Installing & Upgrading Memory
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Before we begin.
Please read the entire page before you start. See bottom of page for Text version. These instructions are more or less here for the standard IBM type PC computer with a external monitor, and keyboard. They are not intended for Apple-IMac machines, or those who share some design ideas with them such as some emachines, where the computer mainboard is in a common case with the monitor. Monitors can build up voltage levels in excess of 10,000 volts, and can produce FATAL LEVEL electrical SHOCK hazards . For that reason I, STRONGLY SUGGEST you get a professional to do upgrades to the memory on these systems. The typical IBM type machine does not share this type of hazard to the person installing memory upgrades. Even so, with that being said, I in no way assume any liability for damage, or injury done to you, or your property by use of these instructions. 95% or more of persons reading these instructions would have no problem what so ever installing memory upgrades. If you feel you are in the 5% or less that cannot follow these instructions, or have any doubt about your ability to follow them, please take your machine to a computer shop, and have them install the memory for you. It is far less expensive than damage to your computer or injury to yourself. Installing, and upgrading of memory on computers sounds like a very complex, and risky thing for most people, but in many ways it is not at all a complex operation. With a bit of guidance, and care, nearly anyone with some very simple hand tools can install memory on most PCs. While this page cannot hope to address all the possible installations of memory, it can however point you in the general direction so that it should be more than possible to feel comfortable adding a bank of memory. For general information purposes, kb means kilobytes, mb means megabytes, and gb means gigabytes. 
First things first ! Determine your best course.
(
you may wish to read this
)
You will need to establish what type of memory your computer takes since memory comes in many different type packages, and sizes. It would also be a good point to decide what exactly your need is in the way of amount of memory. It is my opinion most systems do not come with enough. I generally suggest minimum amounts of 48 to 64mb of memory for Win95 systems, 96 to 128 mb for Win98 systems, 128 to 192mb for Windows ME, and 256mb or more for Windows 2000 Professional. The reason for this is simple. Windows uses a process called "Virtual Memory" which is really nothing more than writing files to disk when it gets pressed for memory. Often times Windows inability to find these files is the reason for lock ups, and reboots, and it slows the operation of your system down to use Virtual Memory. So if you can avoid it's use it is a good idea to do so. As far as maximum amounts of memory, for most Windows 95/98/ME systems gains seen with installed memory over 256mb are questionable. On Window 2000 Professional 512mb. Of course operating systems other than Windows, and server operation would need even higher abouts of memory, but this page really is not written with that type of hardware in mind. Want more information about how much memory you need? Try this "How Much Memory do I need page from Crucial Memory. If you are not sure what your computer accepts for memory, or how much memory your system has installed here are a few basics to help you determine these factors before you consider buying memory. Even at this it is a VERY good idea NOT to open a memory package until you are sure, and can see what you have inside your computer. Most stores, or mail order houses will help you with deciding which memory your computer takes to some extent, but it is often impossible to tell the exact lay out of the memory until you really have the case open, and can see the way the memory is installed. If you know the make and model of your computer such as a Compaq, IBM, HewlettPackard, Gateway, Micron, Dell, or so on, it is possible you can just use a memory makers website to get the basic chip types your system can accept. The dialog box below is for Crucial Memory. 
So at
this point you can see that knowing what type of memory before you proceed to
even buy memory chips is the first step. If you do not wish to or for some
reason do not have good results with a hardware snooper program like Sandra,
Nuts and Volts, and I am sure Norton has one too, you will have to open the
case up and look to see what it uses. Perhaps even reverse engineer the
install by reading the chip numbers off the existing installed memory and
seeing what size memory is there and if there are any free memory slots to be
had. The great point about programs like Sandra however is often that you
can use the motherboard make information supplied by the program to hunt down
the motherboard makers website and get details about the hardware if you ever
need it. Many motherboards have FLASH upgradeable Bios chips that allow
upgrades to your motherboard by running the downloadable program file to
upgrade it.
Care should be taken with this however as a power outage while doing this can
be fatal to your motherboard, so if you are going to attempt a Flash
bios upgrade have a UPS on the system. Many of these sites have downloadable
manuals for the motherboards
they have built in the past. Handy information to have in some cases, even if
you do not know much about the hardware part of the computer, it is often
helpful to have such information at hand should you wish to have someone else
repair or upgrade the computer. You can generally print these files out for a
manual you did not get with the machine in most cases. One last comment. If
you have a good, quick machine do not get the cheapest memory you can.
The fact is many builders will
tell you that standard low cost PC133 memory is not acceptable for Athlon
Thunderbird Processors and that you should get the best grade of memory for
these processors as they work the memory hard. Even less demanding Pentium 3
systems
may have problems with cheap memory, depending on factors such as clock
settings used. One other factor most do not consider here is the climate
the computer operates in. Excess heat is not a friend to your
computer. Cheap memory that works well at 75f / 27c
may produce many errors if you add 15
degrees or less to the room temperture.
If the memory is not warrented for at least 1 year it is not
worth getting. Most good memory will be
warrented against failure (except static shocks) for a period of at least 1
year and many are warrented forever. For those really interested, and know a
bit of MS DOS, you can download many things from a site called
http://www.bootdisk.com
such as the files needed for DOS boot ups, and memory tests if you suspect a
bad memory module.
The next thing to get is to have some basic tools. You should have at least the following at hand before you attempt to open the computer case. I good medium sized Phillips head screwdriver. ( ideally with a magnetic tip to hold the screws until you get them started. ) A few paper lables like those used for diskettes or printing out addresses on a printer, and an ink pen or marker. This for making labels in the event you need to remove a connector so you will know which way it goes back on by labeling the connection with the name numbers or letters as well as the direction the connector come off in. Some connectors like those found on drives are easy to reverse if you are not careful and in some cases can be a big problem if they are reversed. It is also a good idea to have a can of Static Guard to spray the floor and chair where you are going to be working before you start. This to keep the chance of a static charge on you from being likely. If you wish most mail order memory suppliers are also more than happy to supply you with a static strap for your wrist for about $5.00. ( The truth is these are little more than a velcro and nylon wrist strap with a wire attached to it with a clip to connect to the computer chassis or case. These keep the static charge drained off you, which can easily exceed the voltage a memory or other chip can accept. ) This is not a bad idea if you are handling very costly memory or processor chips, and live in a climate that produces a lot of static such as winters in North America during the heating season. You can often get by just fine without the use of such a strap if you make sure to keep the chip/memory/card in the anti static package right up until it is ready to be installed, and then make sure you keep a bare part if your arm or one hand on the case/chassis of the computer. NEVER HANDLE conductive parts of COMPUTER CHIPS, CARDS, or CONNECTORS, with your hands. At the very least you risk static damage to the parts. Even if you avoid this pitfall the oil or other body fluids can effect the connections. So care should be taken to avoid touching parts that are used as part of the electronic pathways inside your machine. 
Ready to begin. Ok at this point we are going to assume you got your memory, you have your tools, you are ready with your nerve to open the computer and install the memory. First thing power down the computer, monitor, printer, and any other attached devices before unplugging any cables. Label the connections on the outside of the computer case as you remove them if you need to do so. Most of them are color coded on newer machines but if you are not sure it is generally best to label them to avoid problems later. Carefully position the machine where it is a good spot to work on. Keep in mind that some CPU units can weigh over 25 pounds, so they can be heavy to move. Use the pictures in this section of the page to get a general idea of what you are looking for, but keep in mind there are a several motherboard and case makers, and they do not all use exactly the same designs, so memory chips, power supplies, screw placement can be other than the location shown. Also the processor is going to be in the processor socket or slot, and there will more than likely be a fan or duct work to the processor also. There will more than likely be a video card, modem, and perhaps sound card on most machines installed in the AGP and PCI slots, as well as ribbon cables running to both the controller plug ins on the mainboard. You will also soon find that larger cases are easier to work on than smaller ones. 
This all is usually hidden under drive bays, hard drives,
and a power supply. The back of the machines in most cases have 3 to 6
screws located around the edge that attach the cover to the base of the
chassis. Remove them carefully and place them into a bowl, jar, or some other
place for safe keeping. (
They are often hard to find replacements for if lost
and you should always keep the cover on your machine and attached when in
operation.
) Slide the cover toward the back without lifting on the cover
generally about 1 inch. Then you can usually lift the cover assembly off the
machine. NEVER PRY, POUND, or otherwise strike the computer to try to remove
the cover. Check for other screws that were missed if the cover does not seem
to come off without a problem. At this point you should see the inside of the
computer. From the image file you should be able to locate the memory
slots. The first thing to do is to make sure that the memory slots are
available to install the memory you had planned to install. In some rare cases
the software does make errors and you may not have as many slots as reported or
they are stocked with memory. (
Remember I told you not to open the memory
before you got to this point.
) In some machine you may find it nessesary to
remove the power supply from it's mount to gain access to memory chips. This
is normally not a matter of removing any connectors inside the computer, just
removing the screws holding the power supply to the case and then lifting the
power supply case up and placing it out of the way while you are installing
memory. Some cases allow your main/motherboard to be move without a big
operation by
removing a few screws that hold the entire frame for the motherboard to be
detacted ( except for cables ) from the case. Some cases allow the drive
"bays"
to be slid out for memory or cable installations.
In all cases, refer to the makers instruction book if you have one. Most do
explain the basics of how to get to the point of installing memory.
At least look at the manual if you have one for the information that pertains
to your case.
At this point you may also notice dust inside your computer. It is
not a bad idea to clean this dust out of the machine but do not risk getting
computer boards wet, or otherwise physically coming into contact with
electrical parts on the boards inside your case. You can take a VERY slightly
dampened paper towel and wipe up dust around NON-ELECTRICAL parts. NEVER
contact electrical parts with any part if you can avoid doing so, unless you
are VERY sure you know the correct way to clean up such parts without damaging
them. Some use a vacume sweepers with curtain brushes also to dust the inside
of the cases and have good success if care is excersized when doing this.
Now by this point you should have located the memory slots. Carefully
examine them as the chips only go in one way. (
they will not go in backwards, note slots or indents on the connector edge
that need to mate with those in the slot.
)
Note: This is an example board. Some use slots also for processor connections. You simply position them over the slot in most cases and push them into it. The motherboard in the photo above is a bit of an exception in that it is one of a very few that has both DDR and SD Ram slots. Most boards will have 2 to 4 memory slots. Note the white "locks" on the ends of the slots. These will come up and lock the memory down into the slot if the memory is correctly seated. You just push these locks down to eject a memory card from the slot also. If the locks are not in place, the memory is not correctly seated. Pushing the memory card down may take a small bit of effort but you should be able to do so without any great amount of force. You should not need tools or have to use a great amount of force to push the memory into the correct position. If they do not go in, check to make sure you have them placed in the correct direction. YOU CANNOT ALWAYS GO BY THE SIDE THE CHIPS ARE MOUNTED ON THE CARD! Different makers may use a slightly different design. The main focus being that they are electrically the same, yet look totally different. There are index holes or grooves on the connector end of the card that will mate with the slot. Use these for reference points. On PC100/133/2100 banks of chips, you will see the little locks come up and lock the bank of memory down into place if they are put in successfully. On some older 72 pin memory there is a slight click when the lock that holds the memory down locks down. The locks are even metal on some of the 72 pin memory sockets. Ok you have the memory in, and I assume know at this point to return the parts to the places they were if you had to remove anything such as cables or moving power supplies for access to the memory slots. Also keep in mind the cases cover has to be slid about 1" forward to lock down before putthing the screws in. Take care not to pinch any cables in the case when putting the cover back on before putting the cover screws back into place. Then connect all the external cables up as needed and return the computer to where it was before. If you have done your job correctly in most newer machines when you start the machine up, it will find the memory upgrade, and make the needed chances without any further work on your part. If you have an older machine, you may have a bios error. Enter the bios if you have not done so already by the error trapping routine on most bios versions. CAREFULLY move to the configuration screen and then to where memory is listed. Change the memory amount to the correct amount now installed on your machine. ( most machines work in multiples of 4. for example 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024, 2048 etc. a few will have odd ball sizes like 12, 20, 24, 48, 96, also possible...) Generally it will not let you get past this point until you get the correct amount of memory entered. Then if you have not made any changes to other settings there, exit with saving. If you have messed up by accident exit without saving on most of these bios setups is also an option. Then you can do it again if needed. One last thing. For the next 24 hours of computer operation note any problems like memory errors. Most memory chips if they fail do so within the first 24 hours of operation. So it is often not a bad idea to leave the computer run for 24 hours to "burn in" the chips. This holds true for any upgrade including adding cards or drives to a system. OK I have added the memory so what can I expect? Well it is hard to give anyone hard fast numbers about the advantages of additional memory. Here is about what most see however with Windows 98 as an example. If you started with the base of 32mb of memory, you would see about a 30% increase in most operations if you increased the memory to 64mb. If you increase the memory to 128mb you can expect to see about an additional 15% over the 30% already seen. This simply put means if something took 2 seconds to do it in many cases will take about 1.2 seconds now. The results from adding memory over 128mb depends greatly on the use you have for the machine. If you are not using several programs at once, and are not running a high demand for processor power, you will likely never notice gains beyond adding 128mb of memory with Windows 98. If you are one that has several programs going at once, or do a lot of video or imaging work, you may well see gains up to 256mb of memory installed. There is some real doubt exactly what gains are seen after 256mb of memory with Windows 98. Windows 95 would see more or less the same results but with half the memory amounts. Windows ME would be more or less the same as Windows 98. Windows 2000 is likely going to see gains even with more memory installed or double the amounts of Windows 98 / ME as it's memory requirements are double that of those two operating system versions. Ok I followed the instructions, and nothing works! If you followed the instructions and nothing worked then retrace your steps. Chances are it is a simple matter overlooked. If the computer does not start up make sure you have it plugged in. If the computer runs and there is no video on the monitor, turn it off and make sure you have the monitor plugged into the back of the computer. The same holds true with sound cards and speakers, and printers, and mice, and keyboards. Check your connections but make sure you power down before you change any connections. USB ports are the only exception to this rule as they can be hot tapped with the computer going. If you still are not getting any results remove the cover and make sure you did not miss a connection inside the case that got dislodged. If the computer comes up and shows a memory error after you get it going. Go back to the SiSoft Sandra and see if you can do a memory test. If the problem is on the new bank of memory remove it and return it to the store in the package it come in. ( at this point you would wish you could show you used a static strap ) Most stores however will not give you a hard time about the memory and replace it without too much of a problem IF YOU SOUND LIKE YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT.... If you sound like you haven't got a clue, you more than likely do not have a prayer of getting the memory replaced if they suspect you damaged it by not knowing what you are doing. NEW!!! We are now linked on a few pages with www.Nhyrvana.com 
This link is provided if you got to this page from there. ( so you find your way back ok. ) Click Quick Jump Button to move. Onsite links open in same window. 
Want to know more about mainboards and hardware?
Kingston Ultimate Memory Guild ( requires Acrobat Reader )
http://www.crucial.com
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