Laptop Memory Upgrade

Started by Zanshin, May 03, 2006, 02:24:15 PM

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Zanshin

Well, I certainly do that.  And after a year and a few months, it only holds about a 15-20 minute charge.  I'm not sure what the average life span of these things tends to be.  Maybe that's about right.  Guess all I need to know is that I have to pony up for a new one.

Diomedes

Quote from: Cerevant on May 04, 2006, 11:16:49 AM
Let me clarify a few things on the battery life discussion above....

Thanks for the info!
There is considerable overlap between the intelligence of the smartest bears and the dumbest tourists." - Yosemite Park Ranger

Susquehanna Birder

So you're saying that my 2 minutes of battery life is normal? That once it's "dead", I should expect to get a full recharge out of it?

Cerevant

Well, there's a bit more to it than that - obviously all batteries die, we're just talking about what you should do to keep it lasting longer - which is different depending on the battery.

Here's an interesting article on Wikipedia that covers some interesting stuff - apparently temperature can have a pretty big effect as well.
An ad hominem fallacy consists of asserting that someone's argument is wrong and/or he is wrong to argue at all purely because of something discreditable/not-authoritative about the person or those persons cited by him rather than addressing the soundness of the argument itself.

Zanshin

Okay, just popped in another 512 of RAM.  Any idea why my computer would only show me as having 896 meg of RAM, now that I popped 512 on top of the resident 512?  Do I need to do something other than just pop it in?

Father Demon

Quote from: Zanshin on May 08, 2006, 04:04:30 PM
Do I need to do something other than just pop it in?

Man, if I had a nickel for every time I've asked that exact question...     :paranoid
The drawback to marital longevity is your wife always knows when you're really interested in her and when you're just trying to bury it.

Wingspan

Quote from: DemonchildrenOnTurf on May 08, 2006, 04:26:45 PM
Quote from: Zanshin on May 08, 2006, 04:04:30 PM
Do I need to do something other than just pop it in?

Man, if I had a nickel for every time I've asked that exact question...     :paranoid

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Susquehanna Birder

Quote from: Zanshin on May 08, 2006, 04:04:30 PM
Okay, just popped in another 512 of RAM.  Any idea why my computer would only show me as having 896 meg of RAM, now that I popped 512 on top of the resident 512?  Do I need to do something other than just pop it in?

Are you seeing the 896 in Windows, or in your CMOS setup area?

Zanshin

In Windows, when I go to Start>Control Panel>Performance and Maintenance>See Basic Information about your computer.

And I should probably mention that I don't know what a CMOS setup area is. ;)

Susquehanna Birder

When you boot, before Windows starts up, the computer gives you the option to see the "setup" by clicking F2, that's the CMOS area. Somewhere in there you should see the installed amount of RAM. I believe you should also see the correct amount when the PC first boots, as it's doing it's power-on self-test (POST).

I suspect that what your'e seeing once Windows runs is the available memory. Most likely, your laptop shares some of the installed RAM with the video card. It's a typical way to make a lower-cost video display work better - offload the memory requirement for the video onto the overall system memory.

Anyway, it looks to me like your system is pre-allocating 128 mb of RAM for the video functions and reporting the remainder as available. It was probably doing that before (giving you 384 mb of available memory). It's nothing to worry about, since you just pumped in a bunch of extra RAM.

Zanshin

Cool.  I do believe that I did bump up the amount of memory available to the video card.  I'll check that out.  Thanks.

Diomedes

I heart this thread.  You learn things here.
There is considerable overlap between the intelligence of the smartest bears and the dumbest tourists." - Yosemite Park Ranger