Should I buy more memory or delete some programs?

Hi

My laptop runs slowly. How do I know if it is worth Buying new memory?

Would it be cheaper to delete some programs ?

How do I know which programs I can delete?

If I never use a particular program, does that mean that no other (important) program uses it?

How can I simply set up Win XP so that, if I delete a particular program and the system crashes, I can just quickly undelete it ?

 

If I were you I wouldn't go around deleting programs that aren't used by you because they can be system files. I would recommend only deleting programs that you know you have installed or laptop company specific ones that aren't useful (i.e. bloatware).

To check if you would indeed benefit from upgrading your ram, open up task manager and go to the performance tab while you are using your laptop in a normal scenario. It'll show the amount of your cpu usage and ram usage out of the total you have available. If you see your ram is hitting your max limit, you should upgrade (try keeping it dual channel).

If you happen to delete an important program you could end up crashing your system, and you would have to either use the windows disc to attempt to perform recovery/repair or have to do a fresh install of your OS. I would recommend backing up your important files before venturing into the unknown.

 

I think the OP doesn't mean RAM and instead means a larger hard drive.

 

First off, we need to determine WHY your laptop runs slowly.
When did this start happening?

If it's a software issue, then we need to know what's your laptop's configuration (What CPU, GPU, RAM, HDD you have)?
How many programs do you have running with Windows during startup and how much space is left on the HDD?

Buying new memory?
You have to be a lot clearer than that.
When you say 'memory', in IT terms, that usually refers to system RAM capacity.
If you are referring to the space available on the hard disk (where you install software and all), then that's a different issue.

Determining which software/programs to remove depends on the types of programs that are currently on your computer, which are used, which are not, etc...

 

to be fair there is not enough information to give a worthwhile answer.

A laptop running XP is bound to be old, Whilst I appreciate some people use XP over newer versions of windows I strongly supsect that the OP is purely running on from a laptop origianlly installed with XP.

I strongly recommmend running a clean install of windows and start fresh.

Backup personal data then run the OEM install from the laptop. This will most likely relieve your issues.

There is so many variables we need more info regarding the issues and how they relate,

Laptop specs
Programs installed
why its crashing?
Have you updated windows?
do you run virus checks?
Malware programs?

The list goes on.