It’s a good idea to know how much memory is in your computer, and what those numbers mean. For example, is 512 MB a lot or a little? Let’s find out:
First, right-click on your My Computer icon (either on your desktop or in your START menu). This will open a menu, and at the bottom, click Properties.

This will open the System Properties window. Under the General tab you will see a section called Computer: This shows you what kind of processor or CPU you have (mine says Pentium 4) the processor speed (mine is 2.66 GHz) and the amount of memory (mine is 992 MB).

Since this question is about memory, lets look at that for now. A computer running Windows XP is going to need at least 512 MB to run smoothly and respond quickly when you tell it to do something (like open your email). Doubling the amount of memory in your computer makes a big difference in response time. So if you think you’re computer is running too slowly, adding memory might be the solution.
A computer running Windows Vista will need at least 1000 MB (or one gig) of memory to be highly responsive. I’ve found that whatever Microsoft states as their required amount of system resources needed to run their software, I have to double that.
And that’s it. Feel free to add a comment to this post if you need any more information.




2 responses so far ↓
Jackie // March 27, 2007 at 5:48 pm
Thanks for the tip! Now i know what i need to upgrade my memory. How do i know what kind of memory to buy?
glenngeiger // March 27, 2007 at 6:09 pm
You can find out what type of memory you computer shipped with by going to the website of the company that made your computer (www.dell.com) and look for specs on your model. It will also tel you the maximum amount of memory your computer will accept. Give us a call if you need any help: 631-754-2450
-Glenn