Help determining if hardware is bad

I have just finished working w/in the Malware forum to clean up my PC. Now I need to understand what hardware issues need resolving.

The computer takes re 6 minutes to boot now. I get messages almost every day that my Virtual Memory is too low, and I typically have to reboot my system at least once or twice a day now.

Is there any way to find out if my mother board, processor, or hard drive, etc., are going bad?

My PC runs WIN XP Home Ed., SP2.
It has an AMD Duron Processor, 1.20 GHz.
I have two hard drives:
* Disc C: 30 GB Available, 57 GB Total, 30 GB Free. (Ran IObit defrag on 9/3)
* Disk D: 139 MB Available, 3084 MB Total, 139 MB Free. (Ran IObit defrag on 9/4)

Here is the memory information from SIW:

Physical Memory is 224 MB Total, 43 MB Free
Memory Load = 81%.
Virtual Memory = 572 MB Total, 239 MB Free.
* Maximum Memory Module Size: 128 MBytes
* Maximum Capacity: 512 MBytes
* Memory Slots: 4
* Name: Physical Memory Array
* Device Locator: ROW-0
* Capacity: 256 MBytes
* Memory Type: SDRAM
* Bank Label: RAS 11 4
* Form Factor: DIMM

Does this mean that I can put four 512MB memory sticks in my PC? And is there a specific kind and type I should purchase?

 

It may be that d has pagefile allocated to it but drive too full to use it.Increase pagefile size on c drive to say 1 gig DISABLE pagefile on D: and as for ram it says you can have a MAX of 512 achieved by having 4 slots with 128m max in each slot

 

Thank you for your quick reply. You said:
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It may be that d has pagefile allocated to it but drive too full to use it.Increase pagefile size on c drive to say 1 gig DISABLE pagefile on D:
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How do I do that? And

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...as for ram it says you can have a MAX of 512 achieved by having 4 slots with 128m max in each slot
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That means I can get two more 128MB sticks of Ram? How do I know what exactly to buy? That I'm buying the right ones to work w/my PC?

Also, should I consider other improvements as well or instead....anything affordable? I can't really afford a new computer right now.

 

lets see now go to start, control panel , system ,on performance tab it should have pagefile listed . make sure you check c AND d and turn it off for d as far as ram I would need to know motherboard model to be sure on ram

 

The info on the motherboard from SIW is:
Manufacturer ECS
Model K7SOM+
Version 1.0

Chipset Vendor Silicon Integrated Systems (SiS)
Chipset Model SiS740 CPU to PCI Bridge

CPU AMD Duron
Cpu Socket Socket A [Slot-1]
Processor Upgrade Slot 1

System Slots 2 ISA, 5 PCI

Memory Summary
Maximum Memory Module Size 128 MBytes
Maximum Capacity 512 MBytes
Memory Slots 4

I have no idea what most of this means!

 

Ive looked at ecs site it lists numerous versions of that board but no version 1.0 strange soe versions use sdram others ddr ram and still others have slots for both. I will look into it further but it may take a while. I'll post back as soon as I find something

 

Below you said the the info from SIW means that I can have a max of 512 ram w/128 max in each of the four slots, but my PC is currently running 224 mg ram, and I have only ONE memory stick -- a 256 mg stick. The other three slots are empty. So, I'm wondering if the SIW is reading my system wrong for some reason. Following are what scans from Kingston.com, crucial.com, and 4allmemory.com say (and the SIW info is again included below).

Kingston.com says
Comments: This board supports both DDR (KVR266X64C25) and SDRAM (KVR133X64C3) memory technologies, but they cannot be mixed.
Maximum Memory: 1 GB
and it says I can purchase up to two:
512MB 266MHz DDR Non-ECC CL2.5 DIMM ($33/each)

Crucial.com says:
Elite Group (ECS) K7SOM+ (Rev. 7.X) Motherboard
Maximum Memory Capacity: 2048MB
Currently Installed Memory: 256MB
Available Memory Slots: 1
Number of Banks: 2
Dual Channel Support: No

4AllMemory System Scan Results:
Computer Make: ECS
Computer Model: K7SOM+
Computer Version: 1.0
Motherboard Make: ECS
Motherboard Model: K7SOM+
Motherboard Version: 1.0
Processor: AMD Duron 1.2Ghz
Memory: 4 slots: 256 MB, empty, empty, empty

SIW (Sys Info for Windows)
System Slots 2 ISA, 5 PCI
Maximum Memory Module Size 128 MBytes
Maximum Capacity 512 MBytes
Memory Slots 4
Name Physical Memory Array
Device Locator ROW-0
Capacity 256 MBytes
Memory Type SDRAM
Bank Label RAS 11 4
Form Factor DIMM

www.Kahlon.com has a 512MB Memory (PC2100) for $27.00 that they say is for the K7SOM motherboard.

So, does this mean that I can for sure purchase two 512MB sticks of RAM? And based on the above info, what kind and type of memory would you recommend I purchase and from where?

 

I really need to know what kind of memory to go ahead and buy.

Below you said the the info from SIW means that I can have a max of 512 ram w/128 max in each of the four slots, but my PC is currently running 224 mg ram, and I have only ONE memory stick -- a 256 mg stick. The other three slots are empty. So, I'm wondering if the SIW is reading my system wrong for some reason. Following are what scans from Kingston.com, crucial.com, and 4allmemory.com say (and the SIW info is again included below).

Kingston.com says
Comments: This board supports both DDR (KVR266X64C25) and SDRAM (KVR133X64C3) memory technologies, but they cannot be mixed.
Maximum Memory: 1 GB
and it says I can purchase up to two:
512MB 266MHz DDR Non-ECC CL2.5 DIMM ($33/each)

Crucial.com says:
Elite Group (ECS) K7SOM+ (Rev. 7.X) Motherboard
Maximum Memory Capacity: 2048MB
Currently Installed Memory: 256MB
Available Memory Slots: 1
Number of Banks: 2
Dual Channel Support: No

4AllMemory System Scan Results:
Computer Make: ECS
Computer Model: K7SOM+
Computer Version: 1.0
Motherboard Make: ECS
Motherboard Model: K7SOM+
Motherboard Version: 1.0
Processor: AMD Duron 1.2Ghz
Memory: 4 slots: 256 MB, empty, empty, empty

SIW (Sys Info for Windows)
System Slots 2 ISA, 5 PCI
Maximum Memory Module Size 128 MBytes
Maximum Capacity 512 MBytes
Memory Slots 4
Name Physical Memory Array
Device Locator ROW-0
Capacity 256 MBytes
Memory Type SDRAM
Bank Label RAS 11 4
Form Factor DIMM

www.Kahlon.com has a 512MB Memory (PC2100) for $27.00 that they say is for the K7SOM motherboard.

So, does this mean that I can for sure purchase two 512MB sticks of RAM? And based on the above info, what kind and type of memory would you recommend I purchase and from where?

 

The way i understand this is, your board has four slots, two for ddr, two for pc133, only two can be used at any given time, go with the ddr. ed

 

definately go with the 2 ddr slots. just get ddr266