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  • Help with hard drive

    I'm in need of someone who can access my computer remotely and change a few things around. I have only 1GB of operating memory on a 1TB hard drive. I don't know what the computer guy was thinking.

    At the office where I used to work, the computer guy offered to install several programs for me, knowing that I'm not very adept in such things. I took him up on the offer, he installed them, and some time later, he and his coworker were laid off. Now, although I have his email address, he's never answered any of my messages.

    I want more operating memory so I can edit video, for one. What's the best way?

  • #2
    If you want someone to operate your computer remotely to change things around, that's like asking a stranger on the street to redecorate your house while you step out for groceries. I'd only let someone at your workplace do it, not a stranger, not even ME! haha

    As far as memory, that's generally a lot easier, but a process you can do yourself. what's the model & make of your computer? You can look up that info online, then download the manual. Usually your board will have maybe 2 to 4 memory (RAM) slots available, and those slots may already have RAM sticks in there.

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    • #3
      Go to Start > Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Cleanup and that may help somewhat. Also go to Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs (or Programs and Features) and remove anything that you recognize and know you don't use anymore. Otherwise it's up to you to prune out old personal files you don't need on the system drive.

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      • #4
        I swear, one of my friends cannot be real. He's got to be the product of much higher evolution.

        He's going to work on the computer remotely. I created an account on TeamViewer, and sent him the password so he can connect. He's selling the earrings I made. He told me the next time I want a massage, he can get it for 50% off. He's helping me with the printing job. AND when I mentioned tonight that I need to get hair gel, he gave me an almost-unused container!

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        • #5
          Jack - when I've run the Disk Cleanup app, it hangs. It sucks up so much CPU and RAM and DOES NOT STOP it's ridiculous.
          I use CCleaner instead. CCleaner can do the program removals, clean up odd bits and leftovers, find registry errors - it's not perfect but damn good.
          In my heart, in my soul, I'm a woman for rock & roll.
          She's as fast as slugs on barbituates.

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          • #6
            I've never had that problem, but, yeah, I do prefer CCleaner. If I were in front of the computer I'd use it, but just giving directions I would try to remove potential complications.

            Glad you got someone to help, then.

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            • #7
              Disk Cleanup can take a long time to work out what it can do, because one of the things it checks is the compressibility of "old" files - of which there can be an enormous amount. If you leave it doing that for a while, it should unstick itself and give you options.

              On one of my smaller machines, I have turned off some of the less useful features in Windows: hibernation, system restore points, and indexing. This leaves considerably more room on the 80GB disk for the very large game system that I'm testing on it.

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              • #8
                Eireann
                I have only 1GB of operating memory on a 1TB hard drive.
                First of all, the system memory has hardly* anything to do with drive size. I routinely hook up very large drives to my machines, the "largest" of which has only 768MB of memory, and most run with 256-512MB.

                Eireann
                I want more operating memory so I can edit video, for one. What's the best way?
                Go to Crucial, and punch in your system (or use their auto-figure-it-out program). You do NOT have to buy from them, although they're a pretty good outfit if you do. Once armed with what you have, you can then figure out what you need. They even have online videos on how to add and check things under the hood.

                Der Cute
                I use CCleaner instead
                Count me as another fan. I've found that if your drive is really "stuffed", it does cause the disk cleanup to stall for an inordinately long amount of time, upwards of ten minutes on one machine I was working on. CCleaner took care of the rest in only a minute or so (probably has something to do with the "undo" feature of cleanup or NTFS - never looked too hard at that aspect of it).

                Now, Eireann, you say you're editing video, and if you're running Vista/W7, then throwing 4GB of RAM in there will do the trick, but what CPU do you have? Most editors run in a Non-Linear (NLE) mode, so they can edit "chapters" at a time, and stitch them together on the drive, thus using surprisingly low memory. This is where the CPU speed and cache size really strut their stuff. So, if you can't find the info at Crucial, post back here with the specs...

                barcode

                * In the past, "dumb" drives would allow you to set aside areas of RAM to use as buffers for reading/writing. On my Amigas, the command to add buffers is... well... "addbuffers {drive}{blocks}". Once drive manufacturers started throwing all the buffer RAM on the drives themselves, this went the way of the dodo. As a result, the OS no longer needs to set aside large memory buffers using PATA, SATA, or SCSI drives (IDE, RLL, and MFM still may, and any floppy should). So, any OS running on even 256MB can easily "map" a 1TB drive, as it's really the drive doing the mapping, and the OS just playing traffic cop.

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                • #9
                  I'm running W7. To be honest, I don't know what CPU I have. I'm not that advanced.

                  My friend did some work last night, and only AFTER he started defragging the disk did I remember that it's set to do so automatically, once a week.

                  His assessment was the same as yours: Get more hardware. The computer is an HP Compaq dx7300.

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                  • #10
                    I assumed we were talking about disk space instead of RAM (I've had enough people refer to disk space as memory to where I often refer to the context for the intention). My bad. :P

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                    • #11
                      Jack
                      I assumed we were talking about disk space instead of RAM
                      No problem. It happens with ounces and pounds, too.

                      Eireann
                      The computer is an HP Compaq dx7300.
                      Well, this is weird...

                      Crucial shows this thing as being able to use up to 8GB (4 sticks of 2GB DDR2 PC2-5300/6400), but the HP Quick reference says it can only do 4GB (4 sticks of 1GB DDR2 PC2-5300/6400).

                      Another good thing is that it's an Intel Q965 chipset. The bad thing is it allows HP to shove any one of these in there: Intel Core 2 Duo, Pentium D, Pentium 4, or Celeron D. So, we'd still be guessing which CPU you've got.

                      You can either take a peek in there to see what memory/sockets you have populated and the speed (5300/6400) they're running at, or just play it safe and get 4 1GB sticks and fill 'em all up. Using the above Crucial link, scroll down on the right to where it says "video - installing memory" to see how to do this and what to look for.

                      The CPU is actually easier, as you just go to the "Control Panel -> System -> Hardware {tab}-> Device Manager {button}-> CPU" and see what it lists for you. Sometimes, the first tab of "System" (General) will show how much and what type of memory is installed (but not always).

                      barcode

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                      • #12
                        Does this help?

                        http://www.customerssuck.com/board/s...t=78773&page=3

                        You can find photos of the interior of the computer tower in that thread.

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                        • #13
                          Not exactly, but it does answer one question...

                          The memory slots have only one filled (upper right corner of pic 2), and since you have 1GB, then this means you have a single 1GB stick already installed. None of the pictures show the label on the stick, so I don't know which speed this is (5300/6400). Even this shouldn't be a big thing, as putting 6400s in there will just slow down to the 5300 speed, if that's what it's clocked at.

                          The good news, then, is that you only need 3 1GB sticks to fill it up. This saves you $15 if you go with Newegg.

                          Now, the reason I asked about the CPU is that if you're running one of the "lower" three from the earlier list, you could see what the price was for the Core2 Duo, and swap it out for what you have if it was within your budget. If you already have the Core2 in there, then memory is really all you can do to bump it up.

                          Side note: From the pics, it looks like the mobo has Panasonic FM series capacitors (the little black and gold "cans"), and what looks like Panasonic SMD caps (the smaller silver cans with blue lettering). "Pannys" are considered the second best caps on the planet, right behind Rubycon. You should not have any problems with this mobo, but bad caps in the power supply can ruin even these - Google "Capacitor Plague" for all the horrid details. You should be good, though.

                          barcode

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                          • #14
                            Yes, I was talking about RAM. Error in terminology.

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                            • #15
                              Will any of these work?

                              http://www.alza.cz/search.htm?exps=R...20RM12864AA800

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