Memory upgrade for 5yr old laptap?
 

After a recent lockup on my laptop that required a complete re-load of my OS, I am wondering if it would be worthwhile to add some memory. When I reloaded XP home service pack1 that came with my Compaq Presario 2190US after the crash last week, it ran very nicely, but now after a few days of downloading all the microsoft updates including SP2 and also installing AVG, AdAware, Spybot, it is running slow again and has failed to boot up twice (requiring a power down and reboot).

I am guessing that the 256m of memory is the culprit here and just can't deal with the newer updated software. I found that it has two sockets and I can buy two 512 memory chips to bump me up to 1G (which means tossing the 256 or I can buy one more 256 and just increase the me memory to 512 if 1G is not necessary). Is this likely to help my situation?

It is likely to help, yes. XP can go as high as 3GB, and more is always better, however your laptop at five years is pretty much end of life. So you need to ask yourself, is it worth it?

Tim

I just did this to mine, mem is cheap now, I had a little trouble finding a nice pair of sticks but lucked out at a local repair shop and put them in myself. The lap top mem is a little harder to find in the bigger sticks for older machines, I tried several of the local chain stores with no luck. Ebay is always a good resource or I use Tiger Direct alot.

I run XP on my lap top it helped it out alot.

Todd

First see if your laptop can handle more memory. Doubt it will go over 1gbyte.

Add to that a new battery and maybe a bigger hard drive and Scott is right, is it really worth it. Espcially given the price of new laptops. Old ones are perfect for kids to do their reports on and ocassional surfing.

Xp is terrible on 256 megs. It has always needed at least 512M. What's the make and model of the laptop?

I found memory from various suppliers on-line for my exact computer model # (Compaq 2190US) along with installation instructions.
1gig is max per all the websites and my computer came stock with 256mb.

I rarely use battery power and use the computer mainly out in my shop for surfing, occasional Autocad, some aviation software and some auto diagnostic software. It works fine for all this other than the slow down I have experienced since updating XP to SP2 and running a bit more virus software in the background (since I now have high speed internet, I felt it would be wise to auto update all my virus stuff and windows updates).

My 40 gig harddrive is sufficient and I would like to continue using this thing as long as it will still run my software (which it does fine). If it takes a major dump someday, I will replace it, but I can buy the memory (to update to 1 gig) for about $70 and if going from 256mb to 1gig will make a "noticable" difference when running service pack 2, it seems like a good idea.

You will notice a huge difference in how things run. That's cheap and it's very easy to install the memory.

Go for it.

Thanks guys, I will do it.

I upgraded my four year old toshiba to 1gig early last year and it does make a difference. I just walked into BestBuy and they had it on the shelf.

+1 on adding the memory. $70 is cheaper than buying a new laptop and if its working for you, than I'd say stay with it.

You also might look at changing the CMOS battery as long as you've got it opened. At 5+ years, it will more than likely start to cause problems including not allowing boot up (we have a similar aged Think Pad that the battery crapped out on last year. Replaced the battery and voila - no problems booting up).

Rather than using Best Buy, you should consider a true computer store that will afford you many, many options on parts. Try www.newegg.com they are perhaps the largest vendor, and I believe they have the best overall CS score on the net.

Tim,
You can probably run one 512 MB SO DIMM with the existing 256 MB one that's in there now. That will give you 768 MB or so, and a dramatic improvement in performance for half the money.
The other $35 can just about be a 911 tank of gas for a fun run on a nice day...;)

I just found a Kingston 512 PC2700 DDR SDRAM on sale at Circuit city for $37.99 and after reading multiple positive reviews, I am going to start by doing just that and going to pick it up tomorrow on the way home from work as opposed to ordering on-line. If I need to, I guess I can always buy a second 512 later.

It looks as simple as pulling the battery, removing the screws from the memory cover, install the ram, then simply reassemble and power back up.
It sounds as though the computer will detect it on it's own? (or will I need to configure something?)

Just run this on laptop, it will scan and pick the memory you need:

http://www.crucial.com/index.aspx?gclid=cknylm2jkjecfrgcggodjq8zqa

Aurel

It does it all on its own but I don't think you should mix with that type. Did you go to crucial.com and get the skinny on your specific machine?

Just tried crucial and it wasn't pretty (locked up). I will double check tomorrow, but most of the places I checked had computer model specific compatibility features that showed what would work specifically with my Compaq Presario 2190US laptop.

Yea, but I know with mine it specifically said not to mix values.

It's only $39 more man:)

Hey lendaddy....Which Toshiba laptop did you upgrade? I have a Tecra 8100 currently running 256 (sucks!!!) and crucial.com told me they did have any recommended upgrades.

Any ideas?

Thanks,

JA

I have a four year old Satellite P15-S409.

Do you have a panel to access the RAM?