slow windows xp

[gfield50]

when I put win xp in high resolution 1280 X 1024 windows really slows down.
I have
1 gig of ram and an old video card and 2800 amd athlon. What would speed it
up more. More ram (to 2 gig ) or a better video card (256 mb)

[Ken Blake, MVP]

gfield50 wrote:

> when I put win xp in high resolution 1280 X 1024 windows really slows
> down. I have
> 1 gig of ram and an old video card and 2800 amd athlon. What would
> speed it up more. More ram (to 2 gig ) or a better video card
> (256 mb)


First, do not assume that adding more RAM will speed it up at *all*. In
fact, it probably will not. Despite what many people tell you, more RAM is
not always better (although it never hurts). The issue is with the page file
and with what applications you run. If the apps you run need more RAM than
what you have, Windows will use the page file instead and since that's on a
hard drive--an electromechanical device instead of an electronic one--it
slows you down. If you are in that situation, more RAM will improve
performance. However if you already have enough RAM to keep you from using
the page file, more RAM does almost nothing for you.

How much RAM you need to keep you from using the page file significantly
depends on what apps you run. For most people who run a mix of common
business applications, somewhere between 256-512MB is all that's needed.
Only if you run very memory-hungry applications--doing things like editing
large photographic images or videos--will more than 512MB help you
appreciably. Since you already have twice that amount, more RAM will
probably not do anything for you.

On the other hand, a faster video card will very likely improve
performance--especially considering your description of the symptoms.

--
Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
Please reply to the newsgroup

[smlunatick]

The preoblem "seems" to originate with the old video card. The card,
or drivers, seem to choke at that resolution. If you can, you could
try to update the drivers. If none are available, then you should get
a newer video card, one with way more memory than your current one.


gfield50 wrote:
> when I put win xp in high resolution 1280 X 1024 windows really slows down.
> I have
> 1 gig of ram and an old video card and 2800 amd athlon. What would speed it
> up more. More ram (to 2 gig ) or a better video card (256 mb)