With the way technology is headed, how do you know what size memory is needed for your computer? For example, if you use your computer quite often then chances are that you will need a memory upgrade. One way to determine this would be if your computer is running slower than it used to, or two programs cannot run at the same time without trouble. It is possible that your memory has come close to full capacity. The more programs that you install and run, along with the files and photos that are stored on your computer, the less memory is available for use. This causes a lot of frustration due to computer crashing, slower performance and difficulty installing new programs.

Before buying more memory for your computer, you might consider making some changes. You can put files on a disc and free up that room by deleting the files that are now stored on a disc. Now that space is available for programs or new files that you need. Another option is to go to the start menu on your desktop and click control panel, and click uninstall programs. You can view which programs that you do not use and remove them, this will also free up some memory. You may have a lot of temporary files that are interfering with computer performance and delete these. This will also free up space that you need.

If you don't want to delete unused programs or burn files to a disc, there are other options such as review how much memory is available for your computer. Another way is find out if all memory slots are in use already, if not then you could buy more memory and install into the slots for memory. For example if your computer has the slots for 2GB of memory but you only have 1GB installed then you can upgrade to gain 50% more memory on your computer. When you are ready to purchase memory it is best to go to a certified computer supply center and ask for the memory upgrade for your specific computer make and model.

If you have basic knowledge of how a computer works then chances are that you can install memory upgrade yourself. Let's say for example that you want to buy memory to expand to 3 or 4GB, you may want to call a specialist to install or if you just don't feel comfortable trying to install yourself, it may be best to have a specialist install the memory upgrade.

Another tip would be if you started to do the task yourself, but found that the installation is more involved than you anticipated, it is a good practice to call a specialist. It is better to be safe than sorry, such as you continue to try to install and find that now the computer will not turn on, chances are something was not installed correctly, or possibly you disconnected something that shouldn't have been disconnected. If in doubt, call a specialist.