Memory ?

[Jemisa]

Can someone give me a step by step guide to find out how much memory I have left please? I'm having trouble with video clips links etc, they don't play in full they stop & start & its soo annoying.
A friend told me I'm probably running out of memory so I want to check it.

Or, Could I need a new Hard Drive? I've had this one 11 years.

Help! - Jem

[Dodger666]

In XP you can press ctrl, alt & delete together to bring up Task Manager. Then select the Performance tab. The Physical Memory box will show how much memory is installed and how much you are using.

Bear in mind if you have lots of programmes running in the background you will be using up memory. If you mean video clips on You Tube or similar are slow this could be due to your Broadband speed being slow.

[Jemisa]

Thanks Dodger, will C&P and give it a try.

Can I do anything about my BB speed?

jem

[Dodger666]

If your PC is 11 years old it probably hasn't got a lot of memory installed, unless you have had it upgraded yourself.

If your problem is slow Broadband then the only thing you can do is upgrade it to a faster connection.

I think a broadband speed of 2.5 Mbps or more is recommended for streaming movies.

You may get different answers from others.

[Jemisa]

My BB provider is SKY Dodger, I moved here 2 years ago and had to have a guy in to set me all up. I do remember him telling me my speed was 100 but I don't know a100 whatever and its been good till a few weeks back. Do I phone SKY & ask for an upgrade or think about a new ISP or do I scrap all this & get a new HD
As you've worked out I expect I'm not very technicly minded.
Sometimes I want to throw the whole Caboodle out of the window.
I did the memory thing, a whole lot of no's came up but I didn't understand any of it so I'm non the wiser.
Should I get another guy in? the downer about that is he charges me £80 per hour or part of an hour. Grrrr!!!

jem

[scotman]

Jem

To check memory (in XP) click on 'Start' then click on 'My Computer'.
When the new screen opens click on 'View System Information'. A small form should open titled 'System Properties'.
Select the 'General' tab, on the bottom line you should see how much memory is in your computer.
It will be something like 1.00 of RAM.

[Dodger666]

I'm no expert on Sky Broadband but I believe the speed they give should be plenty fast enough for you watch video. The problem may be memory or simply the age of your PC and it's components.

Going back to the memory check. When you get the "whole lot of numbers" come up in the Physical Memory box it means:-

My figures now for example:-

Total: 2088316, which means I have 2GB of memory installed.
Available: 1133436, which means I'm using about half my available memory at the moment, i.e. 1.13GB.

If your available figure is low then you will not have much memory installed. scotman's instructions tell you how to check how much physical memory you have installed, mine tell you how much you are using and how much you have spare.

To check your Broadband speed go to this website and click "Start Speed Test"

http://www.broadbandspeedchecker.co.uk/

[Jemisa]

I did that Chris,Result - Download speed 152 Kbps. - Upload speed 346 Kbps

Does that mean anything to you?

jem

[daffy654]

The download speed you have is terrible for a broadband connection. I'm not sure what you should do to solve it though.

[Dodger666]

I suggest you speak to Sky and find out what your speed should be. There may be a problem with your equipment or connections.

[daffy654]

Try unplugging your modem and/or router, leave them for a minute and then plug them back in. Run the speedtest again and see if there is a difference, if not definitely contact Sky.

[Jemisa]

Thankyou daffy for coming on board and for your advice I'll be trying that.

Scotsman, I tried your advice but when clicking on 'View system Information' I just got > > >'Files Stored on this Computer' ???

jem

[daffy654]

Just as an example of how bad your download speed is Jemisa.... mine is 19653Kbps on Virgin Media cable (up to 20Mb package).
I hope you manage to get sorted out , I can't imagine trying to use the internet with the connection you currently have!

[RATTER15]

Jem, if you are on the free BB package from sky, that will be why, notoriously slow!! You don't get nothing for free, I'm with Sky on the "paid version" i get no probs with my download speed.

[RATTER15]

4008 kbps Download speed according to that link.

[Jemisa]

Ratter, - Yes I'm on a package with SKY but by no way is it FREE!
The Broadband part of the package is £13.00 per month. It did start out at £10.25 per month 2 years ago. Before that I was with BT & had no probs.

I'm phoning SKY today (when I can get through) we'll see shall we? Its a real pain having to wait 20-30 seconds for every page to flick over, ggrrr!!

jem

[Jemisa]

RIGHT! Sorted. To those that helped me Dodger, Scotman, Daffy Ratter..I say Thankyou.
Daffy the unplugging thing was good it helped a lot. When I eventually got through to Sky & guess what daffy? they told me to unplug for a time too and it seems to be running better ths mo.
Thanx again - Jem

[RATTER15]

Glad you goit it sorted, have you checked your speed with that link since?

[Jemisa]

Just done it Ratter > > > Download speed 3624 - upload 359.
Not that I know too much about it but it looks a bit better and I know what to do now if I have the same prob again. I'll save the link so I can keep an eye on it.
I'm able to D/load video clips and links now without any probs (whisper) don't want to talk too loud.
Thanx again Ratter. next time I see you I'll bring a bone for the dog.

Jem

[RATTER15]

Glad its sorted, Make it a big bone :-))