Baa or memory chips?
OR 
‘Tis the latter to which this post refers.
My HP Vista PC was running fairly well with its 2GB of memory. No complaints, really, but when I stared using Adobe Premiere Elements to edit video things changed.
The program ran like a dog. That is to say, very slowly. Choppy video editing, delayed start/stop, quite an unpleasant experience. When I looked at the Windows Task Manager (shortcut = Ctrl+Shift+Esc) I realized that Premiere elements by itself was using upwards of one gigabyte of memory. Holy guacamole, that’s a pig if I ever saw one! OK, fine, I’ll close all other applications and run only that program when I’m editing video.
It was usable, but still only barely. Fine, I’ll upgrade the memory and see what happens. I’ve got four memory slots with only two being used, each with a 1GB stick. Let’s get two more of the same. During my research I found out that Windows is funny and really won’t give you more that 3.5GB even if you have 4GB installed. Whatever. I’m putting in two more 1GB sticks to keep things even.
Received them today and, thankfully, they were the right kind and slipped right in. My system recognized them right away and things seem a little more snappy as I go about my business. It’s probably just an illusion, but work with me a little.
Time now the big test. With a bunch of crap already open, I’m going to open Premiere Elements and play around a little…..<dramatic pause>…..it’s better, but not fantastic. I can work with it, but I’m sure if I close some other apps I’ll get a little better response.
Verdict = Good move. Glad I did it.