Windows 95 too slow? Then Buy More Memory

by Isaul Vargas

However, to many people's chagrin, the new and improved operating system either does not work properly or is too slow! The reason is that many people only have about 8 Megabytes of computer memory. It was good enough for Windows 3.1x but with a 32-bit op erating system like Windows 95, a lot more memory is needed to cover the additional system overhead.

Windows 95 supports multimasking (doing several things at a time) but for people who have 8 Mbytes of RAM, this means a lot of disk swapping.

Disk swapping occurs when the computer uses the hard drive to temporarily store the excessive memory that an application takes up, often at the cost of speed and system stability.

In order to minimize the amount of disk swapping, one can buy more physical memory. (The Moment has tested and found that software "ram doublers" such as SoftRAM and MagnaRAM does little or nothing to improve the speed of a computer with inadequate physi cal memory.)

In general an additional 8 Mbytes of RAM will give your computer the performance boost necessary to make Windows 95 bearable. We at the Moment have conducted our own benchmark to see how additional memory will improve Windows 95 performance.

We found that with 16 Megabytes of Ram, most applications will run about twice as fast. The most significant improvement is in the Drag & Drop test, which indicates a six-fold speed increase. Why is this so? OLE (Object Linking & E mbedding) has to keeps track of a lot of information. This eats up a lot of memory which the computer needs to do its work.

With 16 MB, there is a lot less disk swapping, therefore increased speed. Another speed improvement that you literally see, is the opening and closing of windows. You can actually feel snappy win open and closing windows.

So for those who are itching to get more memory, here is what should you do. First, make sure you know what brand of computer you have and what kind of memory chips that your computer accepts. If you are not to sure, call the manufacturer. They definitely should know the right type of memory your computer can accept.

The two types of memory available for most computers are 36-pin and 72-pin memory chips (or SIMMs, which stands for Single Inline Memory Modules)

Second, shop around for a good price. As of now, a 4-megabyte SIMM costs about $140 through mail order chanels. (Most of you will need two 4 Megs SIMM for a typical 8 Megs upgrade.) The best way to check out the current pricing in this volatile memory m arket is to call up memory distributors directly request a price quote.

If you are frustrated with the speed of your computer under Windows 95, and are thinking about a faster video card, a faster hard drive, or a faster CPU, STOP THINKING. A memory upgrade is the single most effective upgrade you can make.