laptop ram upgrade problem.

coljun · 25 Jan 2010

I would be grateful for some advice on ram upgrades. I have a toshiba satellite which is only specified to take 500mb of RAM .however, it has win Vista operating system installed on it & runs really slow.What may happen if I install more Ram will it work do you think ? or am I wasting my time considering this . colin

fezzr · 25 Jan 2010

depends on which toshiba satellite it is, model number needed

coljun · 25 Jan 2010

thanks fezzr. It is a satellite 1110 z15 now with vista on it.

neil_g · 25 Jan 2010

toshiba do indeed state:

maximum expandability : 512 MB

although 512mb is vistas minimum requirement (for home basic. for other versions its 1gb) for memory its painful on 1gb.. 2gb should be the absolute min for vista.

noneforit · 25 Jan 2010

According to the Crucial site, you are correct in that the laptop can only take 512mb of RAM

http://www.crucial.com/uk/store/listparts.aspx?model=Satellite 1110/1115 Series

Generally I go by this but 256mb per slot does seem quite low

sbowler579 · 25 Jan 2010

Try this scan from crucial memory, it should tell you exactly what yuo can and cannot do, and recommend the best type.

http://www.crucial.com/uk/systemscanner/index.aspx?click=true

Escy · 25 Jan 2010

Looking at the spec of the machine I think you are up the creak if you want to add RAM, "maximum expandability : 512 MB", which would mean that no matter what OS you are using the max amount of Ram you can put in it is 512mb, maybe time to think about an upgrade of laptop perhaps.

fezzr · 25 Jan 2010

Laptop is showing at 8 years old with a 1.8 celeron.
Im not sure what your planning on using this for but I think you might be being unrealistic.

I think its time for you to find a replacement.

coljun · 25 Jan 2010

thanks for the advice,s If I can not upgrade ram which it looks like, I will have to get a new operating system iether XP or win 7. which would we eork best. A new computer is not an option . I use a pc for normal use including photoshop etc.

andrewc · 25 Jan 2010

I'm told Win7 is often faster than Vista, but you can switch everything off to make it faster.

Really a replacement laptop will be the most effective upgrade. new or used.

neil_g · 25 Jan 2010

i think you might struggle to get 7 on there and working driver wise with such old hardware.

noneforit · 25 Jan 2010

You will struggle with Windows 7 and 512mb RAM.

XP is likely to be your only option

coljun · 25 Jan 2010

Thanks everyone , even though all the answers are in the negative you have been most helpful. sorry it takes me so long to respond , using laptopnow.
regards colin

Escy · 25 Jan 2010

Windows 7 is just not going to work on your machine as it needs a min of 1gig of ram plus a lot of other stuff whihc I doubt your machine has on it, your best bet is probably XP as Vista is a bit of a hog on resources which doesnt help.

Check out the system requirements for each,

Windows 7 http://windows.microsoft.com/en-GB/windows7/products/system-requirements

Windows Vista http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-vista/get/system-requirements.aspx

Windows XP http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314865

Suvv · 26 Jan 2010

Two things to speed up your Vista system:

1. Use ReadyBoost. Plug in a USB memory stick, if the device is adequate to work with ReadyBoost you can configure it. From the Autoplay dialogue select Speed up my system, check Use this device and then decide how much memory you want to use. If your computer is 8 yrs old it may be USB1 so you may not get a great improvement. See Vista Help for more details.

2. Turn off some, or all, of the Vista visual effects. Click Start then right click Computer and choose Properties. Select Advanced System Settings from the LH pane then click the Settings button under Performance. You can now deselect individual effects, or simply select Adjust For Best Performance to turn all the effects off.