What size memory and hard drive should I get?
THE OLD DAYS
These figures represent the amount of memory needed to get adequate performance on the average PC of its era. Early 1990s Windows 3.1, 8megs of RAM 560meg HD. Late 95-97 Windows 95 16/32megs RAM min,1gig min HD. For Graphics, Photo editing, latest games (1995), etc. 64megs RAM min 5gig HD.
TODAY
Hard Drives are getting very inexpensive. The average price for a 250gig is around $150 and for $100 more you can double that to 400gigs. Transferring your C: drive data to a new fast hard drive makes a big difference. Don’t let someone sell you a fast hard drive and install it as a slave to your old one. Sure its easy, as the tech doesn’t have to copy the data from old to new hard drive, but your C: drive should always be the fastest since the Windows system files are on there. My recommendation; Get at least 250gigs. When it comes to Memory, the more the merrier. With Windows 2000/XP a minimum of 512 megs is required for smooth operation. Insufficient memory forces Windows to store parts of programs on the hard drive which is both bad for the drive and slows the system greatly (Otherwise known as Drive Thrashing). 2 512meg chips are the best way to go as while only one chip is necessary on most PCs certain motherboards can take advantage of a 2 chip memory installation by increasing the data flow..