Is increasing your computer’s memory to the maximum size harmful to your computer?
December 1st, 2009 | by computermemory |
Ralph G asked:
I was looking up how to speed up your computer(windows xp), and one of the tips said to increase your computer’s memory to its maximum size. Can someone please help me with this? Experts would be very helpful, too. Thanks!
pny computer memory
I was looking up how to speed up your computer(windows xp), and one of the tips said to increase your computer’s memory to its maximum size. Can someone please help me with this? Experts would be very helpful, too. Thanks!
pny computer memory
6 Responses to “Is increasing your computer’s memory to the maximum size harmful to your computer?”
By John on Dec 1, 2009 | Reply
simple answer
No its not harmful
By balplaya4404 on Dec 2, 2009 | Reply
They were talking about Virtual Ram, which is actually allocated disk space on your hard drive. It is a good idea to bump it up if you don’t have a lot of ram to begin with. Go to your control panel, and double click on system. Once in there go to the performance tab and I think the first tab on that page is how to access the virtual ram settings. Once in there you can set the size in KB. It shows you the maximum amount you can allocate and also the recommended.
By GearAz on Dec 4, 2009 | Reply
The guy who talked about virtual RAM is correct. However, if you put too much of it your hard drive will read/write quite a lot. Making the computer slow.
If you are having 256 or 512 MB you should increase the Physical Memory RAM to 1 GB this should be enough if you are not a gamer. If you are a gamer 2GB - 3 GB depend of what games you play. Beyond that I don’t think you need extra memory for XP. Besides to use more physical memory you would need to change you OS to 64 bit as well.
By 16k-zx81 on Dec 5, 2009 | Reply
NO
What this does is allows your computer to use PHYSICAL memory instead of VIRTUAL memory.
Virtual memory makes the hard disk spin. So in effect you are actually taking a load off the hard drive by installing RAM. In other words its a good thing to do for the longevity of your PC.
It will also make your computer faster up to 4GB. Over that and its negligable how much difference it will make for most normal desktop / gaming applications.
By Colanth on Dec 5, 2009 | Reply
*IF* (and it’s an important one) you’re running more programs that you have memory to hold, the computer swaps programs on and off the hard drive (virtual memory). Putting in enough physical memory to stop this speeds up the computer. (You can put in as much memory as the computer can handle with no danger at all - except to your wallet.)
If you already have enough memory for all the programs you usually run, adding memory won’t do a thing.
(Adding more than 4GB minus the amount of memory on your video card won’t increase the usable amount of memory in a 32 bit operating system - 32 bits can only address 4GB total, and that’s shared between system memory and video memory. In a 64 bit system, there are many thousands of GB addressable, so you can add as much as the computer can handle, and you’ll see it all.)
By Liza L on Dec 7, 2009 | Reply
Actually it is an advantage, as long as the upgrade is able to be supported by the motherboard.