Please explain RAM in non-geek terms

I can't seem to get the concept of RAM. For instance, both Google Desktop Search and Windows Desktop Search say I need minimum 128 MB memory to use the program, and even then it may slow down my system. They suggest 256. But they don't know what else is on my system--what other programs I have. I'm told I should have at least 256 MB of memory just because I have Win XP. What is the relationship between programs (or applications, or processes or whatever they're called) and RAM? Do I really slow down my system by having too many, or too big, programs? What else affects the speed of my computer? Besides viruses, that is. Please explain as if writing to a person who just got his computer (even though I've had mine for awhile). Thanks.

 

The number of programs or the size of the programs on your system has nothing to do with the RAM you require. You can have a system with 600GB of apps and run it using 16Megs of RAM. Of course that isn't a great example because a system with 16MB of RAM would most likely never have 600GB of space.

RAM is what is used for stuff that is running. So having an app on your computer but not using it doesn't make any diffrence. Windows XP uses more RAM because it runs a lot of things in the background (processes). It's only the things which are running that are important to RAM. So when a program says you should have 128MB of ram because you run XP it recommends this because by default there is going to be quite a few processes running, some of it's HW detection, some of it's in relation to networking, and other thigns.

Ultimately you don't really need that much RAM, but for most peopel they need at least that much.

 

RAM stands for Random Access Memory and is essentially temporary storage space for information & calculations required for your Operating System to run. Your hard drive space can also be used as temporary storage for this same purpose (known as a swap or page file) but reading/writing information to RAM is exponentially faster. So the more RAM you have for your computer to use (as opposed to a swap/page file), the faster it can run...to a point. The more complex your operating system, the more RAM is needed for things to run at an acceptable level. Win98SE for instance ran perfectly well at 32MB to 64MB of RAM. WinXP on the other hand being a much more complex OS requires about 256MB to give acceptable performance. You can get by on less, but more is pretty much always better.

Of course, the more complex the program you're running, the more RAM you might need. Running a DVD de-crypting program requires a ton more memory than using the windows calculator, for instance.

Non-geek enough?

 

Thanks for such quick and helpful replies. So .... should I go ahead and DL the Google or Windows desktop search programs with my 128 MB of RAM?

 

Sure, go ahead. You can always uninstall it if you find it's bogging your system down. Or buy more RAM...it's pretty cheap these days...

 

Okay, I'll give it a shot. Thanks again.

 

Almost as important as how much RAM you have installed, (IMHO), is how many processes are running at any time you are using your PC. Process Explorer will enable you to monitor what is going on in the background. It will show which processes are hogging your CPU cycles. You can also kill off various processes, for the time being. Be careful what you kill. The most important ones are usually protected, though.

Process Explorer. http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=4566

 

My take on this is if you are running XP and don't want to bog down or use swap to much, is to have at lest 512 mg RAM. I have 1024 and usually still have abot half of that avail. I recall having 256 ram at the onset and Hd Dr was constantly running to swap. As RAM is getting cheaper get whatever you can afford and use and not worry about having enuff. And I concur with all the other info imparted to you. good Luck.

Jack