Making the most of your stuff. What the cr@p is RAM anyways?

This is written for those running Microsoft Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 7.

Now you've got your nice new computer or laptop etc, you'll start using the interweb, installing new software and storing all your music and your photos on it to show all your new internet chums!
After a while, usually about a year or so, you'll probably find your computer's gotten awful slow of late. So here's a series of vague tips on what you can do to get the most out of it with the minimum of effort or expense!
If you'd like more detail on any of this, feel free to ask.

RAM's often a good place to start, it means Random Access Memory I think. Or something like that.
Think of it as short term memory, it remembers everything you're trying to do right now. It doesn't store your pictures or anything. Edit a letter, a spreadsheet, check your e-mails and your facebook. It all eats your RAM up.

First of all, how much RAM have you got and how much of it is in use?
To find out how much you've got, right click on My Computer (you can find it on the Start Menu) and select Properties from the menu.
Somewhere on that page, you'll find how much RAM is installed in your computer. Write that down, you'll need to remember it for later.
One day when you're using your computer and getting annoyed at how sluggish it is, hold down the Ctrl-Shift-Escape keys to open the task manager. Up pops some scary and important looking graphs (if not, click the
Performance tab to see them).
Watch the bottom chart for a minute or so. Compare the highest number you've seen on the chart, to the number you wrote down before. If your computer's using more RAM than you've got, it'll be slow.

So there's two ways to deal with this, there's the throw money at it route of just buying more RAM. Not that expensive now (why not ask for a quote eh?), and easy to install yourself if you're feeling brave (Or you could
just ask me for a quote. Did I mention that already?). I often use Crucial RAM in the average PC, it's good stuff for the money.
Prices for this option (if you use me, of course, I can't speak for all the other geeks like me) start from about £30 for parts and labour. As per usual with these things, the sky's the limit depending on what you've got
already, and how flush you're feeling this month. I'd say the average is about £40 though, in case that helps.

Right, if you made it through that, and you're not brain dead, stay tuned for more nerdish tips!