Memory vs Virus

 
Many users have noticed that their machines often slow down for no apparent reason. This may be virus related, or it may be a memory problem. Determining which one isn't very hard for the experienced user, but the inexperienced might have some difficulty. It's important to recognize the difference between malicious software, and lacking hardware.

While viruses can certainly make your computer run slow, there are usually other signs that accompany them. New icons on your desktop, odd behaviors, and programs telling you your machine is infected that you didn't install. These are all symptoms of a virus and can slow your machine down. However there is one other explanation for these slow downs that you need to consider.

I'm talking about your system memory, or RAM. RAM is an acronym that stands for Random Access Memory and is very important to your computer. Regardless of what operating system you use every machine uses RAM. When you save a document or project that you have been working on it is saved to the computers hard disk also known as a hard drive.

When your computer loads a program it is loaded into the systems RAM. Unlike a hard drive which is static memory, a RAM stick is volatile memory. When the power is turned off to your machine the information stored on the hard disk stays stored, whereas what's loaded into the RAM is erased. RAM is primarily used as a temporary storage medium on your machine to load and execute programs or commands.

Insufficient RAM can lead to your system slowing down, sometimes severely due to the requirements. For example, an older operating system may only need a minimum of 256 megabytes of RAM to function. This is the bare minimum without any noticeable slowdowns, you won't be doing much, but the machine will work. A newer operating system may require 1 gigabyte of RAM minimum, a gigabyte being 1024 megabytes.

Trying to install and run this operating system on a computer with 256 megabytes of RAM is not going to work well. The reason for this is that as operating systems advance there are a greater volume of programs that need to be loaded into the RAM. When you play a movie in a media player the movie is loaded into RAM for easy playback. Insufficient RAM leads to stuttering in movie playback, and requires you to pause until the system catches up.

When you don't have enough RAM the system uses what is known as virtual memory. This is a section of your hard drive that your operating system designates as temporary RAM. Nothing is kept permanently on this area, but it is much slower. It's generally a good idea to have double the amount of RAM your operating system requires to ensure the best performance.

Slowdowns from insufficient RAM or system memory can also affect web browsing, gaming, be the cause of errors, and other computer headaches. While it does resemble a virus in some aspects, it can be solved much easier. You simply buy a RAM stick, and plug it into an open slot. Or you buy a higher capacity RAM chip and replace your existing one.