New Hard Drive! no files! but low memory?

[MissConfused]

Recently after some trouble with my old hard drive, I got a new one!
Sounds easy right? WRONG.
Well, considering my computer felt all new again! The baby was runnin' smooth that is....until around 2 weeks ago. :/
I suddenly got blasted with these miserable errors while I was on the internet complaining how it had to "Stop a script on this page due to memory" or something whack like that. It didn't matter what I was doing. ANY SITE that I just so happened to be on..that damn error message would POP up. Yahoo, Myspace (Yes, sadly...I cruise myspace.) even a site telling me how to make my "FONT POP UP!" on some photoshop tutorial site that message haunted me.
It wouldn't pop up once either, maybe up to 3 or 5 times?
I looked into some little help sites that told me the best I could do was re-start my computer every time it came up. :/ Tried that & nearly threw my computer out. Another site told me I needed more RAM (WTF?)
& On top of that Windows was giving me that error about increasing memory blah blah blah.

Does anyone have the slightest clue? Why has my computer suddenly entered PMS? & I have ran COUNTLESS virus scans just in case. :/

[epots9]

you need to increase your RAM, which is your computer's memory.

A harddrive is your computer's storage device

[MissConfused]

Don't worry I know what all of that means & more.
& from what it sounds like after I talked to a personal friend whose good with computers....I may have a feisty little virus.
With almost a completely new computer I shouldn't have any sort of need for memory for a while.
Now, I've ran two different Virus Scans..One being Avast! & Another being a simple Norton one. Neither of them said I had any issues.
Could it be possible that this little monster can't even be detected by two pretty good scans? Or should I go for a third one?

[RedSon]

Okay wait a second...

Let me understand: you had a computer. The HDD on it failed so you bought or got a new one from tech support and installed it. Then you installed Windows on it. Then you started surfing websites with Internet Explorer and got some errors about scripts failing due to some kind of memory issue?

Now I need to ask about a zillion questions because you didn't provide enough information... some are useful some are to better understand the situation.

How old was the computer? Desktop or Laptop? What is the CPU speed? What is the amount of RAM? What is the size of the HDD? Did you replace it yourself? Did you "restore" the OS, or did you install it from scratch? Which OS did you install? Did you fully patch it before you went on your merry way? Have you tried using Firefox? Did you run IE with the task manager open showing you memory statistics while surfing websites? Do you have a ton of other applications running in the back ground? Are there any other users on your computer that could leave things running while you are logged in? Do you have dial-up, DSL, Cable, Sattellite or FiOS? Do you have anti-virus installed? Do you regularly surf questionable websites? Do you regularly download questionable software?

There, I think that ought to give me a good start...

[MissConfused]

I'll make sure to answer the best I can! :) The computer is a 2002 Dell Desktop runnin' on a Windows XP home edition Service Pack 3. I reinstalled the OS after my old hard drive caused me some wonderful problems (& a possible miserable virus threat.) it was fully patched & also had to reinstall the speakers after the reinstall proved to have 'missed' some basic functions. :/ That was fun. I used Firefox & I did look up the memory statistics. But it didn't help because the computer had been on for two days straight. (Yes I did turn it off & back on because I know the longer it's on, the more it takes up.)& from what I could tell nothing was wrong with that. We shouldn't have any unusual programs running in the background. We have 4 total users on this computer & only two are active, me & another person. All programs are closed out of & account logged off completely before switching to a new name. We have DSL & I have two different Anti-Virus programs installed. Both are UP TO DATE & current with the last scan. I only go to the same websites. Rarely will I leave my comfort zone & wander away. & I rarely download any files unless I know what they are & have gone though a battery of virus scans before I'll let them make a place on my computer.

[MissConfused]

&& Sorry I forgot to add this to the top: & yes I installed the Windows XP after I got the new HD & fully installed it in the tower. From there everything was smooth & windows was running perfectly. While I was surfing the web I got the memory issues. :/

[RedSon]

If your computer is around 7 years old, chances are that you are having a hardware failure in the Motherboard, CPU or power supply. Sometimes strange happenings occur because your power supply is not giving your computer enough power.

Also you should be aware that even though you do not have any active applications running before you switch users you could still have several running in the background. iTunes, Outlook, Windows Search, AIM, MSN Messegner, IE, FireFox and several other programs run tasks even when they appear to be closed.

You should not have more than one virus scanner, if they both have realtime scanning they can step on eachother while they are trying to work. Plus AV software is a resource hog so they can slow down your machine quite a bit.

If your computer's graphic card uses shared memory you can usually turn down the shared mem value in the BIOS, you can also try increasing your page file or managing the page file manually instead of allowing windows to do it.

You could also turn off scripts in your browsers or try a lighter weight browser like webkit or chrome, something like that.

Does your DSL provider give you a router or modem to use? Is your computer plugged into the router? Have you changed the default router passwords? Is your computer part of the router's DMZ? Do you have any services running on your computer? FTP, HTTP, Telnet, BitTorrent, gamespy, battle.net, things like that?

[MissConfused]

See, I knew about the whole 'If your computer is so & so many years old, you'll experience issues."
We originally switched to a new computer tower that was a newer Make & Model. We were just going to use the HD that we originally had & use it as the slave, & the new one as the Master. But the power button gave out & we haven't been able to find a place that sells them.
Apparently it had been faulty & by going into the tower itself moved a wire & BAM....It won't work. The motherboard & what not is getting power. The little light glows & everything..Jus t the button that hooks to the front. Died.
& I knew about the usual programs still running even after you've logged out. I thought you were meaning like other hardwares. Programs that run anyway aside from what I could have downloaded & out of that list we just have Firefox & iTunes.
& is the AV a hog? I've read about it & checked reviews & found that it was mainly confusing. But if that's the case then I just might go research a new, less complicated, virus scan. & Only one has the realtime scan.
I've never messed around with my computer BIOS at all lol I've just dealt with all the smaller stuff. If you think that'll help with this issue in some way you'll have to explain to me more about the BIOS I've heard about it & had a chance to deal with it, just never took it up.

& for firefox I don't use all the add-ons & such, but if Chrome is more light weight I'll have to try it. Just as long as it still views pages & everything the same, I could just take a peak see if it helps slightly.

For our DSL we have a Modem & it's plugged directly into the box itself.
We do not have any of the FTP, HTTP, Telnet, BitTorrent, gamespy, battle.net,etc on my computer at all.

It's been so long since I've had to deal with any computer stuff. I took it all in High School. (Computer Coding, Programming, building, etc etc) but that's been way over a year. :/

[MissConfused]

Even though I dealt with all the computer stuff like programming, coding, & building I didn't work with BIOS. The partner I had dealt with that. I kept a handling on the little, slightly easier, problems.

[denny1824]

Have you checked if your RAM has gone bad? Might be something as simple as checking how much RAM your OS thinks it has. If it is alot less than it should be then you need to replace a RAM chip.

[Markus]

You've yet to tell us how much RAM you have :P

[MissConfused]

I looked at system & I have about 256mb RAM. Now, I know that's not a lot. But I have a feeling that's not what this computer started out with. But if it is, then why have issues now with a new hard drive? My other Hard drive didn't have any issues up until last month, which is why I have this new one in. (& the free space is 103GB out of the 114GB it has.) Could it be I don't have the right Hard Drive for his computer?
I really wish I had all the books again from my class. :/

[Banfa]

There is no such thing as "the right hard drive for the computer", hard drives are on the whole completely interchangeable , particularly if you only have 1 in the computer.

What sounds more likely is that you have a memory (or memory channel) failure. Can you either find out how much memory is supposed to be installed from the computers documentation (sales invoice or system manual) or look inside the case and see what is installed?

If you can ascertain that the computer has more than 256Mb of RAM installed even though the system only shows 256Mb of RAM then there is clearly a memory problem. (Alternatively you may be certain enough of yourself to be able to say that it should definitely have more than 256Mb RAM).

However assuming that your computer has a RAM problem then, given that you have recently had problems with 2 peripheral components of the computer you should consider the possibility that it actually has some other problem and that the hard-disk and RAM problems are merely symptoms of this other problem. Some possibilities are

1. A problem in the computers power supply
2. A problem with the computers motherboard
3. If you do not have some sort of spike smoothing device on the electricity supply you plug the computer into then someone living nearby having a new favourite power tool (or other noisy electrical device)
4. Your hard-disk did suffer from a normal (if irritating) failure but you weren't quite careful enough about static safety when you changed the hard-disk

If you have access to a second computer somewhere it may be worth checking to see if you RAM works in that computer (if it does you definitely have a motherboard problem).

[denny1824]

If your system says that you have 256mb RAM, then I would get more RAM. even if it has not gone bad (meaning that you have always had that much/little), you should still upgrade. Make sure that the new RAM is compatibe with you mother board and replace it. I really think that replacing your RAM will fix your problem (although I am not an expert).

[RedSon]

Maybe you covered this before and I didn't read closely enough, but is your computer just some beige box that you built or had built for you? Or did you buy it from a company that makes computers like Dell?

It sounds like you have some knowledge and experience with computers which is good but it sounds like you know just enough to get yourself into serious trouble. Playing with things like BIOS can cause irreparable harm to your components. I'm not saying that you would do that but just the mere fact that it is something you "heard about" gives me pause.

If you were my family member and I didn't live close enough to come over and fix your computer, I would recommend that you suck it up and buy a new computer. Then I would tell you to take that new computer to a computer repair facility (or the company you bought it from) and ask them to install your old hard drive as a "slave" for you. Shop around for a company that will do it cheap, it is not a hard task to do but you have to know how to set the jumper and what IDE or SATA port to use, and what changes may need to be made in the BIOS to activate it. It shouldn't cost more that about an hour worth of work, so ask them how much they are charging your for labor, since they won't need to supply you with any expensive parts.

That is the best advice I can offer given the information that has currently been provided.

If you insist on trying to repair this on your own then you will have to organize your responses better than the last, I can't read a giant wall of text separated with & symbols here and there. Remember, white space is your friend so don't be afraid of the enter key, tab button, or spacebar.