Okay, I have a Laptop that died earlier this year & am getting a new one for Christmas (I'm not supposed to know that though), so I have little use for the RAM in the dead Laptop... while going to see my Parents (where I currently am), I decided to use their computer for a bit.... the thing is that the computer they have (& have had since maybe 2003) is insanely slow & in bad need of an upgrade (watching my mom try to pay bills & do online shopping was almost painful). So I think you all already know where I am going with this, but let me just spell it out in case you don't.... would it be possible to transfer the RAM from the old laptop to their computer?

Also as a bonus... what exactly is the benefit to using Virtual Memory? I never have fully understood it, so if you think it may help please tell me in this thread.

Thanks in advance.

You would need to check the model numbers of each laptop to see if the ram is compatible.

Do you have any idea of the info for each of them?

Edit: Also if your laptop was fairly recent and theirs is from 2003, the chances of being compatible are low, but it still can't hurt to check.

Also, virtual memory is when the system runs out of ram, so it starts putting blocks of ram that haven't been used in a while back on the hard drive in the virtual memory file.

It is slower than getting more ram, but it does let machines that run out of memory run stuff rather than just throwing up an error or closing programs.

Crucial has a great site where you can check the RAM specs for virtually every make and model of a computer. This way you can check to see if your laptop's RAM is compatible with your parents' computer (which I also assume is a laptop).

http://www.crucial.com/support/howmuch.aspx

If you're pulling laptop ram and putting into a desktop, then no, it won't work.

If you're pulling laptop ram and putting it into another laptop, then you have to check the specs like the others have suggested :)

To tell it in basic terms (not 100% accurate, but closest explination I can give), Virtual memory is when your computer sets aside a part of your hard drive to attempt to act like ram. It can help some, but don't expect it to do wonders.

99% that it won't work.

I've never seen a stick for a laptop being the same size as a stick for a desktop.

In laymans's terms Virtual Memory is a technology that uses your Hard Disk as an extra RAM, so if you are running too many programs at once or most modern programs on older PCs, they don't crash when you will reach RAM usage limit(they will run very slowly however, because Hard Disk is much more slower than RAM). It is enabled in OS by default, it's called pagefile, but you shouldn't disable it even if you have 8+ GB of RAM, due to program compatibility reasons(just leave it on automatic).

Adding more RAM might speedup your parents system, if the motherboard and CPU are compatible with it. For example if your laptop has DDR2 RAM it won't run on the system which supports only DDR SDRAM. What could help your parents is a fresh Windows reinstall, I bet through the years they installed tons of toolbars and other "useful" adware, also show them how to use Google Chrome as it should run better than the most modern browsers on the older PCs. If I was using that old computer I would install lightweight Linux like Puppy or Lubuntu, which can run on a potato pc with relatively good speed and you won't sacrifice security by using older OS. But these are parents... yet who knows, maybe they will like it?

This. Laptops use a more compact form factor for RAM than desktops.

Honestly at this point you are much more likely to do harm than any good. If it's that old, knowing enough about what you have and what it will take is going to be hard with not near enough payoff to bring them into modern computing.

If you want to help you're better off helping them buy a cheap ass modern computer, even if its used. If it really is from 2003, literally anything you buy now would smoke it, and provide a comfortable, bill paying, on-line shopping experience.

There is only so much you can do with a system that old. Even with a fresh install and ram upgrade it is still going to have issues with modern websites that use flash and lots of on screen graphics.

As others said it would only work if the RAM from your old laptop is compatible(It has to be the same type[DDR/DDR2/etc] as the RAM the other laptop uses, it needs to run at a clock speed(333 Mhz, 1033 Mhz, etc) that the other laptop is compatible with, and you also need available RAM slots for the RAM to slot into and memory "head room"(The maximum RAM you can install/how much the laptop's motherboard will use/recognize.) on the laptop you want to install the RAM in.

Tbh the chances of it being compatible are slim, and there are other options that would be easier. One such option is using Turbo Boost(I think that's the term.) if you have a spare usb thumb/flash drive lying around. In the newer OSs you can use a flash drive's memory kind of like having extra RAM(By plugging it into the PC's USB port and configuring it via the window that opens on the desktop when you plug it in.), and you don't have to worry about opening the unit up to do so.

Ultimately it's your call to decide what option you want to choose, but if you still want to go the adding more RAM route read the other replies ITT for more info on doing so.

Thanks for the info.... after reading this it seems futile to do it the way that I originally planned. Allocating more hard drive space to virtual memory (800MB-1000MB) has seemed to speed it up to the point where it is a noticeable improvement.... plus I found a 1gb stick of ram on Amazon that is compatible with their computer for only $15, so I might buy it & install it for them (I mean the computer only has 248MBs right now, so adding an extra GB should probably help quite a bit).

If it's the right type and speed it should work wonders....here's to hoping it all works out for you.

What OS are they running with that kind of memory? XP?

With so old PCs I usually get more concerned what OS they are running, ie. what do they use to do their online banking, buying stuff online with credit card etc. (Retrogaming machines where the user knows what he is doing are a different matter, I have a couple of PCs running XP and even Win98SE...)

That's why I usually opt to install some lightweight Linux on such old PCs, if upgrading them to e.g. Win7 or even Win8 is not an option (due to the price of the OS upgrade, or too old HW...). Then again, I am unsure what kind of lightweight Linux is happy with 248MB RAM. I have 768 MB RAM in one old PC where I am happily running the latest Linux Mint with XFCE (lightweight desktop), and a friend of mine is running some recent Ubuntu distro with even more lightweight desktop whose name I forget, on an old laptop with 512MB, and he is quite happy with it. But half of that...?

Sure you would have teach them a bit around in Linux then, but casual use like online banking doesn't really differ from Windows, as long as you teach them how to log into Linux, fire up Firefox, and shut down the PC afterwards. I bet teaching them Win8 UI would be more work. :)