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QUESTION: Can you talk a little about memory? I have 64 megabytes of RAM and I was thinking about adding more. How much more should I add? How will additional memory help my computing experience? How do I know that it's time to add more?

ANSWER: You can never be too rich, too thin or have too much memory. The benefits of adding more memory to your computer are many but basically most of the improvements fall into the speed and capacity categories.

Most computers less than 2 years old, running modern operating systems and applications require at least 128 megabytes of memory. Yes it's true that companies like Microsoft and Apple claim their operating systems only require 32 or 64 megabytes but that's not being realistic. Granted Windows 98 for example, will run in 32 megabytes but not much else will run along with it. Each application you run requires additional memory and you'll probably run out of memory trying to run more than one application.

Virtual memory is space on a hard drive that is used to simulate memory. Unfortunately, hard drive access is at least 100 times slower than real memory. One of the first signs that you need to add more memory is speed. If things aren't running as fast as you'd like them to, chances are the bottleneck isn't your processor but rather a lack of memory. Adding an additional 64 megabytes of memory typically boosts a computer's performance by over 40 percent. And adding more can boost speeds to match a computer with a next speed level faster processor.

Another area that may show signs of speeding up is how fast images are redrawn and displayed on the screen. Although this task is primarily controlled by the computer's video card, check to see if it has room for additional video memory. Adding memory to the video card will certainly speed things up.

In the capacity category, adding more memory will let you run more applications concurrently. The advantages of running several applications at once should be obvious. Today's modern operating systems as well as newer ones on the horizon such as Mac OS X let you transfer data between applications and perform several tasks at the same time. All of these multitasking abilities require more memory.

An example of an average computing session consists of running a web browser and /or America Online, a word processor and perhaps some housekeeping utilities. Running such a session with the utmost speed requires at least 128 megabytes of memory. However, 256 megabytes is becoming the next minimum quantity so as to afford some elbow room just in case you need to run something else like an MP3 player, RealAudio or a graphics program, for example.

If you're planning to add more memory, it is critical that you add the right kind of memory for your particular make and model. Adding the wrong kind can severely damage both the new memory as well as your computer. One good source of memory that also offers expertise in identifying the right type of RAM for your computer is Crucial Technology. Entering your computer's make and model into Crucial's web site database will display the proper memory to order. Crucial is a division of Micron and is a memory manufacturer that ships directly to consumers. Crucial offers more than 32,000 upgrades for over 8,500 different computers, notebooks, servers and printers. According to Crucial, every memory chip is individually tested and comes with a lifetime warranty.

Buying a newer, faster computer is nice if you can afford it. But if it's less than 2 years old and only has 64 megabytes of memory, add another 64 or more. You'll breathe new life into your old clunker.

Crucial Technology, Inc. (800) 932-4995 www.crucial.com