Partition changes - Worth doing?

I have ordered 8GB of RAM, which I will put in before doing any new install

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Today, I showed what a novice I am - I received the 8Gb of RAM I ordered from ebay. I made sure it was DDR2, but didn't realise that DDR2 comes in different types for different kinds of machines. These were for servers only and cannot be used on a desktop PC!

On the plus side though, I looked at the RAM I removed from my late father's machine and found that it was DDR2 and not DDR3 as I previously thought. There were 2 x 0.5Gb cards and 2 x 2Gb cards. I popped the 2 x 2Gb cards into my machine, along with the 2 x 1GB cards already there. I expected to find I now had 6Gb of RAM, but apparently, I only have 4Gb. Not sure what has happened there, but it still means I have twice as much as before.

At the same time as installing the new memory, I also used an air duster to blow out as much of the crap inside my machine and the fans as possible!

I have now been using my machine for the past two hours, including watching some YouTube videos and so far, my machine seems to be running much better.

No need for a clean install!

Good move to get up to 4 GB of RAM on such an old PC.

DDR 3 was introduced in 2007, so a DDR 2 PC is older tech than that. I wouldn't put any more money into it other than possibly hard drives. But you can use it indefinitely as long it suits your purposes and the motherboard and CPU don't fail. It would be tough to find a replacement motherboard that used DDR 2 if you had a failure.

dalchina said:

Assuming your old PC was running a 32 bit O/S then you hit the limit at 4Gb

What is the difference between a 32-bit and 64-bit system?

Dalchina, you're a star! I wasn't too worried that I wasn't seeing all 6GB, as 4GB is still an improvement, but the link is a great read and makes perfect sense!

I'm not sure if I can move to 64 bit O/S. Checking my 'about', I see it says, "System Type: 32-bit operating system, x64-based processor". The first half of that is self-explanatory. Is the second half suggesting that my machine could operate the 64-bit version? If so, is this something that can be done as an upgrade? If it means buying and installing a new Windows version as a clean install, I think it's probably pointless. It looks like the last update failed and there's a message saying, "Your version of Windows has reached end of service. We recommend you update to the most recent version of Windows 10 to get the latest features and security improvements"

ignatzatsonic said:

Good move to get up to 4 GB of RAM on such an old PC.

DDR 3 was introduced in 2007, so a DDR 2 PC is older tech than that. I wouldn't put any more money into it other than possibly hard drives. But you can use it indefinitely as long it suits your purposes and the motherboard and CPU don't fail. It would be tough to find a replacement motherboard that used DDR 2 if you had a failure.

Yeah, I said it was an old machine
I've put an additional drive in, from my late father's machine, but my thoughts are much like yours - Don't throw money at it! I could go and get a cheap, refurbished PC from ebay, which would be a big improvement, but as long as I can get this one working OK (Seems to be OK this evening with the additional RAM and major clean - Man it was dirty in there ), then it pretty much serves my purpose and will probably do what's necessary until it finally logs off for good! I'll just make sure all my files are backed up regularly, ready for the day it dies

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buzzbee said:

I'm not sure if I can move to 64 bit O/S. Checking my 'about', I see it says, "System Type: 32-bit operating system, x64-based processor". The first half of that is self-explanatory. Is the second half suggesting that my machine could operate the 64-bit version? If so, is this something that can be done as an upgrade? If it means buying and installing a new Windows version as a clean install, I think it's probably pointless. It looks like the last update failed and there's a message saying, "Your version of Windows has reached end of service. We recommend you update to the most recent version of Windows 10 to get the latest features and security improvements"

Ignore me! I'm asking you to give me answers that I should at least be Googling first! A quick search has answered my questions...
How to upgrade from 32-bit to 64-bit version of Windows 10 | Windows Central

Now, I just need to decide if I can be bothered installing the clean version and starting from scratch!

I'd probably just continue with the PC as it is.

There are a few benefits to going to 64 bit, but they aren't earth-shaking and you have to weigh that against the time and possible frustration involved in a clean install.

Maybe you do it if you are a bit adventurous and don't have a hundred applications to reinstall and reconfigure. All with the understanding it's entirely optional and you may be volunteering for aggravation.