Upgrading of a system’s memory
Laptop memory affects computers the same way as does desktop memory. Oftentimes, a replacement and upgrading of a system’s memory is the first thing needed when a computer gets past the point of being “new”. While an older computer will generally exhibit slower performance as time goes on, replacing the memory can bring an older machine up to acceptable levels again. Laptop computers can be kept in use for much longer periods of time with this simple replacement of these inexpensive parts. The performance will start to degrade in specific ways when memory needs to be replaced.
The first symptom of memory that’s gone bad is usually a very long boot cycle. Every program that starts up consumes some of the available laptop memory. This is the reason most support personnel will suggest that users turn off as many startup programs as possible when they’re trying to improve the performance of their machine. When the machine does boot, too little memory will make opening programs take a long time. The computer may also freeze or hang during the times when programs are opening and closing.
Many of the symptoms of too little laptop memory are nuisances. The computer suddenly refusing to respond when it’s being used for relatively low-impact work can be a sign of lacking RAM. The computer may also become very slow when only a few programs are open. Playing media on the web may cause the computer to hang up if there is too little memory available. The computer may also take a very long time to shut down if there is too little memory. Other issues may cause these same problems, but because computer memory is so inexpensive and easy to replace, it’s usually one of the first places people look to fix such problems.
Memory that has been completely destroyed will usually cause the computer to fail to boot at all. Computers self-test their hardware on startup and, if a bad memory component is detected, the computer will usually stop booting altogether. In some cases, the computer may boot but will only use the good memory available. This will be found out by checking the system information. The amount of missing memory should almost always correspond to the total capacity of one or two laptop memory boards that were placed in the sockets. Laptop memory is very inexpensive to replace, at present.
