Laptop Ram Upgrade for DJ Software.

[paddymph]

Hey guys, help me out will you? My Laptop specs:

Toshiba Satellite L300D 243, AMD Athlon Dual Core QL-64. 2.10Ghz, 3.00 GB Ram, Windows Vista 32 Bit.

I've recently upgraded my dj software to Traktor Pro 2, which although is running isn't really working properly due to audio dropouts caused by latency.


Traktor Pro 2 requirements are:
Windows 7 (32/64 Bit), 2.0 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo or AMD Athlon 64 X2, 2 GB RAM (4 GB recommended).

So, according to this I have enough processing power but less than ideal RAM. Question is, can I (or should I) upgrade the RAM? Without taking laptop apart how do I know if there's room? Should I upgrade to Windows 7?

 

[st3ve]

There should be a cover that you can remove which should be held down by no more than about two screws to reveal your RAM and possibly the HDD.

You'd have to upgrade to Windows 7 64bit because the OS you have now can't utilise anymore than 3.2gb of RAM.

 

[paddymph]

Nice one Steve.

As usual I've fucked up then and already bought the extra 2 gig from eBay. Looks like ill have to buy windows 7 too. FFS!!

 

[adamlstr]

Nice one Steve.

As usual I've f**ked up then and already bought the extra 2 gig from eBay. Looks like ill have to buy windows 7 too. FFS!!

There's plenty of 'other' ways to get Win7 64-bit for free.

 

[Martin_172]

i would aquire windows 7 64 bit as above, however ebuyer are doing some cheap deals on win 7 at the moment clearing stock since windows 8 is now about to be released.

crucial says your max ram for that model is 4GB

if you need more than that i would stick it on ebay and buy yourself a used Thinkpad T61 and stick 8gb ram in it.

 

[paddymph]

That was my next question. Will it auto install over vista? Keeping my music etc?

 

[paddymph]

Ah this is turning into bit of a nightmare.

You can't upgrade from 32 to 64 bit. You need to do a clean install. Which means I need an external drive...? To move my music too before wiping?

Also, how do I know if my PC will run 64bit anyway?

 

[Jay_G]

You "can" do a fresh I stall, without formatting. It just writes over your windows folders, and everything else stays the same (including users etc)

It's not the proper way of doing it, but it works. When you install the new windows, choose a completely different username to what you had before, otherwise it could overwrite the old one.

All your program's, music etc will still be on the HD, just not "installed" as it where.

 

[paddymph]

Can anyone confirm whether I CAN install 64 bit windows 7 on my laptop? I'm getting mixed reports when I check online?

 

[paddymph]

You "can" do a fresh I stall, without formatting. It just writes over your windows folders, and everything else stays the same (including users etc)

It's not the proper way of doing it, but it works. When you install the new windows, choose a completely different username to what you had before, otherwise it could overwrite the old one.

All your program's, music etc will still be on the HD, just not "installed" as it where.

But that's to only go from 32bit to 32 bit isn't it? I've confirmed the pc will do 64 bit. Are you saying install 32 bit windows 7 and then when it's all running go and upgrade to 64?

 

[Ed.200]

You cannot upgrade directly from a 32 bit to 64 bit, its not possible, the only way is from a full clean fresh install, and this is the best way to do it, keeps it clean from the outset and minimizes the possibilities for complications.

But if you are into music etc and have a lot of it, you should take a backup if you are concerned that you may lose it, regardless of doing this upgrade or not. You can do no harm in getting an external hard drive, such as a Western Digital Passport, they are about £85 for 1TB now.

 

[paddymph]

Got ya.

So the plan.
Put music on external drive.
Upgrade ram to 4gb.
Then install windows 7.

I think! This is why people give in and just buy a new laptop!

 

[Jay_G]

But that's to only go from 32bit to 32 bit isn't it? I've confirmed the pc will do 64 bit. Are you saying install 32 bit windows 7 and then when it's all running go and upgrade to 64?

I'm not talking about an upgrade mate. If you boot from the CD, install a fresh copy as you normally would, and choose not to format the hard drive, you can do what I said.

 

[paddymph]

That sounds ideal Jay if I can do that

 

[Jay_G]

I'm 99.99999% sure you can do it. It renames your old windows folder to windows.old, and everything on your hard drive is still there (as in folders and directories), but no games or program's will be installed. It would be like copying it all on there.

Just take your time with the setup, and just double triple check your not formatting.

I would test it, but don't have a 32bit windows that can upgrade to 64bit..

And just to repeat my self, don't use the same user name on the fresh Install

 

[paddymph]

Cheers mate. I'm gonna give it a go tomorrow then...!

 

[st3ve]

I'm pretty sure I've installed Windows 7 64bit over a windows vista 32bit before and not lost any data.

It asks you what you want to do before you install it. Just make sure you don't click the wrong thing.

 

[paddymph]

Well just backing up my music now So will try in a minute. I best make a back up disc too actually in case this goes pear shaped!

 

[Jay_G]

You doing it the way I said paddy?

 

[paddymph]

In the process mate!

 

[Darren S]

64-bit really is the way to go for music apps these days - especially if you're into decent sampling/editing of sounds. Some of those can literally be HUGE when layered and the memory limit of 32-bit just creates a lack of headroom.

One of my m8's is ditching his 4GB setup as we speak, for a 16GB one - purely for audio work.

D.

 

[paddymph]

Argh.

It's not booting from the cd/DVD drive. I've changed it In bios to look there first. . .?

 

[Jay_G]

Did you make the DVD/cd your self?

 

[paddymph]

Looks like its a no go.

"Error. The version of this file is not compatible with the version of windows you're running. Check our computers system information to see whether you need an x86 (32-bit) or x64 (64-bit) version of the program"

I got that when I ran the exe prog from desktop.

 

[paddymph]

Did you make the DVD/cd your self?

Yup

 

[Jay_G]

You won't be able to run it from the desktop, you have to boot from it.

How did you make the cd mate?

 

[paddymph]

Yea I just figured that. Thick as fuk with computers me.

I acquired a copy of windows 7 and burnt the ISo using poweriso.

 

[Jay_G]

Yea I just figured that. Thick as fuk with computers me.

I acquired a copy of windows 7 and burnt the ISo using poweriso.

To be honest mate, that should be fine. That's how I always do it, it's the easiest way. Perhaps the ISO you got wasn't bootable?

Try and get one that is, PM me if you need help.

 

[paddymph]

Nothing working. Won't boot from USB or the disk. I put the ISo file (and subfolders) o the disc but still no joy.

Think ill do the decent thing and purchase.

 

[Jay_G]

Nothing working. Won't boot from USB or the disk. I put the ISo file (and subfolders) o the disc but still no joy.

Think ill do the decent thing and purchase.

Won't be able to drag them mate. You will have to properly burn the ISO. You need a tool from Microsoft to make a USB bootable.

 

[paddymph]

Jay thanks for all ur help. It's finally installing.


I did everything right BUT I didn't burn the ISo as an image file. Sweet. See if works soon!

 

[paddymph]

Success!!!. Windows 7 64bit installed over vista 32bit. As you said the old files went into a folder named "windows old".

Music is still on my laptop too. Can I delete that old windows folder (containig vista) now?

 

[Jay_G]

No problem mate! I knew it was possible all along! Yeah, windows.old can be deleted whenever you want.
Just so you know, you would be better off installing any program's you want to use again, not running the old version in c:/program files (files left over from previous windows Install)You can keep any save games pr anything like that though!

Glad you sorted it

 

[Darren S]

Tbh paddy - if you get the chance, I'd pickup 2x 4GB PC2-6400 SODIMMs to max out your laptop and give your 8GB in total.

You might have missed the boat in terms of memory spec vs price now. DDR2 is older memory and the prices creep up as it's becoming rarer to find. Might be worth checking eBay every now and then though - as I think circa £50 for just one stick of 4GB is a little too pricey.

D.

 

[paddymph]

Alright Darren.

I'm not sure there's room under that flap for 2x4 Gig cards is there? Otherwise yea, I'd deffo go for it, the more the better as this dj software is pretty heavy duty.

 

[paddymph]

Oh. And it was 3gig originally but I bought a 2 gig board to take it to 4gig from eBay for 18quid

 

[Darren S]

Yeah - the main methods for fitting laptop memory (dependant on who makes it) - is to have two slots behind an access flap, underneath the laptop. The other (slightly more irritating way) is to have one free slot underneath the laptop and the other factory-fitted module, situated beneath the keyboard.

Mainstream manufacturers - such as Toshiba in your case - are pretty logical in providing ease of access to the internals on a laptops. Cheaper ones can be a right PITA!

As mentioned with your older PC2 spec memory being slightly more expensive these days - the current PC3 spec can be bought in 2x 4GB sticks for around £25.

D.

 

[Reev]

What soundcard are you using mate? If you're using the onboard soundcard and just doing A-B mixing then you could have just raised the latency time in Traktor's settings to get rid of the audio dropouts, rather than wiping your whole computer...

I've got an old (2008) Macbook with a 2.4 Core 2 Duo and 2GB RAM running Traktor 2 with no problems whatsoever, so processing power shouldn't really be the issue.

 

[paddymph]

I'm using the Kontrol S4 sound-card. I'm still getting USB data errors. The cracking noise..?

Pc now has 4gb RAM, windows 7. 2.2ghz dual core.

Latest drivers. Latest software. Wifi off, all background program's off. Don't get it..? Latency has been adjusted to ridiculous levels (as in 20+ ms) and still the same. Just don't get it..?

 

[Reev]

Hmm, that does sound odd. Had a quick look on the Traktor forums and found a big thread on this, seems it's a common problem. Doesn't seem to be a definitive answer though.