First post-Please take it easy-RAM ??

Know little about fixing computers but here goes. Bought a new computer 14 months ago. A month before it finally died it would shut down for no reason. It would do this maybe 2 times a week. It would start up and run fine. It finally shut down and would not restart.

Took it in and was told the memory stick failed and it corrupted the system. It's up and running just fine but was wondering if part of the problem is not enough memory. A few years back we had a Dell that came with 256mb of RAM. I did some reading up on it and I expanded it to 512 mb. Pretty simple to do. Open up the case and plug the stick in. Before I go any further let me tell you exactly what we do with our computer.

We have a Kodak camera with EasyShare program installed with a Lexmark printer. The only other program that we will install is a Apple IPod with ITunes. We don't play any games on this computer. The computer came with 512 mb of RAM but when I check the system it shows 448mb of RAM. For what we use our computer for is this enough RAM?

There are extra slots to add more memory. Here are the details of the computer: AMD Sempron 2800+AM2 MB:Foxconn 6100M2MA-RS2H RAM:512 PC4200 DDR2 Why would it only show 448mb of Ram when it says it's 512mb on the inside of the case? Is this like a 80gb hard drive that is only 78.5 mb in size? Bottom line is,for my use,should I add more memory? Many thanks for your input!

That should be enough memory for you if you are running Win XP, but it wouldn't hurt to upgrade to 1GB.

I'm guessing that you're using an integrated video card (and/or it's a laptop). That would explain the lost memory-- it's being used by the graphics card and therefore is not available for Windows to use normally.

I also have a Foxconn motherboard. I cannot combine different types memory without causing my system to lock up. So if I were you I would buy two or four sticks of the exact same brand and model of 512 megabyte PC2-5300 240-pin memory.

When you get your new memory, pull the old memory out. It will make your system run better.

512mbs is not much anymore, you could get another stick of PC24200 and see if they will run together, or a AM2 board will support up to DDR2 800/PC26400 you get get a matched pair of DDR2 800 512mbs sticks

You may also want to think about upgrading your processor. You will likely have to pay someone who knows what they are doing to switch it out unless you want to learn how to do it yourself.

The AMD Athlon 64 X 2 4200+ Socket AM2 processor is selling for $65 at newegg.com.