Ask the Doctor
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Diagnosing and curing your PC problems
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G RIGHT
MORE MEMORY?
I’m a computer guy and have gotten a lot of
questions, and have some of my own, about
how much memory Windows 32-bit operating
systems can see. I’ve heard that the videocard
can eat into memory over the 2GB mark. Is it
worth buying more than two or three gigs of
memory if your videocard prevents Windows
from seeing the RAM? The more I read and
find out, the more confused I get.
—Joe LentineThe Doctor waffles on this all the time,
and you probably will too. First, here’s
the poop: Windows XP and Windows
Vista can address a maximum of 4GB
of RAM. Of that, 2GB can be used by
applications and 2GB can be used by
the OS. It’s more complicated than
that, but to cut to the chase, the Doctor
thinks that, generally, 2GB of RAM is
optimal, but a little more, especially at
today’s prices, can’t hurt. Your system
will probably show only 2.5GB or 3GB of
RAM (depending on your configuration),
but don’t be alarmed, the rest is there.
And although the applications may not
be able to access it, the OS and drivers
supposedly can.MOLTEN CORE
A few years back, our family purchased a Dell
Dimension 3000 desktop. It has been working
fairly well, despite the fact that there are only
7GB left on the 80GB hard drive and the Vista
upgrades are bogging it down.
Recently, our computer has been shutting
down randomly. When we turn it back on, a
notice pops up that says the computer has
shut down due to a “thermal event.” I’m no
genius with computers, but I know enough to
understand that something’s up. There have
been times when we’ve kept the computer on
for days at a time, but that never used to be an
issue. Has a fan broken? I tried contacting Dell
to figure out this problem, but because our
warranty on the computer has expired, Dell
refuses to help us free of charge!
—Patrick FeeneyWell, Patrick, the Doctor has a few sugges-
tions to ease the “thermal event” situation
you’re seeing. For starters, see if the fans
in your computer are working properly. Pop
off the side of your case and power up your
machine. The fan cooling your CPU should
spin up to a quick speed. If it seems slug-
gish, or isn’t moving, there’s your problem.
Replace the fan.
If you can’t discern any noticeable
problems with the fans, you’ll have to dig
a little deeper. Pop off your CPU cooler
and give the heatsink and fan a hearty
blast of compressed air. Clean off the
thermal paste from both your CPU and
cooler with some rubbing alcohol. You’ll
now want to apply a new layer of paste—
of course, you should purchase this prior
to removing the CPU cooler. Squeeze a
rice-size grain of paste onto your CPU
and spread it around with a utility knife.
If that doesn’t fix your problem, take a
look at your power supply. Other Dell users
have reported problems similar to yours, and
a quick replacement of the power supply
fixed everything. You can get replacement
PSUs from Dell or at http://www.pcpower.com.
And if that doesn’t solve your problem,
the Doc knows of only one other cause for
the dreaded “thermal event” message. Some
Dell motherboards tend to run into problems
with their capacitors—they’ll swell up and
possibly even burst. While the Doctor doesn’t
believe you’re at the stage where your moth-
erboard is going to start emitting popping
noises and leaking toxic materials, there’s
certainly the possibility that the capacitors
on your motherboard are dying.
And how do you fix that? The short
answer is: You don’t. You’d have to replace
your motherboard. Since your warranty
has run out, it will cost you more than the
machine is worth to have Dell do the work.
It might be time to consider buying, or better
yet, building a new system. In the latter case,
you can use any of your current machine’s
salvageable parts. Check out the April 2008
issue of Maximum PC for a step-by-step
guide to building a new PC!The Doctor is as excited as ever for next month’s issue of Maximum PC. He’s moving to
swankier digs and abandoning this grungy space forever! But please continue to email your
computer questions to [email protected]. He’s just upgrading, not going away.