What Uses Up Memory On A Laptop, and Other Qs?

Joe

Good advice, so far.

This was on today's PCworld
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2082305/your-new-pc-needs-these-22-free-programs.html
I would let Windows defender do the day to day AV chores, and maybe run Malwarebytes every couple weeks as a full (several hour) scan. I would find and use Add/Remove programs to kill the free AV that is probably running now (McAffee or Norton), etc..

At startup, many unnecessary apps are turned on. MSconfig would let you see then, but CCleaner will, too - these apps can slow you down. In XP, the CCleaner Registry fixer really keeps things cleared up - not sure 'bout for W8.

And as noted, you can have lots of bookmarks, but only allow a couple to be open tabs at once. It sounds like this was hurting you from the OP talk. Also, running too many programs and apps at once is just same as too mant browser tabs.

W8 should do defrag and disk cleanup for you, so this will help.

Memory and storage are terms that are NOT interchangeable. Deleting items wont free up memory.just storage. Maybe the message said to delete files due to low storage..meaning the hd was full.in order to free up memory programs / processes can be stopped..or programms can be uninstalled / modified so they dont start all the time amd eat up resources..meaning memory.

Go to the task manager of your os and see what is running and how much of your memory its using up... Usually firefox is a bit of a memory hog and needs a restart every few days...on some versions of windows u can also run a small app called msconfig.exe that will give you the ability to disable certain software at startup.
Bookedmarks a small and only use a few kb of storage...they can be easily exported from within your browser.
Pretty mich all cd players come with cheap plastic gears and give up after a few years of usuage..also they domt lan for people to have their laptops more than 3~4 years so why make a cd player that lasts 10
Few tips on keeping your laptop fast ...

Dont install every free software there is....if you dont use it uninstall it.. Dont just remove files
Only upgrade if needed... Having the latest and greatest software version installed also uses more and more memory and storage.
With harddrives getting bigger and bigger be careful how much space is used for caching of internet files...dont use more than a few MB for it.
Get a brand name virus scanner most ISPs give them away for free.. If not buy one , use live protection and keep it updated.

Many things take memory, your software, Your data, Whatever programs are open including those running in the background.

Any malware that has found it's way onto your HD, (I once got a computer free because of that... The symptom was a black screen)

Lots of things. My current box has 4 GIG ram and 500 HD. For less than the cost of a 500Gig HD alone.

IF its a dead screen, you can plug in an external monitor and hit the monitor keys in the blind until you have pix on it.

No, bookmarks don't take up cache (RAM) memory, but having them all open does. Firefox allows the creation of nested bookmarks in a folder that you can then open all at once under the same icon in the toolbar. Between my RV, RC, FCC bookmarks all showing up as 3 icons on the toolbar, I have over 30 individual pages open in the background. THAT is what runs you out of RAM. The IT guys call me 'special' and don't answer the phone when I call anymore.... :(

Buy as much RAM as your new PC can stand to run and its likely you will never see that flag again.

For exporting bookmarks, look on the Bookmarks or favorites for Export. You should be able to save the entire file and restore on the new machine exactly as it looks now. Im not an Explorer fan at all, so don't have allot of experience in how to move them. But FireFox's bookmark can be imported into and read by a Mac as well.