Dell Inspiron troubleshooting

hey,
Got stuck with this Dell Inspiron at work. It’s painfully slow and Google Chrome keeps crashing on me.
And yeah, there's zero chance I'm getting anything better than this junk.
Specs: AMD Pentium dual CPU T2330 1.6 GHz
1 GB RAM, 895 MB usable
64-bit OS
Windows 7 Enterprise
Wondering if tossing more RAM in there actually helps, or if I'm just wasting my time? What would you guys try? A newer model isn't an option—if I mess this one up, they'll just hand me some other piece of scrap from the warehouse.
How much extra memory is gonna run me, and where should I even look for it?
later, thanks.

What exactly are you hoping to gain? Honestly, what’s even the point here?

I’m honestly surprised that laptop even runs on Windows 7. Support for that machine basically died with Windows XP and Vista, so you're lucky if everything even functions at all 😬 and if things start breaking, don't hold your breath waiting for a fix...

If Google Chrome isn't crashing because some hardware component is fighting with outdated drivers, then it's definitely the lack of RAM. Having 895 MB for Windows 7 and a browser where you probably have more than one tab open is just pathetic...

Yeah, you can upgrade the RAM, and you really should—it's not exactly breaking the bank:

http://www.amazon.com/1GB-Memory-Asu.../dp/B00978P30S
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from...x51rl&_sacat=0

Just make sure you get the specific RAM meant for your model, otherwise it won't work. Before you buy anything, you need to pop the back cover off and check the slots; there are two. If both are full, you've got 2x 512MB sticks that need to be swapped out for two new ones. If only one is filled, you're in luck—that means you have a 1GB stick and just need one more like it. Either way, 2 GB is the absolute limit for that laptop.

But the real question is how much of a difference it'll actually make. You'll see *some* improvement, sure, but your processor is ancient. It's slow, weak, and lacks all the modern instruction sets found in newer chips that actually speed things up. The graphics situation is even worse; that integrated GeForce GT is... prehistoric. It doesn't support most modern rendering technologies, which is likely why Google Chrome keeps crashing. Right now, it's eating up 128 MB of your RAM, and once you upgrade, it'll grab 256 MB, which is its max.

So, upgrading the RAM will help, but how much? That's the catch. If you have no other choice, go ahead and do it since it's cheap, but don't expect a miracle...

Have you checked those warehouses to see if there's a newer laptop available? 😬

darkowl72 said:What exactly are you gonna get out of it?

It was on Vista, but I put a seven on it since my company's IT guy sticks to Windows 7. Can this thing even run Windows XP?

Honestly, Windows XP and Vista are probably better fits here. They run fine on less RAM, and you can actually find drivers for all the components. Plus, transferring data or getting them on a network works without any real issues when jumping between the newer OS and XP or Vista...

I’m just not sure about the browser situation. I know Internet Explorer doesn't support XP anymore, and probably not Vista either. Check if Firefox or some other browser still works so you don't come back later complaining to me. 😬