Broadband and RAM

Grandma Beth · Feb 14, 2012

I have a Gateway computer. It has 256mb of Ram. Pentium (R) 4cpu 2.0 GHZ. I got local cable broadband which is slower that DSL. I think the reason is That it requires 512 mb of avail hard drive space; minimum 756 MB of RAM (recommend 1.GB actually). 1.8 GHZ processor.
The cable guy never bothered to check the RAM or mention the broadband requirements when he installed it.
I got a Roku for XMas and am getting a router.
My question is since the computer is sooo slow, will I be able to watch Netflex movies on my main TV Or will they not work because the ram is too small? Is there anyway to a update to 1GB of RAM? Or is that not why the computer is soooo slow? also, how do you determine if you computer is 32 bit or 64 bit?
Any help would be appreciated, because if the RoKU is not going to be able to work I should return it for my money back and forget about getting a router.

plodr · Feb 14, 2012

We need to know the model of Gateway so we can see the maximum RAM allowed.

Grandma Beth · Feb 15, 2012

I ran a free scan from Crucial System Scanner and it says it is a Gateway E-4000 series Desktop/PC.
It says : Memory Type: DDR PC2700, DDR (non ECC)
Maximum memory 2GB
Currently Installed Memory: 256 MB
Total memory Slots: 2
Available memory Slots: 1
256MB EMPTY
DDR PC 2100
Each memory slot can hold DDR PC2700 with a maximum of 1GB per slot*
* not to exceed manufacturer supported memory.
I do not have any manuels for this computer which was given to me sans manuals etc. years ago.
It says that how much memory your windows OS will recognize depends on which version you are running: 32 bit or 64 bit. I use Windows XP. I have no idea which OS it is.
Thanks for replying.

plodr · Feb 15, 2012

"OS" stands for Operating System. You told me the OS when you said it runs XP.
You have two choices. You can purchase a 1GB RAM stick and put it in the empty slot or you can purchase two 1 GB RAM sticks, remove the 256 chip in the first slot and put the new sticks in slots 1 and 2 (probably indicated as slots 0 and 1). You probably have the 32 bit version of XP. It will recognize up to about 3.5GB of RAM. Since your computer can't hold that much, you will not have a problem installing 2GB in it or installing 1GB and keeping in the 256KB stick for a total of 1.25 GB.

The PC2700 is the speed. You can put in a higher value but it will default to the slowest speed so if you get something that says PC3200, it will work with the stick that is now installed.

Here are some possibilities:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145213
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145086
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820178282
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220029
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820236107
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820178101

plodr · Feb 15, 2012

Here's the User Guide page http://support.gateway.com/support/manlib/Desktops/desktop.shtml
for legacy hardware. Look at the pictures and match your E-4000 so you can see what to download.
I'm looking for a manual too.

plodr · Feb 15, 2012

I found it. It is 260 pages in a pdf document.
I'll warn you, I have a very fast broadband connection and it took a long time to load.

http://support.gateway.com/s/Manuals/Desktops/8508951.pdf

Be patient and wait for it to load. On your older computer with a small amount of RAM, it might take even longer.
Once you see the first page in your pdf reader, you can click one of the icons and save it to your computer. You can look through the manual and print out any pages that have things you know you will want to check on.

Grandma Beth · Feb 15, 2012

You replied: "The PC2700 is the speed. You can put in a higher value but it will default to the slowest speed so if you get something that says PC3200, it will work with the stick that is now installed."
How/where/what is higher value? Is there anyway to find out what 32bit or 64 bit I have? I watched the video about how to install RAM sticks. Is that all there is: just unplug, remove old sticks and snap in new bigger one? No typing or anything else required??? Also referring to my original post: is lack of RAM currently my slowness culprit and would ROKU work or not with this slow BB connection?
Thanks for your help.

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Broadband and RAM

Grandma Beth Private E-2

plodr MajorGeek Super Extraordinaire Moderator Staff Member

Grandma Beth Private E-2

plodr MajorGeek Super Extraordinaire Moderator Staff Member

plodr MajorGeek Super Extraordinaire Moderator Staff Member

plodr MajorGeek Super Extraordinaire Moderator Staff Member

Grandma Beth Private E-2