How to Find Proper Memory for Upgrading Your Computer

Series Summary

Computers are complex machines built upon very simple principles. They perform arithmetical operations millions of times over to transform digital information moving at lightning speed into usable human data. A personal computer's job is to help a user create, manipulate, deliver, receive or delete media content. This is a simple, sterile definition that sounds uninteresting on the surface. Nevertheless, these fundamental functions mimic human ability in some surprising ways. Therefore, the computer is increasingly becoming an engine of the imagination, a platform for the digital life. In this free video series on computers, computer specialist Charles Stewart Jr. shares maintenance tips for improving the efficiency of a computer. Stewart explains how to upgrade memory, fix a frozen computer screen, install RAM, restore deleted files, speed up the system and even how use an external hard drive with multiple computers. Watch these free videos and learn more computer maintenance tips today.

Video Transcript

"If your computer is running slow one of the best things you can do to speed it up is to upgrade your computer memory. Hi I am Charles Stewart Jr. and I am going to talk to you about how to find the proper memory for the computer you are using. To give you guys a heads up I know that Macs are starting to come into everyone's lives a lot more before so I am going to show you on Windows and the Mac how to find that out. Let's get started with Windows. Now we are on the Windows PC and first you need to know what your computer, what kind of RAM you are using in your particular computer. Some people have Dells, HP's, you can go to Dell's website and find out, like I am looking for drivers and downloads and download the manual and when you download the manual it should tell you. But I built this computer so I am going to ace this website because that is my mother board and I am going to go down and download the manual, let's say if you have your manual you don't have to do this but if you don't you can find it off their website. When I have downloaded the manual I look at it and it tells me what kind of memory I have. It says that I have three slots that are DDR and what kind of RAM they support, PC 2700 is the maximum or with all the banks or PC 3200. So that just kind of gives you an idea of what kind of RAM to look for when you buy. So I know what RAM I need and then I can go to a place like newegg.com is a good place and then you just go over to memory and you know it is for a desktop memory. You just kind of go through here and you know that you are looking for maybe PC 3200 and it is SDR RAM or DDR/SD RAM so when I click on that it shows me all the RAM I have available and then you can even choose the speed. So mine is 3200 so I click that and here is all the available RAM modules at different prices and that is a good way to find it or order it and you can go down to Best Buy and get it that way. That's it for the Windows Version of this. Finding what your RAM needs are on a Mac are a little bit easier than Windows. If you go up and click the apple and go about this MAC it will tell you how much memory you have already got in your computer and you just click more info and then you go right to memory and it will tell you what you are working with. The RAM you have already got in there is PC 3200 and it shows you how many banks I'm using up and how many sticks of RAM I have got in there. Another great site to go to is called ramjet.com and they can already tell you by what your Mac is what kind of RAM you need. So mine is a Powermac G5 and I would just go and if I would want to let's say upgrade to 4 gigs it would automatically tell me and then it would tell me how much. So as you can see it is a little bit simpler on the MAC and there is websites like ramjet that make it a little bit easier for you and I'm sure they're the same on the PC but that's how you find RAM to upgrade your computer."