What could I do to increase memory without spending any money? I may need an external memory device but I want to avoid that if possible.

Hi Titchy,

I'm assuming here that when you say memory you're meaning hard disk space? Well, it's going to be pretty difficult to increase the amount of available space significantly unless you have masses of stuff on your PC that you're willing to get rid of. Things to do before contemplating getting an external storage device would be the following:

- Delete all programs and files that you will never want to use again. This should free up a little to a lot of space on your hard disk depending how much of it there is.
- If you use Outlook or another email program a lot, consider archiving your old emails and shrinking the folder.
- If you have any files that you very very rarely use then maybe think about zipping those folders to inprove available space.
- Finally, run a Hard Disk Defrag which should help make a bit more space become available to you.

As mentioned at the start though, unless you have masses of unused files/programs then you're probably not going to have much alternative but to spend some money on another storage device, be it internal or external. Hope that helps.

I have gotten a start on deleting the unused programs, there are many I am not sure if I should delete or not. Any suggestions on how to know what might be associated with the system and required by it?

As a rule of thumb if you're that unsure; If you don't 'know' that a program is not crucial to the running of your system then don't delete it! If your using 'Add/Remove Programs' in XP or the VISTA equivalent 'Programs & Features' then just simply avoid anything that says microsoft, SP or service pack, .NET, redistributed and any programs you know you need and you should pretty much be ok. But like I said,if you're unsure, simply leave it alone and see how far you get by just getting rid of the ones you are sure about first. Then carry out the other steps in my first reply and see if you're happy with the results.

Hope that helps.