14 DAY TRIAL // My computer is still slow, I hear it humming like a freight train when I try opening WORD, I'm a little curious why there's so much noise coming from my PC and, at the same time, I'm wondering: does a tidal wave really get created if a butterfly flaps its wings somewhere in the Brazilian rainforest?
I went through to check for adware and nothing was found, I even ran my virus updates and performed a thorough test, but that wasn't the issue, so I'm guessing it has something to do with my RAM. Like most users, I need something that works, so I went ahead and downloaded Super RAM to see if it was worth it.
What's Inside
There's no trick to installing SRAM and from the start it's pretty straightforward. This is a program that's supposed to return control of memory management back to the user.
Well, I sure felt a lot better after I installed a program that was going to let me take back control over my own system, but how exactly it was going to do that I was a bit curious.
It lets me automatically monitor and adjust my RAM settings, run SuperRAM at startup and displays the system tray icon.
The default settings are set to 128Mb of retained RAM and 230Mb of freed RAM. Both of which you can reallocate. Most users already know how to use their systems, they know the average amount of memory usage that should be allocated to programs, what programs usually hog the most RAM and which task to kill before your computer becomes a train wreck. Most active computer users are also able to look in their taskbars and accomplish all this with a few mouse clicks. I wish that SuperRAM could be a few mouse clicks more functional.
SuperRAM does in fact let you control your allocated RAM, but for some users, this might prove to be a little more challenging than it sounds.
I was playing around with my settings and wondered what would happen if I allocated too much memory to the wrong place. I soon found out. My system started going haywire. With the new settings implemented, one program was trying to survive and run properly, and SuperRAM was taking it back.
I not only found this was killing my system, but it was also disheartening to see that anyone without any prior memory allocating experience could severely screw up their system. I wasn't even given a warning telling me that the memory assignment would severely drain my system resources and more importantly, screw things up overall.
I was also a little disappointed that I wasn't given a graph, or a chart telling me where my newly allocated memory was going. When the help file says memory management, I would hope for a little more diversity in how I can allocate my memory. An example of this would be to give me the option of attributing extra RAM to a process or taking away some RAM from another.
I liked the fact that it told me the amount of MB that was being recovered, but I just needed a ltitle more.
The Good
It does what it says it does. It finds that extra bit of RAM that's lying around or improperly used and gives it back to you. The nifty graph that shows you how much extra RAM you now have is also helpful. They have a lot of support, but I don't know about the waiting time.
The Bad
Lacks general functionalities that I would like to see in any RAM reallocation application. It's way too easy to mess something up without knowing it. No warnings have been implemented when you're about to do something you shouldn't. If you try to put it on something other than the default settings, make sure you know what you're doing.
The Truth
If you only get one hour of testing before you have to register your product, there's gotta be something eerie about the program. I felt a little gypped after an hour of working with the program. What if I wanted to test more than one restart or what if I wasn't that busy during the one hour I had pre-registration and the program didn't accurately portray the full effectiveness of the program? What then? I hope SuperRAM throws out the kryptonite soon cause it needs a little upgrade.
