It doesn't record - need help

[PGA]

@davep5,

If you would like to learn how to do "screen capture", I'll happily try and mentor you through the process. In order not to confuse the discussion in this topic, I suggest we do that in an exchange of Personal Messages on the forum. I'll start that exchange going. If you do not want to add to your "learning curve" right now just say so. Let me have your "yes/no" here in this topic and we'll take it from there.

[davep5]

Hi PGA,

Thank you very much for the offer to mentor me through “screen capture”, I think I would like to do that. I’m pretty busy right now with learning Audacity and other personal stuff, but I think I can find the time for this. I really do want to learn it. Steve guided me to a very helpful sight on the subject but sometimes when trying to learn from a website, like reading a book, there’s no one there to answer your questions. OK if you want to get the ball rolling I’ll try to follow along, that would be great. I’ll catch up with you there.

Thanks again,
Dave

[PGA]

@steve, @gale, @koz,

I've opened up a dialogue with dave to teach him how to do screen grabs.

[steve]

It sounds like your computer may be a bit short of RAM, so you will need to manage that carefully. Before starting any major recording sessions it would probably be best to reboot so as to maximise the amount of RAM available.
You can check how much RAM the computer has by right clicking on "My Computer" and select "properties".

When moving the monitor, take care not to pull on the leads, and keep the monitor away from magnetic devices (such as motors or loudspeakers).

You will learn a lot just by "playing" with the system. Hope you're starting to have fun

Steve

[davep5]

Steve,

Thanks again. I checked my computer and then looked around on the web for some info and here’s what I found out.

“My Computer” shows that I have 448 MB of RAM which I guess is pretty low.

Someone said that XP can operate on 448 MB of RAM but that if you run it on less than 768 MB of RAM then it may act funny. I’m assuming that’s probably why I get those messages. They said 512 MB is probably the minimal amount that you want, and someone else said that ideally you should have at least 1028 MB (or 1 GB) to 2 GB and that 4 GB of RAM would make a computer really fast. They said that you can purchase a memory stick to upgrade if you want to, but how much all depends on the amount your motherboard can handle (I hope I got all that right).

I was just wondering if it’s OK to run Audacity on 448 MB of RAM or if you think I should upgrade it a little to be on the safe side. I’d like to upgrade, but I’m not sure how much I can add without damaging or overloading my system. I’ve been thinking also that it might be a little outdated and may be time for a new computer.

For now though I’ll follow your advice and reboot before doing any recording, and I’ll be sure to be careful if I move my monitor. Thanks for telling me that, and yes, I think I am starting to have fun. I feel a little more confident with all the help you’ve been giving me. I almost feel like I’ve been taking up too much of your time because I know that there are a lot of other people who need your help too.

Oh, one other thing, PGA was going to help me with “Screen Capture” but I’m not sure which section of the forum she was going to open the dialogue in, or if we were going to discuss it here.

(This is a little embarrassing, but I’m assuming PGA is female by the style of writing. If not …sorry about that PGA)

Well, I’m gonna be on my way. Thanks again, I’m grateful as always.

Goodbye for now,
Dave

[PGA]

Dave,
I sent you a Personal message via the forum software. When you are in the forum, look at the top left corner. Where my screengrab says "User Control Panel (0 new messages)" your screen should be showing 1 new message. Click on the link in that location and it will open up the Messaging part of the forum.

Audacity13.JPG (28.82 KiB) Viewed 1775 times

Regards,
Peter (hint: male! )

[davep5]

Peter,

Boy is my face red (ha, ha), I wasn’t sure how to ask. I totally apologize for that. No offense intended, especially about the way you write. Who can tell anyways? I guess you can’t blame a guy for getting his hopes up (ha ha) …just kidding …I hope we can forget about that and get on with the lessons. If I can find the location, I’ll meet you there.

Dave (…I think my face is still red)

[steve]

Someone said that XP can operate on 448 MB of RAM but that if you run it on less than 768 MB of RAM then it may act funny. I’m assuming that’s probably why I get those messages. They said 512 MB is probably the minimal amount that you want, and someone else said that ideally you should have at least 1028 MB (or 1 GB) to 2 GB and that 4 GB of RAM would make a computer really fast.

When XP was first released, 512 MB was fine.
You probably have 512 MB, but 64 MB of it is being used by your video card, leaving you with 448 MB for everything else. Even 448 MB would be OK for the original XP, but after all the updates to XP, the base requirement has gradually crept up. I've got something like 768 MB on my old XP machine and that is just about enough to run XP SP3, though a bit more would be nice.

In order to cope with the increasing capacity of RAM modules, new types of RAM module have been developed. Modern RAM modules won't fit in old machines and old RAM modules won't fit in new machines - the sockets are different. To upgrade the RAM you would need to get exactly the right sort of RAM module. Choosing the right type can be difficult, and an expensive mistake if you get it wrong, so if you want to upgrade the ram I'd recommend getting a computer shop to do it for you. 1 GB of ram should be fine for an old XP machine. For some old machines 1 or 2 GB was the maximum they could handle. 4 GB is overkill for XP.

If your computer uses SIMM modules, (probably not), these could be difficult to get hold of.
If your computer uses EDO modules (more likely), these could also be difficult to get hold of.
If your computer uses the more modern DIMM modules, then these are easier to get hold of, and quite cheap, but they come in either 184 or 240 pin formats and you need the right sort. There are other factors too, such as ECC or non-ECC (probably non-ECC, but it must be right).

If your computer can take a couple of 1 GB RAM modules, then this will be a cheap upgrade (the modules may cost as little as $10 each) and it will give the computer a significant boost. If you spend $25 on ram modules and they won't fit or they don't work, then that's $25 down the drain. For under $300 you could get a brand new computer (though it would probably come with Windows 7 pre-installed). If you don't mind going second hand you could probably pick up a much more modern PC very cheaply, though of course there is a risk of "hidden problems" and no warranty.

Audacity should run OK on what you already have, but you will need to maximise the amount of available RAM. In particular, try not to run other programs at the same time. If you can get a cheap RAM upgrade to 2 GB, that would be money well spent in my opinion, but it's probably not worth spending much money on. The second hand value of your computer is probably about $5 at best (I have a "graveyard" of old PCs )

[waxcylinder]

my old desktop is still running Audacity (latest Betas and Alphas) on XP-HE-SP3 with only 512MB RAM.

It helps not to be running other processes while it is recording so that audacity doen't get interrupted, as Steve says.

WC

[steve]

my old desktop is still running Audacity (latest Betas and Alphas) on XP-HE-SP3 with only 512MB RAM.

Any interest for you: http://www.dabs.com/category/components ... 0-42670000