Ways to 'deal with' only 4GB of Memory on a laptop

[Sarra]

So, a laptop with 4GB of memory is a terrible time. I do mean, TERRIBLE. However, I don't have any option for upgrading the RAM, it's soldered, and I actually do need this machine. It has a very specific purpose...

 

This thing is constantly running out of RAM. At one point, the page file was 32gb. Right now, my second desktop is dead, gone, and never coming back, so I'm using this little garbage laptop to run a single 24" 1080p monitor, for watching youtube, basic web surfing, netflix, music, etc. The problem is, it's such a pile, I cannot actually play Youtube content at 1080p, and 720p is... Hit or miss. 480p is reasonable, but it still frameskips and stuff like that, and it's annoying.

 

Is there anything I can do to get reasonable performance from this thing? If not, I'll hopefully be getting a new gaming PC, and my old PC will be taking over the 24" monitor... But until then, I have to make do. >_>

[Orange1]

Install Linux

There are minimalistic distros

[Sarra]

Just now, Orange1 said:

Install Linux

There are minimalistic distros

Issues: 1) I only have a 256gb drive

2) I actually require Windows for the purpose I originally purchased this machine

[Fasauceome]

are you paging on a hard drive, or an SSD?

[Sarra]

Just now, Fasauceome said:

are you paging on a hard drive, or an SSD?

It's an SSD, but it's using SATA III

[aisle9]

Depends on the OS. If you're not married to W10, there are plenty of Linux distros out there that softly sip on your RAM, leaving lots left over for programs.

 

If you are married to W10, the best things you can do are to switch to an SSD (this makes a huge difference by itself), clean out damn near every program you don't need including the Windows preloads, then go in and absolutely nuke any programs in your startup list that you don't absolutely need starting up with Windows. If a program isn't running, it's not consuming memory, and if it's not allowed to start up by itself...I do this with OneDrive, for example, on every PC that I don't need to have actively syncing OneDrive on a constant basis.

[dizmo]

There's issues somewhere; either with the PC, or with how you're using it.

I had a laptop with 4GB of RAM, and didn't have the issues you're stating.

[Orange1]

Lean your machine out, start deleting programs

 

15 minutes ago, Sarra said:

It has a very specific purpose...

 

4 minutes ago, dizmo said:

There's issues somewhere; either with the PC, or with how you're using it.

I had a laptop with 4GB of RAM, and didn't have the issues you're stating.

He wont specifically say what he's using it for.

Edited November 1, 2020 by SansVarnic
Merged Comments

[aisle9]

4 minutes ago, dizmo said:

There's issues somewhere; either with the PC, or with how you're using it.

I had a laptop with 4GB of RAM, and didn't have the issues you're stating.

How recently though? The newest build of W10 has been a memory hog for me on a few different machines. My ThinkPad X61T (spectacular example, I know) was able to run the first several builds of W10 with minimal fuss. It did get fussy at times depending on what program I was trying to use, but it could hold its own well enough for what I used it for. With the newest build of W10, even running an SSD with the maxed-out 4GB of RAM, forget it. The X61T is now a full-time Linux toy.

 

To be clear, I've noticed increased RAM usage on more modern machines as well, one with an i7-6700T and 16GB and one with an R5 1600 and 32GB. It's not enough to slow them down, of course, but it is noticeable in Task Manager.

[SansVarnic]

@Sarra please provide more information on the issue so other members can assist you.

[Sarra]

4 minutes ago, Orange1 said:

Lean your machine out, start deleting programs

 

 

He wont specifically say what he's using it for.

Oh. Yeah, I got an ancient program I use to tune my Subaru. It doesn't work with Linux. I also have a program that works with an OBDII cable for reflashing the ECU, and that program also isn't compatible with Linux.

 

I've leaned everything out that I can, but this thing is still a pig. It did this on an old Win 10 install, and also with the brand new install, which was fresh from a Win 10 install disc, even after I cleaned out the plethora of garbage that Microsoft installs with Win 10.

 

Edit: Another issue I've got is programs hanging. I was trying to disconnect PIA's client, and connect to another server, but the program was hung. I ended it in task manager, and relaunched it, but it was still totally borked, so I had to actually reboot the machine to get PIA to work right. =\ Literally nothing is open on this, except Firefox with 3 tabs, PIA, and maybe Winamp.

[Energycore]

There's a couple things you can do.

 

- Install Linux. Ubuntu or Mint are OSs that take less resources than Windows and will alleviate your problem by a bit. ChromeOS is another alternative if you like Google's integration and don't mind their telemetry.

 

If you absolutely need Windows for some programs, you can dual boot provided you have a 240GB+ SSD (you should be able to easily upgrade this). Dual booting Linux + Windows is pretty easy; I just did it myself for the first time today and all I had to do was follow a guide step by step.

 

- Stop using Chrome. It's the one browser that consumes the most memory out of the popular options, no kidding. Edge and Firefox are fine. If you like the Chrome-like UI, Vivaldi is based on Chromium but it's much better optimized for low performance machines. Haven't used it though.

 

- Make a point to eliminate every possible bit of bloatware there is. The simplest way to do it is to format the drive and reisntall an OS (see the first bullet). This includes not installing random things once you do clean up. Don't use an antivirus if you're on Windows; Windows Defender + NoScript (browser extension that stops malicious websites from running scripts) should be good enough. No need for an antivirus if you're on Linux (unless this has changed in recent years).

[whm1974]

Use only have the Application you need to have running when using the Laptop, and when using a Browser, highly limit your open Tabs.

[Ash_Kechummm]

Jayztwocents used this powershell script to debloat win10 here

also what model is that laptop? I'm just curious...

 

EDIT: also, for the stuttering video, make sure you have hardware acceleration enabled in your browser, and your power plan is set to high performance.

[G0dSpeed]

I know you said you wanted to keep as much of your 256gb SSD free so, maybe try dual booting Linux Mint MATE or Cinnamon from a flash drive?

[Sarra]

14 minutes ago, Ash_Kechummm said:

Jayztwocents used this powershell script to debloat win10 here

also what model is that laptop? I'm just curious...

 

EDIT: also, for the stuttering video, make sure you have hardware acceleration enabled in your browser, and your power plan is set to high performance.

It's a HP X360, basically a Pentium Silver CPU with 4GB of RAM. It's touchscreen/2 in 1... It had a 500 GB spinning rust drive, but I recently put a spare 256 GB SSD in instead.

 

If I had the foresight, I would have grabbed a Dell 13" laptop instead. This thing has been a headache, but it is amazing when it comes to logging and tuning my truck, and the battery lasts a few hours while doing so, but everything else is a total drag.

 

I'm starting to lean towards doing a dual boot with linux. I haven't touched it in forever, and I'm not sure how well supported the hardware is. I guess I can at least look into it.

[Ash_Kechummm]

1 hour ago, Sarra said:

I'm not sure how well supported the hardware is.

a rule of thumb with linux is, if it is a computer with freedom to install an OS, it can run linux.

I'd usually recommend linux mint for its resemblance in UI and function to windows (albeit with a slightly dated look), but you might also want to give peppermint 10 a try; it runs well on even 2 gigs of RAM.

 

 

1 hour ago, Sarra said:

and the battery lasts a few hours while doing so, but everything else is a total drag.

did you buy the laptop used? I have a pretty modern HP 2-in-1, and the battery lasts 6-7 hours while browsing, so i expected with a lower end chip and less RAM to power, you'd be getting better battery life. i guess not ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Sarra]

Just now, Ash_Kechummm said:

a rule of thumb with linux is, if it is a computer with freedom to install an OS, it can run linux.

I'd usually recommend linux mint for its resemblance in UI and function to windows (albeit with a slightly dated look), but you might also want to give peppermint 10 a try; it runs well on even 2 gigs of RAM.

 

 

did you buy the laptop used? I have a pretty modern HP 2-in-1, and the battery lasts 6-7 hours while browsing, so i expected with a lower end chip and less RAM to power, you'd be getting better battery life. i guess not ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Well, I've used Ubuntu, back in 2008~ish, but... It was really powerful, and totally unreliable. I'd be interested in giving Linux a go again, despite how rusty I have become with it. Right now, though, with how work is going, I need to keep stress down, so this might end up being a weekend project in a few weeks...

 

As for the laptop, the battery in it lasts 8-10 hours. When logging, it's powering a USB to OBDII adapter, with the screen on, so I'm not really worried about reduced battery life. It works well for the task, and if I needed more battery life, I would just buy a kit to add an 8 amp outlet from the battery of my truck, and run the power brick. Battery life isn't an issue. As it is, I bought this thing brand spanking new, and I think I paid $150 for it. It's not fast, but it's got issues with memory usage. Maybe me not rebooting it for weeks at a time is causing memory problems with Firefox? Firefox memory leaks was what got me to stop using Firefox back in 2007, and switch to Opera, which... Is complete crap now, so I'm switched back to Firefox.

[dizmo]

23 hours ago, aisle9 said:

How recently though? The newest build of W10 has been a memory hog for me on a few different machines. My ThinkPad X61T (spectacular example, I know) was able to run the first several builds of W10 with minimal fuss. It did get fussy at times depending on what program I was trying to use, but it could hold its own well enough for what I used it for. With the newest build of W10, even running an SSD with the maxed-out 4GB of RAM, forget it. The X61T is now a full-time Linux toy.

 

To be clear, I've noticed increased RAM usage on more modern machines as well, one with an i7-6700T and 16GB and one with an R5 1600 and 32GB. It's not enough to slow them down, of course, but it is noticeable in Task Manager.

It was maybe 6 months ago. Haha, I mean, that laptop is likely suffering in many, many other areas...it's a little on the ancient side. I thought my 4th gen i5 was old!
It does depend how you use it, though. Mine would turn into a slug after I had 25ish Firefox tabs (anyone that says it's a lot lighter to run than Chrome is living in the past), and if I had 3 YouTube videos open (not running at the same time, but open and played a bit, with one running) then yeah, issues, and the occasional browser crash.

 

I think if you're using a system that's older and doesn't have a lot of RAM, you really shouldn't be expecting it to be a multitasking beast. I could easily run 1080p YouTube though, so the horrible experience the OP is having doesn't make much sense to me, unless he's expecting way more than it can provide.