MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
We will be in touch
Hello people, this is my first time back on the board since it went the way of the pear and I lost my account. It's nice to be back again, and I will begin with a plea for help.
My knowledge of computers is painfully low, so if someone can explain in laymans terms thats great.
Ok I have found out that I need 2GB of RAM to run a new program and I only have 504MB. I know i can upgrade without much problem, but If i upgrade does that mean i lose everything that has been saved on my computer, i don't really understand, when I check free space on my laptop it says my total memory is 40GB. So is there a difference between the memory you save files to and RAM.
Thank you for your help.
The 40gb free space is the remaining 'free space' you have on your hard drive (how much more data you can store on the hard disk).
The RAM is totally different, and upgrading RAM wont mean any loss of data, depending on the model of laptop changing the RAM can either be a piece of cake, or a right pain in the arse.
You could think of the HD size like the capacity of the fuel tank of your car engine, and the RAM is the HorsePower (sortof).
Pretty much what chomp said. All the data, operating system, programs etc is stored on your hard disk. The RAM is just the work area your machine uses when its running. Bit like having your tools all stored away (the 40GB hard disk), you bring them out and use them on the workbench area (= RAM) then put them away again.
Check that you machine can be upgraded to 2GB, and make sure you get the "right" memory as specified in your user guide. Memory is now very cheap