Ask Leo! #391 - Memory versus memory, filling up unused email accounts, disabling your touchpad and more... - Confident Computing

The Ask Leo! Newsletter

*** Featured

How do different memory options interact with one another?

Would it be possible to explain how different memory options interact with one another?

For example, suppose a computer has 2GB installed RAM and a 1GB Nvidia graphics card:

What data gets stored in RAM and what data gets stored in the graphics card?
Does a portion of the 2GB RAM still get set aside (memory mapping?) because of the 1GB Nvidia?
What happens if a 4GB (or 2GB or 8GB) flash drive is plugged in and used as Ready Boost?
Which computer would provide the best performance and why:
- 4GB RAM + 2GB graphics card
- 2GB RAM + 2GB graphics card + (at least) 2GB flash Ready Boost

I'm thinking I should know the answers, but I'm just not getting my head wrapped around all of this.

You're most certainly not alone. The concept of memory in it's various flavors, forms, and guises can be very confusing. Add some marketing-speak and ... well, it's enough to test your memory, that's for sure.

So, I'll review the difference between the memory in your system versus the memory in your video card and why they sometimes overlap.

And then I'll look at ReadyBoost and discuss why it doesn't really relate to either.

Continue reading: How do different memory options interact with one another?
http://ask-leo.com/C5827

* * *

*** Answercast

Answercast #54 - Encrypted ethernet? Audio reverb, fading wi-fi, unused emails, MSE out of date and more...

Do you ever wonder if your ethernet can get encrypted or what "port" numbers for email mean? Is your Google search hijacked or a disk causing a blue screen? Want to protect online images or stop audio reverb? All that and more in this Answercast from Ask Leo!

Continue reading: Answercast #54 - Encrypted ethernet? Audio reverb, fading Wi-Fi, unused emails, MSE out of date and more...
http://ask-leo.com/C5824

Google search does nothing. How do I fix that?
Sometimes "drive-by toolbar downloads" can interfere with the way that your browser handles search and/or the Google.com page. We'll look for a fix.
Continue reading: Google search does nothing, how do I fix that?
http://ask-leo.com/C5825

How do I disable the touchpad if it's not in my Control Panel?
The first suggestion is to make sure that you've got the correct device drivers installed for your mouse and track pad.
Continue reading: How do I disable the touchpad if it's not in my Control Panel?
http://ask-leo.com/C5826

Microsoft Security Essentials says I'm at risk, but won't scan because it's out of date. What do I do?
Normally, Microsoft Security Essentials should handle updating itself properly, but reinstalling might do the trick.
Continue reading: Microsoft Security Essentials says I'm at risk, but won't scan because it's out of date. What do I do?
http://ask-leo.com/C5828

Why does my ISP-given email account fill up if I don't use it?
Different ISPs keep your email for different lengths of time... but you really needn't worry about it!
Continue reading: Why does my ISP-given email account fill up if I don't use it?
http://ask-leo.com/C5829

Why does my audio echo and reverb when I play video clips?
Sometimes, audio hardware can be instructed to loop an output back into an input, which can result in pretty much what you've just described.
Continue reading: Why does my audio echo and reverb when I play video clips?
http://ask-leo.com/C5830

How do I prevent pictures of my paintings for sale on eBay from being copied?
The best you can do is to work with the system and display images in a way that works in your favor.
Continue reading: How do I prevent pictures of my paintings for sale on eBay from being copied?
http://ask-leo.com/C5831

Defragging my hard disk blue screens, what do I do?
The big risk is that this kind of a blue screen when you're defragging, indicates a physical problem with the hard disk. Backup right away!
Continue reading: Defragging my hard disk blue screens, what do I do?
http://ask-leo.com/C5832

How do I tell if my ethernet is encrypted?
Ethernet LAN does not imply (or provide) any encryption. It is simply a method to get data packets from point A to Point B. It's up to you to set up any encryption.
Continue reading: How do I tell if my ethernet is encrypted?
http://ask-leo.com/C5833

How do I switch to an encrypted connection to my ISP's email servers?
Encrypting a connection to your mail server requires more than just checking a box. Different ISPs have enabled it in different ways and on different ports.
Continue reading: How do I switch to an encrypted connection to my ISP's email servers?
http://ask-leo.com/C5834

Why is my Wi-Fi signal stronger and weaker at different times?
Two factors affecting wifi strength could be the amount of metal construction, or the number of electronic devices, between the antenna and the computer.
Continue reading: Why is my Wi-Fi signal stronger and weaker at different times?
http://ask-leo.com/C5835

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*** Last Issue's Articles

*** Comments

Is it worth getting a high-speed router or switch?

James writes:

Ron,

The general rule of thumb is that networks (inter- and intra-) always operate at the speed of the slowest device. Your ISP has already determined the maximum speed of your internet connection. So you can get a faster modem/router, but if it's faster than the ISP's pre-determined speed, it won't work any faster.

Like Leo said, there's not much you can do about your internet speed unless you are willing to pay more money to your ISP for a faster connection. Certainly if your old modem is slower than the speed determined by the ISP, then yes, upgrade; otherwise it's pointless as far as trying to get faster internet.

If There's Only One Copy, It's Not Backed Up. Why Is That So Hard?

Ken B writes:

Speaking of digital cameras...

I've seen too many people who copy the pictures/videos from the camera to their computer, and then reformat the camera's memory card / drive / whatever, to make room for new pictures/videos. Even if you back up your computer regularly, there is still some period of time between when it's deleted from the camera and it's backed up from your computer, where you're back to the "if there's only one copy..." scenario. (I've seen it happen, where the pictures in question were the last ones of their recently-deceased pet. Fortunately, it was only the O/S itself that was lost, and the pictures were still recoverable.)

So, make sure you don't delete your camera's files until *after* they are backed up from your computer!

Why does it take so long for webpages to load?

David writes:

Here's another potential: Too many tabs open in your web browser.

I had someone alert me that their machine was browsing slowly - when I arrived I discovered they had 35 tabs open on their web browser.

Each time they restarted their browser, they told it to open all of the tabs from the previous session.

After a demonstration of "Favorites", and the difference in performance when only opening a couple of tabs, they were back in business with speedy browsing.

If There's Only One Copy, It's Not Backed Up. Why Is That So Hard?

Mark J writes:

Speaking of a thesis, that reminds me of a movie i saw a while back "With Honors" with Brendan Fraser and Joe Pesci when Brendan Fraser's computer crashes, he runs out to Kinkos to copy his only paper copy and Breaks his leg and loses his original to Joe Pesci who holds the paper hostage. When I saw that movie way back 18 years ago I though he shoulda had a few backups on diskette. I don't think enough can be said for the DropBox option. I would say that most people probably don't have more than 2GB of working files apart from photos and other Media files. I personally have my DropBox folder as my working directory. I also use Macrium Reflect on a rotation of 2 external drives and subscribe to BackBlaze on line backup (Carbonite is also good). I used to only back up my data, which worked fine for me and I never lost any data doing that. But due to Leo's recommendation of incremental backup, I got Macrium and it was well worth the investment in the time it saved me from having to install all of my programs from scratch.

*** Leo Recommends

Fujitsu ScanSnap - A Fast, Sheet-fed Document Scanner

This might appeal to only a small portion of my audience, but I've fallen in love with this device, and wanted to share it with those who'd find it as useful as I do.

I'm all about computers; I think you get that. But that also means that I'm all about using them - particularly when it comes to documents and document management. I find digital documents easier to store, backup and search than their paper counterparts. In general, I'd much prefer someone send me an email or give me an electronic copy of whatever document they're wanting to share - no need to waste paper for me.

On the other hand, between home ownership, running a couple of businesses and more, people are sending me paper every day. Paper that, in all honesty, I should keep - at least for a while. And yet, I'd really rather not.

You might guess that my ideal would be to scan all those documents into digital form, and then discard or shred the physical paper in favor of storing and backing up the documents on my computer. The problem is that traditional flatbed scanners are slow and cumbersome for any volume of scanning. And slow. Did I mention slow? And cumbersome?

The Fujitsu ScanSnap solves those issues.

Continue reading: Fujitsu ScanSnap - A Fast, Sheet-fed Document Scanner
http://ask-leo.com/C3552

Each week I recommend a specific product or resource that I've found valuable and that I think you may as well. What does my recommendation mean?

Share!:

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*** Featured

How do different memory options interact with one another?

Would it be possible to explain how different memory options interact with one another?

For example: suppose a computer has 2GB installed RAM and a 1GB Nvidia graphics card:

What data gets stored in RAM and what data gets stored in the graphics card?
Does a portion of the 2GB RAM still get set aside (memory mapping?) because of the 1GB Nvidia?
What happens if a 4GB (or 2GB or 8GB) flash drive is plugged in and used as Ready Boost?
Which computer would provide the best performance and why:
- 4GB RAM + 2GB graphics card
- 2GB RAM + 2GB graphics card + (at least) 2GB flash Ready Boost

I'm thinking I should know the answers but I'm just not getting my head wrapped around all of this.

You're most certainly not alone. The concept of "memory", in it's various flavors, forms and guises, can be very confusing. Add some marketing-speak and ... well, it's enough to test your memory, that's for sure.

So, I'll review the difference between the memory in your system versus the memory in your video card, why they sometimes overlap.

And then I'll look at ReadyBoost, and discuss why it doesn't really relate to either.

Continue reading: How do different memory options interact with one another?
http://ask-leo.com/C5827

* * *

*** Answercast

Answercast #54 - Encrypted ethernet? Audio reverb, fading wi-fi, unused emails, MSE out of date and more...

Do you ever wonder if your ethernet can get encrypted or what "port" numbers for email mean? Is your Google search hijacked, or a disk causing a blue screen? Want to protect online images or stop audio reverb? All that and more in this Answercast from Ask Leo!

Continue reading: Answercast #54 - Encrypted ethernet? Audio reverb, fading wi-fi, unused emails, MSE out of date and more...
http://ask-leo.com/C5824

Google search does nothing, how do I fix that?
Sometimes "drive-by toolbar downloads," can interfere with the way your browser handles search and/or the Google.com page. We'll look for a fix.
Continue reading: Google search does nothing, how do I fix that?
http://ask-leo.com/C5825

Microsoft Security Essentials says I'm at risk, but won't scan because it's out of date. What do I do?
Normally Microsoft Security Essentials should handle updating itself properly, but reinstalling might do the trick.
Continue reading: Microsoft Security Essentials says I'm at risk, but won't scan because it's out of date. What do I do?
http://ask-leo.com/C5828

Why does my audio echo and reverb when I play video clips?
Sometimes audio hardware can be instructed to loop an output back into an input, which can result in pretty much what you've just described.
Continue reading: Why does my audio echo and reverb when I play video clips?
http://ask-leo.com/C5830

How do I prevent pictures of my paintings for sale on eBay from being copied?
The best you can do is to work with the system - and display images in a way that works in your favor.
Continue reading: How do I prevent pictures of my paintings for sale on eBay from being copied?
http://ask-leo.com/C5831

Defragging my hard disk blue screens, what do I do?
The big risk is that this kind of a blue screen, when you're defragging, indicates a physical problem with the hard disk. Backup right away!
Continue reading: Defragging my hard disk blue screens, what do I do?
http://ask-leo.com/C5832

Why is my WiFi signal stronger and weaker at different times?
Two factors affecting wifi strength could be the amount of metal construction, or the number of electronic devices, between the antenna and the computer.
Continue reading: Why is my WiFi signal stronger and weaker at different times?
http://ask-leo.com/C5835

*** Our Sponsor

The Best of Ask Leo!
Like what you see in this newsletter?

Subscribe to The Best of Ask Leo!
One complete, hand-picked article every week from the Ask Leo! archives.

The Best of Ask Leo!

Advertisement. Ask Leo about advertising here.

*** Last Issue's Articles

*** Comments

Is it worth getting a high-speed router or switch?

James writes:

Ron,

If There's Only One Copy, It's Not Backed Up. Why Is That So Hard?

Ken B writes:

Speaking of digital cameras...

So, make sure you don't delete your camera's files until *after* they are backed up from your computer!

Why does it take so long for webpages to load?

David writes:

Here's another potential: Too many tabs open in your web browser.

I had someone alert me that their machine was browsing slowly - when I arrived I discovered they had 35 tabs open on their web browser.

Each time they restarted their browser, they told it to open all of the tabs from the previous session.

After a demonstration of "Favorites", and the difference in performance when only opening a couple of tabs, they were back in business with speedy browsing.

If There's Only One Copy, It's Not Backed Up. Why Is That So Hard?

Mark J writes:

*** Leo Recommends

Fujitsu ScanSnap - A Fast, Sheet-fed Document Scanner

This might appeal to only a small portion of my audience, but I've fallen in love with this device, and wanted to share it with those who'd find it as useful as I do.

The Fujitsu ScanSnap solves those issues.

Continue reading: Fujitsu ScanSnap - A Fast, Sheet-fed Document Scanner
http://ask-leo.com/C3552

Each week I recommend a specific product or resource that I've found valuable and that I think you may as well. What does my recommendation mean?

Share!:

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