Switching RAM with another laptop?

Hi, I have a friend with a Dell laptop with 1GB of RAM, but considering that he's running Vista, that isn't enough (I'm aware 2GB minimum is recommended) so his PC runs slow with running even basic tasks. I had a Dell XPS laptop which is now broken, so really its only use now is for spare PC parts. I wanted to take the 2GB RAM out of that PC and swap it with the 1GB RAM in my friend's PC so that he has 2GB RAM on his PC. Are there any steps on what to do for this process, or do I simply shut his machine off, swap his old RAM for the new 2GB, than boot the PC up?
Help would be appreciated.

 

Well, you need to make sure the RAM of both machines are compatible with each other, and if they are, you can do a straight swap as you described.

 

Make sure the batteries are removed first from both!

All you need to 'make sure' is that they physically match: take out one stick from each and line them up to each other. If they are identical, then they will work.

Good luck.

 

lol, yea make sure the battery is out. make sure they are the same PIN number. you might not be able to see that very easily.

 

If they match in length and the exact position where the slot/space is in the middle, he/she won't need to count pins.

 

DDR1/DDR2/DDR3 have differently-located grooves along their length, so it's not physically possible to mix one with another - no need to count pins! I'd recommend checking the RAM types using a tool such as Speccy (link in signature) before going through the hassle of opening up both laptops, though.

While it is possible to switch around the RAM of two machines with the same DDR type, you should also pay some attention to the speed of each stick. If you put a faster stick in a laptop that can't support that fast of a speed, the RAM will run at the fastest possible speed. If you put a slower stick in a laptop that can support faster speeds, there will be a minor performance impact.

That said, usually quantity of RAM is more important than slight differences in speed, as RAM is pretty much never the bottleneck of a system.

 

It is called the key.

 

whoops, forgot about that

 

Thanks weinter!

 

It's called the key notch.

DDR1 and DDR2 SODIMMs are exactly alike in physical appearance. It will actually fit in.

Use Crucial memory finder as a reference.

 

Yeah, unfortunately DDR1 and DDR2 have the same number of pins and are keyed the same.

 

You cant use DDR2 in a computer that was designed for DDR1, soooo you cant just look at it and tell

 

I thought DDR2 was a 240-pin module, DDR is a 184-pin module ?

 

That's desktop modules. DDR1 and DDR2 modules are both 200 pin with the exact same key notch. I was saying you can't judge them by looks. Of course you cannot use DDR1 in DDR2 or vice versa but it WILL fit.

 

I thought the key notch between DDR1 and DDR2 SODIMMs was different, but maybe it's just for some, and isn't universal.

 

DDR and DDR2 sodimms are not physically identical - at least not any I've ever seen and/or worked with.

 

They are both 200 pin SO-DIMMS and the key notch is exactly the same place. Trust me you can fit them DDR1 into DDR2 and vice versa, not like you should be doing that.

 

You may be able to force DDR2 into DDR slots and vice versa, but that doesn't mean they're identical.


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See:
DDR RAM, DDR2 RAM and DDR3 RAM Difference For Laptops