A desktop computer might be the best investment you make for your business and for your family. By providing you with the ability to create professional looking documents, access to the internet, and general gaming and music functions, you can not only broaden your world, but you can also keep up with the fast pace of information. If you've had your computer for a while, you may begin to wonder what else it can do for you and for your life. And that's where many people start when they think about adding memory.

Just as we all wish that we had a more efficient memory system in our brains some days, our computers wish for more memory to improve their function. RAM, or random access memory, is essential for storing programs and information when we are working on the computer, making it easier for us to access this information when we need it. The more programs we need to access, the more memory we need. As the rest of the computer is bogged down with stored programs and documents, the computer needs to rely on the RAM more and more to perform basic functions.

As this RAM depletion occurs, you might notice that your computer is running slower or having troubles with basic programs. Your computer might crash more often than it ever has or it may freeze in the middle of a task. If you didn't have a lot of memory to begin with when you bought the computer, chances are good that you still don't have a lot of memory to work with ? and you need to correct this.

The good news is that you can actually do your own memory upgrade on your computer to make things move more smoothly for you. Here are three tips to help you with your first memory upgrade.

Just like you can't screw two light bulbs into one socket, you can't always put a lot of memory into a desktop computer. Some models simply aren't equipped to handle higher amounts of memory. But they can often be built up to about 1GB average, which is a fair amount of total memory for a basic desktop computer.

To find out how much memory your computer can handle, you can refer to your user's manual to see where the computer lists the memory capability. If you can not find it here, you might want to go to your computer manufacturer's website to see if they can give you directions from here. The help desk for your brand can also help guide you.

For a PC, you can find the maximum memory slots and capability by finding System Information through your Control Panel and finding the memory allotted. For example, if you see that the memory allotted is 1.87GB, you will know that you can only upgrade to that amount. You will then want to check to see how much memory you are using at the current time and then whatever the difference is, that's what you can add.

Adding too much memory will not work in your computer and can often cause troubles in terms of making your computer work too hard or even not work at all.

And while this seems like it would be a limiting factor in terms of your computer's performance, knowing about the memory capability will help you begin to look at computers differently when you go to buy a new one ? you might want to find one that can be easily upgraded.

It's very tempting to buy memory from someone that is selling it for a low price. When you want to add memory to your computer, you should expect to pay a few hundred dollars per GB that you purchase. And while this sounds like a lot of money, you will be getting a lot of performance in return.

To find certified memory sellers, you will want to go to your brand's website to see who they recommend or to simply buy the memory from the manufacturer directly. This will ensure that the memory is made for your computer and that it will work with the software and hardware you already have.

Buying from a cheaper seller can often result in malfunctioning equipment as well as a loss of the money you paid for it.

Installing memory into a hard drive is actually quite simple, if you read the directions. These will come with the memory sticks themselves. Here are the basic tips: