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I wonder if there are any computer "geeks" out there who could help me with this question about my computer and why it has been running slow.

I have a PC that runs on Windows 7, and it has been freezing up a lot lately. I was on the phone with a computer technician for quite a while the other day, and I found out that my computer is running on just 2 GB of memory, which isn't nearly enough for all the things that I'm doing with it. So its resources are strained almost beyond its limits. In fact, when he was looking at something (while viewing my computer remotely) he said that my computer was so desperate for more memory that it had actually tried to create more. Wow.

So we found out what type of memory cards my computer needs (DDR2) and ordered 2 memory cards with 4 GB each. I'm hoping that when I get them and put them in (which I'll need some help with, being somewhat of an ignoramus when it comes to computers), my computer will run much better.

However, he said there was something else that might also be an issue, and this is what my question is about. A few years ago, I accidentally spilled a cup of water on my Toshiba laptop. I was pretty freaked out, as I had a lot of stuff saved on it. But my boyfriend managed to salvage the hard drive, though the motherboard was fried, and he put it into a tower for a desktop. So my laptop is now a desktop. But the desktop is a Dell. However, the technician I was on the phone with said that my computer still thinks it's a Toshiba and wants to run like one, though it has to use the motherboard and the memory of the Dell. So it would seem that my computer is having some sort of identity crisis. The technician was actually surprised that my boyfriend had been able to do that - take a Toshiba hard drive and put it into a Dell - and make it work.

So do you think that that will still be a problem, even after my computer has more memory on it? Or can a Toshiba hard drive function in a Dell computer without any problems, if it has enough memory?

I know this was a bit lengthy, but I thought you should know the whole story. The computer technician I talked with on the phone said that this was the most challenging troubleshooting session he had ever had, but he said he enjoyed the challenge and he was happy to help me. I would just like to know what any computer experts on here might think about this.
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TrunkZ · 56-60, M
Not an expert but computers are a bit of a hobby. The hard drive's brand shouldn't be a problem. Did he add the Toshiba drive as a second hard drive in the Dell or is it the only hard drive in the Dell? If the drive was just swapped in as the sole drive you might have some difficulties. 2 GB of memory is sparse so adding more is a good first step.
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TeresaRudolph71 · 51-55, F
@TrunkZ I think it's the only hard drive on the computer. I'll have to ask my boyfriend about that.

Hopefully it will be better after I add memory.
TrunkZ · 56-60, M
@heherhelp Yup. As to the small amount of RAM and trying to create more memory, she may be referring to swap file.
TeresaRudolph71 · 51-55, F
@TrunkZ Maybe. That might be what he meant. I don't remember where he saw that.