Computer Memory – Is Usage An Issue?

In our current time, computers with 4 GB of ram and a 500 GB hard drive is nothing to be amazed at. It’s something we see in stores, catalogs, and television ads. Yet, when I traverse online blogs and forums, I find that people still debate over a major computer issue: memory usage. Many articles on Lifehacker feature desktop modifications using tools like Rainmeter, Samurize, docks, launchers, Emerge Desktop Shells, and other features. Other programs like anti-virus protection, firewalls, and basic plugins are on nearly everyone’s computer. So should you keep things clean and worry about memory usage?

When you boot up into Windows, a bunch of programs can start up right away. Every program that you install typically will have some start up feature. Maybe an updater or a tiny bootloading script which creates a process that takes up memory. All these processes eat up precious memory. Or is it precious? Let’s take a look.

With many new computers having 2 or more GB of ram, processes shouldn’t be too much of an issue for most users. If you are a relatively normal user, then you won’t have to worry too much about most programs killing your memory. You can easily do daily tasks and have a cursory programs running in the background as well as the important ones (firewall, anti-virus/spyware, etc.) After a point, however, it is best to keep the processes down to a minimum, to ensure that you are able to use your computer effectively. By that I mean, not having to wait a long time for a program to load up.

If you do more hardcore computer usage, such as video/image/sound edited, gaming, and other tasks that require more memory than basic tasks, it is vital to keep the computer as clean as possible RAM wise. Turning off all unnecessary start ups

On to the hard drive. This is one memory space you should NEVER worry about. With so many ways to back up and save your data, you should only get rid of files if they are useless or if you don’t have time to save them elsewhere. Invest in DVDs blanks, a burner, a flash drive (or multiple), and/or external hard drives. Save all those extra files elsewhere. If you can, put things like photos, movies, and media that you won’t use all the time on an external source. What I like to do is have a main partition on my computer’s hard drive that is not extremely large. I periodically clean out useless files, back up important data, and move other files to different storage spaces. The other partitions on the hard drive are used for this purpose. Versatile prefers to do this as well. Partitioning the drives also allows you to multi-boot with different operating systems.

So the final word: If you have a computer with less than 2 GB of ram, start worrying about keeping the computer clean so you can work fast and use it to the max. If you have 2+ GB of ram, you don’t have to worry much. You have the power to enjoy programs running in the background to enhance your experience. If you work with programs that need more memory, either keep clean, or turn off the unneeded programs to clear up that memory.

For tips on keeping your pc clean, get a hold of newsletter issue 1, search the blog, or email an author for more information.

Voltaire.