[pjla311]

Is this possible? I have a Dell 4000 Inspiron with XP Pro. I am down to 8% available memory and when I try to defrag I can't because I need to have 15%. (I have deleted all non-essential programs.) Total physical memory is 512 MB, with available physical memory of 183.61 MB. Total virtual memory of 2.00GB, with available virtual memory of 1.96 GB. The computer is a "x86 Family 6 Model 8 Stepping 6, with an Intel Processor at 851 Mhz". I have a 120 MB external hard drive which I have backed up my "C" drive to. Is there any way to use my "C" drive from my external hard drive? If not, can you please tell me how to increase my available memory, without deleting anymore programs?

[rgreen4]

I think that your external drive must be 120GB. You don't actually tell us what size your internal drive is. You say that you have backed up the internal drive to the external drive, then some of the less important files on the internal drive that are duplicated on the external can be deleted.
Otherwise, you would need an additional internal drive that is larger than your current drive. With the limited onboard memory, as you have stated, you need to get the available HD space to at least 15% in order to defrag. With the external drive available the easiest and least expensive way is to move a sufficient number of files in order to free up enough space.

[poglatg]

I wuz thinking that too green.

To address the problem of can you use an external hard disc as a boot disc, I guess would come down to whether or not the BIOS supports it.

[crazy4laptops]

argh,
system errors really annoy me (i lost my first draft of my reply to you)

Clarification-

available
memory and free space are very different

memory
is ram, free space is how much storage is left on your hdd.

The
x86 string doesn't help much with identifying your processor, is there an intel
or amd logo on the palmrest? If so, what does it say?

120mb
is not very much space, did you mean 120 gb?

simple
fix- move all unneeded pictures, videos, and music to the 120gb drive.

how
big is your c: drive? You must have alot of programs installed. or a really
small drive.

What
kinds of data are on your drive? cd/dvd backups? system images? Logging data?
virtual machines? etc.

[LincolnSpector]

pjla311 said:

Is this possible? I have a Dell 4000 Inspiron with XP Pro. I am down to 8% available memory and when I try to defrag I can't because I need to have 15%. (I have deleted all non-essential programs.) Total physical memory is 512 MB, with available physical memory of 183.61 MB. Total virtual memory of 2.00GB, with available virtual memory of 1.96 GB. The computer is a "x86 Family 6 Model 8 Stepping 6, with an Intel Processor at 851 Mhz". I have a 120 MB external hard drive which I have backed up my "C" drive to. Is there any way to use my "C" drive from my external hard drive? If not, can you please tell me how to increase my available memory, without deleting anymore programs?

Hi, pjla.

First, I think you're confusing memory and drive space, and megabytes and gigabytes, making your explanation of your problem difficult to follow. Memory is made up the RAM chips on your motherboard, expanded by virtual memory on your hard drive. The contents of your PC's memory disappears when you turn the PC off. It doesn't need to be defragged. 512MB (half a GB) of RAM is low by today's standards, but not unheard of. 1GB or 2 GB are more common.

The hard drive is your PC's primary storage. It's where your programs and data reside, and its contents remain until you erase them or a disaster strikes. Hard drives in the hundreds of GBs are common, these days. I suspect that external hard drive is 120GB, not MB.

In answer to your original question, most PCs these days can boot from a USB devices, such as a flash drive or an external hard drive, but not all operating systems support this. Windows doesn't. You can boot DOS or Linux from an external drive, but not Windows.

I recommend one of two approaches:
# Use EasyCleaner's Space Usage tool (EasyCleaner is free and doesnt have to be installed) to see what's taking up all the space on your hard drive. If you're like most users these days, it's media (photos, music, video). Move that to your external drive.
# Buy and install a larger internal hard drive. They're cheap, these days.
Lincoln

[BAMT]

If you have Windows 9x or lower, I believe it is possible. All you would have to do is extracty a FreeDOS image to a blank FAT partition, and copy your drive contents to the same partition. Boot FreeDOS, go to the Windows directory, and type "WIN". That's how I boot up NT 3.1, and should work with 9x as well, considering it also uses WIN.COM.

[LincolnSpector]

BAMT said:

If you have Windows 9x or lower, I believe it is possible. All you would have to do is extracty a FreeDOS image to a blank FAT partition, and copy your drive contents to the same partition. Boot FreeDOS, go to the Windows directory, and type "WIN". That's how I boot up NT 3.1, and should work with 9x as well, considering it also uses WIN.COM.

Thanks for the correction. I've gotten into the habit of thinking of XP and Vista as "Windows."

Lincoln