Laptop questions

Ashok_2

After just calling Alienware for some help with my laptop they had me run some memory tests, and it's made me ask a few questions, I'd really appreciate it if you could help out and answer.

1) I noticed a lot of dusty fans etc.. at the back of my laptop, how can I go about cleaning them, and how would it effects computer performance? Is there anything else I can clean that would help too?
2) I had to perform some RAM tests, and I know I had 2GB of RAM, but there were 2 sticks (I guess 1GB each), but 4 slots, 2 slots are free, so does that mean I can use them up and put in new RAM? How would it effects the computer and what is the most I can put in?
3) Would my laptop run fine if I removed the battery and left it connected to the power source? Apparantly it will run faster as the laptop will not overhead, is this true?

Thankyou so much and Happy New Year!

abdulinyourface

1) use an air duster they are quite nifty
2) the extra slots are for memory sticks but your laptops motherboard may not be able to use more then its maximum capicity which very well could be 2GB. you need to check with your manufacturer on what the maximum ram your laptop can take. saying that 2gb currently is more than enough for what you need! I have 1gb on my laptop and that is doing pretty fine!
3) i dont know about this but the thing you have to be careful about here is if the power cord accidently comes out without the battery connected to it, the laptop will turn off automatically! therefore you will lose any work you have been working on. Is it a risk worth taking? My battery stays in and i dont notice anything different in speed but yes it does overheat.....but that is the nature of laptops and you have to make sure you provide adequate ventilation around the laptop and not put it near any heat sources i.e. your body

Ashok_2

abdulinyourface wrote:

1) use an air duster they are quite nifty
2) the extra slots are for memory sticks but your laptops motherboard may not be able to use more then its maximum capicity which very well could be 2GB. you need to check with your manufacturer on what the maximum ram your laptop can take. saying that 2gb currently is more than enough for what you need! I have 1gb on my laptop and that is doing pretty fine!
3) i dont know about this but the thing you have to be careful about here is if the power cord accidently comes out without the battery connected to it, the laptop will turn off automatically! therefore you will lose any work you have been working on. Is it a risk worth taking? My battery stays in and i dont notice anything different in speed but yes it does overheat.....but that is the nature of laptops and you have to make sure you provide adequate ventilation around the laptop and not put it near any heat sources i.e. your body

Thanks for taking the time to answer.
When you say air duster to you mean like compressed air spray - I have some of that but wasn't sure about how to go about using it, whether to open up the covers and then spray it (but not sure where to spray it at) or to leave it closed and spray..
According to crucial, I put my laptop details in, I only have 2 slots and maximum of 2GB (but there are definitely4 slots), if I can't use them for RAM is there anything else that can go in?
The charger and battery are not near to each other at all, so I'mnot sure it'll make a difference but I'll keep your advice just in case.

Avoriaz

Ashok wrote:

…..3) Would my laptop run fine if I removed the battery and left it connected to the power source? Apparantly it will run faster as the laptop will not overhead, is this true?..!

Do you mean overheat?

I doubt if removing the battery will make any difference, other than making the machine a bit lighter for travel purposes. But then you will always need a handy power supply and you run the risk of losing work as posted above.

Maybe removing the battery will assist the laptop cooling slightly but laptops are designed to have a battery installed. Most of the heat comes from the disk, processor and other chips and not from the battery. Unless someone more knowledgeable gives a good reason, I would leave it where it is.

If you meant overhead, I doubt the battery puts any significant load on the processor. If it does, you can probably disable power management.

Blacksheep1979

1. Airduster as mentioned or take case apart and have a good clean (but will probably void waranty)
2. Yes you could probably put more ram in, but although windows xp says it supports up to 4gb it doesn't and you probably won't get more than 2.75gb to show up so total waste.
3. Won't make any difference - well maybe a tiny bit but not noticably in any applications other than benchmarking and even then I doubt more than 0.1%.

If you want to see if no. 3 makes a difference try superpi or one of the sdmark tests with and without the battery in.