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Answer» Hello all, First Post, but I "HOPE" someone can help me with this problem...
I have a Dell Vostro 230, running Windows 7 Pro, 64-bit. It has an Intel Core Duo CPU E7500 running at 2.93 Ghz The ORIGINAL memory is in the system 4 Gb as well as the original C: drive of 300 Gb (2.88 Gb reported) Additionally I have two internal Terabyte drives.
Now I have and use a Haupague Digital TV card I believe v8.0.35054 and a NVIDIA GeForce GT 610 and I am running two monitors.
As to the mother board, well no idea, but stock.
I've been using computers a long time, even before I had DOS 3.21 and Windows 3. I've worked in electronics for 30 years for the government, traveled the world with satellite systems and automated test equipment repair and installation. I retired. Five years after that, out of financial necessity, I repaired slot machines at a local casino in a forty hour week for five years. I hunt and peck type, wore out three keyboards on this system, (actually wore the letters off the keys).
Here's the problem...
The GT 610 is narrow and sits right next to the digital tuner. No room for a better video card with more "on-board" memory.
Right now, I'm using 2.14 Gb of memory. The only thing running is Firefox, (bloated) and Windows Task manager. I would blame it on end of life bloatware installed by microsoft updates to get me to switch to a new computer and maybe Windows 10, but I can not afford a new computer.
Somewhere, I believe on the DELL site they said that the maximum memory this box can use is 4 Gb.
I have seen the memory in use top out in Windows Task Manager, have the system more often than not hang and require a reboot in Facebook with a game like Slotomania. It has been getting worse and worse. I think the Bloated Firefox along with the SHARED memory by the video card is causing these problems.
One solution would be a better video card that would not INFRINGE on the real estate of the adjacent card or more memory.
I'm thinking of removing the Video capture card if worse comes to worse to get a better video card. But STILL keeping it to import old VHS tapes and convert them and reinstalling the present video card when those projects are finished.
So, has anyone successfully stuffed more memory into this type of box?
I'm too old to try and learn another operating system, I have Ubumtu on a "salvaged laptop" from the same era, and it won't do what I want as I'm addicted to Wondershare UniConverter, Photoshop V9, VueScan. I have not tried the laptop with Firestorm or Second Life yet.
So, in summation, help or advice is appreciated for someone 68 years old and in the process of forgetting computer terminology but still needing help....
Thanks in advance for your patience in reading this post,
Cordially,
Gerry
Hi Gerry,
You are right the Dell you have is limited to 4 Gb of memory it being from windows XP days. Was it a mistake the size of the C drive of 2.88gb or was that free space if it was, it really isn't enough you should have at least 20 GB free.
Also as you are using the original drive from about 10 years ago it could be the 300 GB drive is coming to the end of life. A program to check hard drives is HDSentinel from here https://www.hdsentinel.com/download.php
Have you done any house keeping of windows. Like running CCCleaner from here https://www.ccleaner.com/
Or malaware bytes from here https://www.malwarebytes.com/mwb-download/
All these either have free or trial versions.
Is it true that you are running 64-bit Win 7? A 64-bit OS isn't recommended for systems with 4GB or less of RAM. It would require a clean install, but you might consider moving to a 32-bit version of Win 7. That may reduce your current memory requirements and make the system more usable.
Quote from: strollin on January 16, 2020, 12:38:04 PM Is it true that you are running 64-bit Win 7? A 64-bit OS isn't recommended for systems with 4GB or less of RAM. It would require a clean install, but you might consider moving to a 32-bit version of Win 7. That may reduce your current memory requirements and make the system more usable.
The difference between 64 and 32 bit windows memory usage is about 100mb which you get back and more with the difference between 32 bit windows supporting only 3.5 GB's of memory and 64 bit using the full 4 GB's.
If you haven't already run the HD SENTINEL above I would run the Dell diagnostics first as described below.
Running Dell Pre-boot System Assessment or enhanced Pre-boot System Assessment (Dell PSA or ePSA)
Dell ePSA or PSA diagnostics are available on Dell laptops, desktops, servers and Windows-based tablets.
Restart your Dell PC.
When the Dell logo appears, press F12 key to enter One-time Boot Menu.
Use the arrow keys to select Diagnostics and press Enter key on the keyboard.
Follow the on-screen prompts and respond appropriately to complete the diagnostics.
If the test fails, write down the error code and validation code.I have several similar configured systems running Windows 7 64-bit that 4GB and similar Processors (T7300, Athlon X4, and T3200) and they do not suffer from the problems described in the original post, so it doesn't seem to me it would be an issue immanent to the 4GB of RAM.
Quotethe system more often than not hang and require a reboot
This part makes me chiefly suspect the Hard Disk. High memory usage doesn't result in this behaviour- the pagefile is designed to allow memory to be moved in and out of physical memory as needed. However a failing hard disk can be slow or simply not respond to Disk I/O requests, which could then result in a "hard" hang. This is particularly true if the drive is the original drive provided on the system.
I therefore echo Lisa's comments regarding Dell diagnostics which to my recollection would include HDD verification. It may also be worthwhile to perform a surface scan by running chkdsk /r from within an administrator command prompt.
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