Does SP3 require more RAM?

About six years ago I bought an Emachine with 512MB/2GHz and it ran just fine. Over the years it got slower and slower. Seems like the performance really dropped off after installing SP3.

Last Christmas I decided to reinstalled XP and only install the programs I frequently used so not to junk up registry.

I installed SP3 as well and the computer wasn't any faster than it was before reinstalling Windows. The hard drive just sits there and spins. Sometimes it would take 1 minute before Internet Explorer would pull up a page after starting it.

So I bumped the RAM up from 512MB to 2GB. Now the computer runs like I put a turbo on it.

Question. Does SP3 eat RAM and 512MB is not adequate? Or does a PC's performance fall off like anything else (human body, car, washing machine, etc.) after it get's old?

So if a PC has 512MB is it best to turn off the updates and not load SP3, otherwise it will just slow it down?

 

It's never best to turn of the updates, many of these are security updates.

Certainly, if your system is not connected to any network at all and does the job you want it to do then by all means don't update, but the second you use any network or removable media (CD's DVD's memory sticks or even floppys) you are not only subjecting your system to infection but probably passing infections along.

I would suggest unless it's a closed system you upgrade the memory if required.

 

Thought I would chime in here with my 2 cents (didn't know how to insert the sign for cents) worth.

I live in a retirement community and have become on of the "computer guys" who offer free help and assistance for computer problems. One of those complaints is "computer slow as molasses ". Most of the folks here are older folks and their computer came as a "cast off" when a relative decided to upgrade and looked around for someone to be the recipient of their excess unit.

Your machine fits the profile of many I see - PCs that are 5 to 7 years old with 512 MB ram (most with DDR but some still with SDAR). That seems to be a pretty common amount of ram from that time period and it was more than adequate at that time. However, over time, commonly used applications such as Adobe Reader, JAVA, Internet Explorer, and various antivirus programs have increased their footprint wanting more and more memory space. As these expanded programs compete for resources, the computer may slow to a crawl. For many, the only answer is more memory - which you apparently discovered.

So I don't think that the installation of XP3 was an event that suddenly started using much more of your computer resources. Rather, it may have been the straw that broke the camel's back.

 

Well put Robert. 512Mb RAM was always the minimum for XP.
In my opinion, keeping up to date with Updates from MS is essential, and when I installed SP3, I found that the computer worked smoother.

I would add that Deleting unnecessary Programs and Files etc, Defragging will also help to make the comp run easier. Cheers Neil.