[mustang_marc]

For starters, my g/f has an E Machine, model Etower 600id. We've installed MS Picture It and ever since the install, the computer runs slow ALL the time, not just when Picture It is up and running. So I've been told that upgrading the memory would help. Right now, there are 2 sticks of PC100-322-620 on the machine. What can I upgrade to to make the machine more efficient? The link below has a list of all Emachine models, and again, hers is the Etower 600id. The only other things that have been changed since she got the computer is an upgrade to Windows XP from Windows 98 and a change from 64MB SyncDRAM to the 2 PC100 sticks. Computer still ran fine after the upgrade, so I've ruled that out as the problem.

Thanks for any help you can provide.

http://www.emachines.com/products/previous.html

 

[Grant]

Put 256mb of RAM in it. Should be great then. RAM is the best thing that you can do to increase the performance of any machine.

Just get one PC100 256MB of RAM, since it says that's the most your computer will take, or 2 PC100 128mb of RAM. Both should be cheap as hell. I would recommend going to Fry's. You'll get it cheaper from online, but not worth the hassle, in my opinion.

It's easy as hell to do.

Let me know if you need any help.

Grant

 

[mustang_marc]

Put 256mb of RAM in it. Should be great then. RAM is the best thing that you can do to increase the performance of any machine.

Just get one PC100 256MB of RAM, since it says that's the most your computer will take, or 2 PC100 128mb of RAM. Both should be cheap as hell. I would recommend going to Fry's. You'll get it cheaper from online, but not worth the hassle, in my opinion.

So anything over 256MB just wouldnt work? What would happen? Another quick question...looking online, it says PC133-100 in the description of some of the chips. Do I need to look for PC100 specifically or will the 133/100 work fine?

 

[Grant]

PC133 will work just fine.

It says that it only takes 256 MB, you could try putting in more, but i'm not sure what it'd do, i doubt it would hurt anything to try.. Try sending E-Machines an email, if all else fails.

Grant

 

[MoonDog]

I tried putting to much in a PC one time and it locked up during boot up. I dont know if this is the case everytime, I would guess that best case it would just not recognize it.

 

[AbecX]

I tried putting to much in a PC one time and it locked up during boot up. I dont know if this is the case everytime, I would guess that best case it would just not recognize it.

Not WinNT kernels cant except 1gb of ram. How lame is that


I would get some more ram, and a defrag your hard drive, I still havent figured out why windows has such a crappy disk writing setup. Good luck, let us know if you need further help. Also try removing some applications from your add/remove programs that you dont use anymore.

 

[mustang_marc]

Well crap. That didn't work. Went out and got Kingston PC133/256MB and when I turned on the computer, it immediately made several(5-ish) quick beeps and never booted up...just stayed with a blank screen. Stuck the old ones in and it fired back up. Maybe the PC133 won't work and I have to stick with PC100/256? Or did I maybe buy the wrong stuff?

 

[Grant]

Does it say "PC100/133" on the stick? The ones that I have used, say that it'll work with either. That's kinda strange..

 

[Grant]

Also, did you make sure you put it in the right bay? You may not be able to leave one of them empty, you may have to buy a dummy stick, so it think's that it is full. Did you try putting it each bay?

Grant

 

[mustang_marc]

Can I put one of the old sticks in as a dummy stick?

 

[Grant]

You could try, but I believe they have to be the same size. Go ahead and try, though.

 

[Grant]

First try figuring out which bay is number 1, and then just stick the new one in there, if that doesn't work, try putting one of the old ones in.

Grant

 

[mustang_marc]

I tried sticking it in either bay and it still didn't work. I'm booting in now with and older stick mixed with the new.

 

[Grant]

Marc,

After doing further research on that PC. You can't just put 1 256 MB, you have to go with 2 128MB pieces.

 

[mustang_marc]

It booted, but it was extremely slow, so I'm assuming that it didn't read the new piece of memory. Any other thoughts?

 

[mustang_marc]

Oops...posted too quickly before I saw your other post... Thanks for looking that up!

 

[Grant]

No problem, my dad has nearly the same comp. While it's a decent budget PC new. It really sucks for upgrading, totally escaped my mind to ask him. He had to do the same thing for him to get to 256mb.

Hope that helps,
Grant

 

[mustang_marc]

So you still think the PC133 would be fine then if I got 2 128 sticks? I only ask that because I didn't notice any PC100 when I was at the store.

 

[Grant]

So you still think the PC133 would be fine then if I got 2 128 sticks? I only ask that because I didn't notice any PC100 when I was at the store.

Yep.

 

[Grant]

They should all have PC133/PC100 compatible.