This guide has step by step instructions to help you figure out how much RAM your computer has and if you really need to upgrade it?

(A. Computer Memory)

BUT before we check current RAM (Memory) usage of your computer, lets define what "RAM" means and what it is used for?

RAM is short for Random Access Memory. It is a physical hardware piece installed inside your computer (Pic A above). RAM is somewhat similar to the short-term memory that a human brain uses for all of its computations that do not required permanent storage.

An example would be adding up prices on your grocery receipt. If you have good 'short term memory' you can do the addition in your head much faster than somebody like me, who can barely add two values at a time!

Most of the time, we do not need to remember the values on the receipt for ever, so our brain just "deletes" this information from its short term storage.

Similarly, RAM keeps the data stored in it as long as your computer is on. Once you turn your computer off, all data stored in RAM is 'deleted'.

(B. RAM Installed inside a computer)

So next time when you double click a program icon on your desktop, you know it is being loaded in RAM from hard drive and being executed by your computer. At this stage, if your computer can perform more calculations in its 'head', generally, it will perform better than any other computer with similar specifications!

Enough with the boring mumbo jumbo. Lets get moving to exciting stuff.

How is RAM measured? RAM is measured in KB (KiloBoytes), MB (MegaBytes) or GB (GigaBytes). One KB RAM can store 1024 bytes (characters). One MB RAM can store 1024KB (1,048,576 bytes) and finally one GB RAM can store 1024MB (1,073,741,824 bytes).

Since RAM prices have come down significantly; you can increase the performance of your computer by adding more RAM. If you are using Windows XP/2000 or Vista you should have at least 1GB RAM for a smooth computing experience.

How do I check current RAM usage on my PC? To check current Memory usage on a Windows Vista/XP/2000 computer:

Step 1: Right click on Task Bar (task bar is the grey or blue bar at the bottom of the screen) and left click on "Task Manager".
 

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