory-KVR400-1GR/sem/rpsm/oid/108885/catOid/-12994/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do

[Ergot]

Uhh, there is a maximum size per slot... though I've never seen what happens when it is exceeded.

[Sidoh]

Uhh, there is a maximum size per slot... though I've never seen what happens when it is exceeded.

This is a guess, but I'd say it uses as much as it can (the slot's maximum).

[Hitmen]

I didn't find anything specific about the 4450... but both the 4400 and the 4500 have a maximum 512mb per slot. So, go 2x512mb. It's usually a few bucks cheaper anyways.

[trust]

I didn't find anything specific about the 4450... but both the 4400 and the 4500 have a maximum 512mb per slot. So, go 2x512mb. It's usually a few bucks cheaper anyways.
[/quote

512 is 60 vs. 1gig being 70 ^_-

[Ergot]

What's the return policy? Because if you can return it... put in the 1 GB and see if it works as 1 GB if it only shows up as 512 return it and save yourself $10

[trust]

It's definitely a 512mb slot max, because the upgrade wizard thing on bestbuy/cc's websites only give me the 512mb pc2700 option. It's $70 too, what a rip off. I recently bought a gig for a little more than that price. Online prices own brick&mortar. Anyway, I guess I'll just have them get the 512 and do 512+256, they should still notice a drastic improvement.

[trust]

The RAM upgrade really didn't make any noticeable improvement. 

There's also this problem which is annoying and I don't know how to fix it or what's causing it. When booting it up it gets to the Windows loading screen fine but after that the screen goes blank for about a minute before bringing up the Windows login screen. Does anyone have a solution for this?

[iago]

You're just asking for somebody to say "install Linux", aren't you? I mean, you left that so wide open!

But seriously, how old is the Windows install, and is there a lot of crapware? And, is it an OEM install?

If it's an OEM version that came with crap intalled, try: http://www.pcdecrapifier.com/download

If it's just old, run "msconfig", go to the "startup" tab (or whatever it's called), and disable pretty much anything unless it sounds important.

If all else fails, re-install Windows.

[trust]

It's a 5 year old install, yes OEM. I've removed some of the crap, and have gone through and edited the programs loaded on startup (this only affects programs loaded after login though, so it doesn't address the problem.)

Perhaps it's a corrupt MBR?

I'd prefer to not reinstall Windows.

[Ergot]

How do you figure the MBR is corrupt?

[chuck]

Put a live linux CD in, and show them how much faster it is. If they like it, install it for them, else, just use the CD when your using the computer.

[Ender]

Put a live linux CD in, and show them how much faster it is. If they like it, install it for them, else, just use the CD when your using the computer.

You're recommending that his grandparents use linux?!

[iago]

Put a live linux CD in, and show them how much faster it is. If they like it, install it for them, else, just use the CD when your using the computer.

You're recommending that his grandparents use linux?!

There are cases where you can set up Linux with a Web browser and email and let old people have fun. If that's all they do, there shouldn't be a problem. And remote troubleshooting is awesome.

[trust]

How do you figure the MBR is corrupt?

I remember reading somewhere that it can cause a prolonged blank screen during startup.

[rabbit]

That happened to me.  I reinstalled Windows and it's fine now.  But after 5 years, you should have reinstalled Windows at least once, probably twice.

[trust]

That happened to me.  I reinstalled Windows and it's fine now.  But after 5 years, you should have reinstalled Windows at least once, probably twice.

They're my grandparents. They were able to get online so why would they even consider reinstalling? 

[chuck]

Put a live linux CD in, and show them how much faster it is. If they like it, install it for them, else, just use the CD when your using the computer.

You're recommending that his grandparents use linux?!

Why not? I find linux just as easy as using a mac for simple tasks like web browsing and email.

[Chavo]

How do you figure the MBR is corrupt?

I remember reading somewhere that it can cause a prolonged blank screen during startup.

Depends on where you are seeing it...however a corrupt MBR wouldn't cause slowdowns during anything but boot.

Get rid of the freakin 256mb DIMM.  Memory can only run at one frequency (unless you have dual channel and then its one frequency per channel).  Guess whether it runs at the slower or faster frequency.

Defrag the drive.

If it is an ntfs formatted partition, run chkdsk on it too.  Then run it again unless it said it found no errors/didn't fix anything.  These should be obvious things before upgrading memory.  I'm obviously too late or I would have recommended you use Mushkin's memory finder instead of Best Buy as well.

[trust]

I had to buy it at Best Buy because that's what's here. My grandparents are computer illiterate and wouldn't function on Linux nor did I have time to teach them to use it. Plus, I'm not a huge fan of Linux so I doubt they would be.

I removed the 256 and just left the 512 in there. My grandma said she could notice a difference and was happy with the result. They let the computer sleep more than shutting it down so I suppose the black screen on boot doesn't really matter.