by Stuart Le Grice

Created on: May 21, 2009

When I purchased my first ever PC back in the mid nineties it came with a measly 32MB of memory, at the time this was more than enough to run Windows 95 and anything else I cared to throw at it. But as programs grew and evolved into being ever more complex so the drain on the computers resources became ever greater. Nowadays I fear a system with 32MB would struggle to even start the latest incarnation of Microsoft's operating system; indeed my current PC purchased in 2007 boasted 1GB of memory which I was assured by the salesman would be more than enough for many years to come. Needless to say I have noticed a drop in speed as time passed, with the little Windows vista system monitor in the sidebar going into the red ever more often as the memory struggles to keep up. Clearly something had to be done to stop my system grinding to a halt, which is why I decided on throwing some much needed extra memory into my computer; but where on earth to start? I wasn't even sure what make and model my PC is, much less what type of memory would work within it. Commence much research and head scratching before I eventually pinned down exactly what make and model my computer was, and what sort of memory was required.

And boy do you need to be sure; Memory nowadays seems to be a minefield of pins, DIMMS, MHz and Ram. It's no good purchasing that lovely looking 200 Pin memory you've had your eye on and trying to fit it into your 240 Pin slot. Heck, you might just as well try shoving in a handful of custard in for all the good it will do. DIMM's? The only thing remotely dim feeling in this whole equation was me as I wondered if there was some sort of Open University course available to make sense of the mysterious world of memory cards and upgrades, my head hurt at the very thought of it all! Anyhow, with a mixture of Internet searching and examining the memory that came with my computer I managed to work out what sort I needed. A quick browse on Amazon showed me that Kingston manufactured the memory I needed, 2GB in size and with all the requisite Pins, slots and speeds in the right place. So I ordered one, for fear that if I procrastinated I'd forget all over again the specs required and have to start the research circus afresh.

Two to four days later the memory arrived resplendent in plastic box complete with fitting instructions. Being a bloke I immediately tossed these aside and set about having the side off the computer; from there it was a relatively simple matter

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