A lot of people are complaining about their computer "hanging up" or "running slow." One cause of this is a lack of enough "RAM" - the volatile Random Access Memory (NOT the hard drive) in your computer. If your computer has been clicking along really well over the past few years but is starting to slow down or "hang" occasionally, maybe you need to evaluate your "geek" factor.

Your "geek" factor is decided by the number of programs you are running all at the same time, the size (in megabytes) of the programs you run these days, and the intensity of the graphics you "need". You can decide where you are on a geek scale of 1 to 10. Let's face it. Programs continue to get larger and more graphic. And we all have come more accustomed to running a lot of gadgets in our system tray. So, after you have deleted all the insignificant mish-mash and defragmented umpteen times, maybe you need more RAM.

So what kind of RAM do you have, you ask? Try one of the following. Read your manual that came with your system, or hit the <PAUSE> key while booting when you see the screen defining your system's internal equipment stats, or go online to your motherboard web site and look up the stats on your RAM (for all you savvy users). Look for acronyms like SDRAM, RIMM, or DDR - all current types of RAM. Other somewhat older types are SIMM and DIMM. These latter two types are generally associated with the "486"-era machines.

If you have the manual for your machine, or found the picture of your motherboard on the web, find where your RAM slots are. This will let you know where you need access to add or replace RAM. If all your RAM slots are full and you need more RAM, you will need to replace your existing sticks of RAM with bigger (more "populated") sticks - say from 64MB sticks to 128MB sticks. Read you motherboard information though. Motherboards DO have a limit as to how much RAM they can accept and in what configurations.

Inserting (the correct) RAM is a breeze. But remember - get rid of that static electricity by touching a bare unpainted metal place on the case chassis to drain the static. Use a static wrist-strap if possible. Get this from almost any local "geek"-product store like Best Buy or Circuit City. After powering down, opening the case and locating the RAM slots on the motherboard, line up the "slots" on the pin edge of the RAM stick with the "keys" in the motherboard slot. The slots are numbered beginning with "0" (zero). Make sure the "tabs" on either end of the slot are pushed down and away from the slot. This is the open position. Now push the stick of RAM into the slot. Be gentle at first, making sure the keys line up. You may need to "rock" the stick of RAM from end to end (NOT from side to side) to get it to "seat." When it is seated completely, the tabs will click audibly into place. If they don't click, and you know you have pushed the RAM as far down as you can, see if you can pull the tabs up and in until they click. This locks the RAM into place. If you are upgrading/replacing RAM you will first have to remove the existing RAM sticks by pressing the tabs outward and removing the existing RAM. Then put the new RAM sticks in and click the tabs into place.

Now close the case and power it up. Your machine should see the new RAM on its own. Enjoy.

Next article: More about RAM.