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Memory
and Your Computer
by Peter
E. Huemer 9/1/98
C.E.O. of User-Friendly
Computing
THIS
PAGE: How it works. NEXT
PAGE: Recommendations.
One of the most common
questions about computing
is whether to upgrade
components and, if so,
which ones. There are
plenty of ways in which you
can use hardware to boost
your PC's performance:
Upgrade to a faster CPU or
disk, swap out your old
graphics card for a faster
one. These solutions
generally cost at least $100,
and most cost more. If your
system is truly, completely
outdated, we recommend
that you replace it entirely.
On the other hand, if it's
only a year or so old and
doesn't have quite enough
zip, one of the best the
best ways to improve your
performance is to add more
memory. It's an easy thing
to do and it's about the
cheapest way you can soup
up the performance of your PC.
Insufficient memory often
goes by unnoticed - the
computer will still continue
to function, it will just do
so at a snail's pace, halving
your productivity and
raising your blood pressure.
You've probably worked on
a machine that was memory
deficient without even
knowing it - you click on an
application, see the
hourglass, and listen to the
hard drive whir and grind
sounds for what seems like
an eternity. Sound familiar?
Other deficiency symptoms
may include being unable to
open one program
application without closing
another, or chronically
having to restart your
computer to get the screen
to unfreeze. This usually
results in data loss, since
the information temporarily
stored in memory not yet
have been written to the
hard drive.
Some of these irritations
may be temporarily
addressed simply by simply
cleaning up your desktop
and eliminating unnecessary
applications from startup.
Giving your computer
fewer distractions when it
is trying to pull up an
application will reduce the
risk of memory overload.
However, upgrading your
system's memory is virtually
just as simple, and will
result in a dramatic increase
in computer performance
overall. By giving your
computer the extra memory
that it's hungry for, you will
realize an immediate boost
in productivity in
multi-tasking and
memory-intensive
environments. According to
PC Computing, doubling the
memory in a typical system
boosts overall managerial
productivity by 38 percent
and administrative
productivity by 16 percent.
It pays for itself in just over
a day for managers and in
about five days for
administrative workers.
Best of all, memory prices
are at an all-time low and
falling. In the realm of
computer service, memory
is one of the most
cost-effective areas to
upgrade.
What is memory?
People in the computer
industry usually use the
term memory to refer to
Random Access Memory, or
RAM. Memory is one of the
more misleading monikers
in the computer world.
Users often confuse the
terms memory and storage,
especially when describing
the amount they have of
each. Both are measured in
units of megabytes.
However, the term memory
refers to the amount of RAM
installed in the computer,
whereas the term storage
refers to the available
amount of hard disk
capacity.
To clarify this common
misunderstanding, it may be
helpful to compare your
computer to an office that
contains a desktop and a set
of file cabinets. The file
cabinets represent the
computer's hard disk, which
provides high-capacity,
long-term storage. The
desktop represents
memory, which offers
quick and easy access to
the files you're working on
at the moment.
An important difference
between memory and
storage is that the
information stored on a
hard disk remains intact
even when the computer is
turned off. However, any
data held in memory is
cleared when the computer
is turned off. (It's like
saying that any files left on
the desktop at closing time
will be thrown away.) It's
therefore important to save
frequently while working on
a computer. The computer
memory holds any changes
you make to a document
until you save the changes
to a disk. If anything
interrupts the computer's
operation -- such as a
power outage or system
error -- any changes made,
but not saved, are lost
.
How does it work?
RAM is really read write
memory, which the
processor can use as a
scratch pad and modify
rapidly. It's used for data
that come and go. A
computer uses random
access memory to hold
temporary instructions and
data needed to complete
tasks. This enables the
computer's Central
Processing Unit, or CPU, to
access instructions and data
stored in memory very
quickly. An example of this
is when the CPU loads an
application program -- such
as a word processor or page
layout program -- into
memory, thereby allowing
the application program to
run as quickly as possible. In
practical terms, this means
you can get more work
done with less time spent
waiting for the computer to
perform tasks.
When you enter a command
from the keyboard or
mouse, it calls for data to
be copied from a storage
device (such as a hard disk
drive or CD-ROM drive) into
memory, which can
provide data to the CPU
more quickly than storage
devices. This process is
analagous to placing various
electronic files and
documents you're using on
the computer into a single
file folder or directory. By
doing so, you keep them
handy and avoid searching
in several places every time
you need those documents. |
RAM is used by your
computer to store all data
that has to be processed by
the CPU. Since the data
contained in documents,
spreadsheets, graphics, or
any type of file
must be stored in RAM
before the processor can
manipulate that data, the
amount of available RAM
affects how quickly your
computer can perform
tasks. Therefore, you can
never have too much RAM.
How much do I really need?
These days no matter how
much memory your computer
has it never seems quite
enough. Not long ago, it was
unheard of for a personal
computer to have more than
1 or 2 megabytes of memory.
Today, you need at least 4
megabytes of memory just to
boot up a system. And the
popular applications in
today's law or home office,
such as Windows 95 / NT, MS
Office 97, Corel's
WordPerfect Suite 8,
Netscape Communicator, and
Internet Explorer are larger
and more memory-hungry
than ever. Even the old
standby CD-ROM-based legal
research products, such
Mathew Bender and Westlaw,
are recommending more
memory. Some applications
that are now emerging in the
law office, such as Dragon
Dictate and Amicus Team,
may require a minimum of
32MB RAM or more.
Perhaps you already know
what it's like to work on a
system that doesn't have
quite enough memory. Things
run a little more slowly at
times, memory errors can
occur more frequently, and
sometimes you can't launch an
application or a file without
first closing or quitting
another. On a system with
sufficient memory, however,
you can easily engage in
multiple tasks at once -- such
as printing one document
while working on another --
and you can keep multiple
applications open
simultaneously, and error free.
Memory used to be a simple
matter. A computer came
with a set amount of
memory, and software
designers stayed within those
limits. But today, new
applications are pushing the
limits on memory
requirements. Even so,
software companies often
keep their memory
recommendations low in
order to make their software
applications look lean, which
doesn't really help the people
who use those programs. The
amount of memory required
is determined by the
requirements of the
application programs. The
fact is, every user's needs are
different. People use their
computers in different ways
to accomplish different tasks.
Some people demand the
maximum their system can
deliver. Other people need
less.
So how much memory will
you *really* need to run
Windows 95? Don't believe
anyone who says you can run
Windows 95 in 4 MB. On that
minimalist machine, you can
probably load Windows 95, a
copy of 32-bit Notepad, and
the Dilbert screen saver. If
you want to do anything more
- and especially if you even
want to think about sharing
data with the help of OLE -
you'll need the extra 4MB.
The Windows '95 operating
system therefore needs a
bare minimum of 8 MB RAM,
and is noticeably better with
16 or 32 MB. Upgrading from
16 MB to 32MB on a Pentium
will result in a very
noticeable improvement in
performance with virtually
any operating system.
Ultimately, you
can figure out
how much memory you really
need. Independent laboratory
tests have proven that most
operating systems and
applications are tuned to
specific memory
requirements. That means
there's an optimum amount of
memory for the way you use
your computer. By factoring
in a few key items, you can
easily and accurately
determine your specific
memory requirements. When
figuring your memory
requirements, consider three
things - the optimum memory
configuration of your
operating system, your usage
patterns and your hardware.
To eliminate the guesswork in
determining a specific
amount of memory for your
operating system, baselines
have been identified for each
of the major operating
systems and dozens of the
most popular business
applications. Upgrading to the
baseline for your particular
operating system is the best
place to start. However, if
you are using multiple
applications in networked or
Internet environments,
consider upgrading beyond
the baseline
recommendation.
Different people use different
combinations of applications,
and while some people use a
given application to its fullest
potential, others might only
use a few functions. It all
depends on what kinds of
tasks you're trying to
accomplish - like
administrative, number
crunching or design tasks for
example. But there is an easy
rule of thumb: look at the
size of the files you most
commonly use and allow for 3
to 5 times that size in RAM. If
your files are typically about
4 megabytes, you should have
and additional 12 to 20
megabytes of memory.
Understanding typical usage
patterns is the first step to
determining memory
requirements for all types of
workers. Typically,
administrators and service
professionals rely on a core
group of applications like
word processing, fax and
e-mail communications and
simple spreadsheets to get
their jobs done. Executives
and analysts use a greater
variety of applications and
typically keep more than
three programs running at one
time. Engineers and designers
with expertise in
page-layout, illustration or 3D
modeling require powerful
systems with greater memory
requirements.
The peripherals attached to
your system can also be key
indicators of additional
memory demand. CD-ROM
drives, scanners and graphics
accelerators are all indicators
that memory-intensive
applications are at work.
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