Adding more RAM memory modules

[Adrian68]

Have a good day, everyone:

This is about a HP 240 G7, ProdID 6EH30LT

Here is the situation. A friend of mine just bought a computer for his daughter, but he noticed that the computer (notebook) is too slow, so he decided to add more memory (RAM) to the device.
The problem is, there are so many flavors of the same model, that the manufacturers don't make a manual for each flavor, but for all of them.
I look for the manuals trying to know how many slots of RAM are in the equipment, with no luck. Also I tried to find out which kind of RAM the device accept. Guess what...
I know that the best way I have is to open the notebook, but right know it is impossible to me, so if you have the information, and are 100% sure, I will really appreciate that.
Thanks in advance and best regards.
Adrian 

[WAWood]

@Adrian68 

Unless the laptop has very little existing RAM -- 1GB or 2GB -- adding more memory is NOT going to improve the performance noticeably.  This is a long-standing misconception in the public -- that more memory == faster PC.

If the PC is really SLOW, and the laptop is more than a couple of years old, the more likely issue is a failing hard drive.

This issue is often due to a failing drive. So, let's check that first, because if it is failing, it would need to be replaced and there is no point then in doing anything else until we confirm that.

If your PC is new enough to support UEFI, you can use these steps to test the hard drive: http://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c00439024

If not, to check the drive you have to follow these steps:
1) Press Esc key repeatedly, several times a second, while rebooting the laptop. Do NOT hold the key down, just press it over and over.
2) Eventually, you will see an HP Startup Menu
3) Press the Function key for testing the hard drive (usually F2) and let it run.

If the drive checks out OK, the best way to get improved performance is to replace the HDD with an SDD.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi, @Adrian68 

The specs for the model you have in hand, indicate that it has an Intel® Celeron® N4000  processor, which means it has one memory slot, and the max memory the slot can take would be 1 x 8 GB.

This means you would have to remove the existing 4 GB memory chip and replace it with an 8 GB memory chip.

This would be a compatible 8 GB memory chip for that model notebook.

https://www.crucial.com/memory/ddr4/ct8g4sfs824a/ct14723717

Below is the link to the service manual.   Chapter 1 has the memory upgrade info.

The manual seems to indicate that all models have two memory slots, but I am 99% sure that is wrong.

http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c06166181

Intel's specs on the Celeron processor indicates the max memory it can address is 8 GB.

https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/128988/intel-celeron-processor-n4000-4m-cache-u...

I agree with what WAWood posted regarding replacing the existing 2.5" hard drive with a 2.5" SSD, which will provide much better performance over the 5,400 RPM mechanical hard drive.

You can replace the 500 GB mechanical hard drive with this 500 GB SSD, which IMHO, provides the best performance for the price.

https://www.amazon.com/Blue-NAND-500GB-SSD-WDS500G2B0A/dp/B073SBZ8YH

But I would also upgrade the memory to the max of 8 GB while you are in there.

After you replace the drive you should be able to use the HP cloud recovery tool to create a bootable USB recovery drive that will reinstall W10, the drivers and the software that originally came with your notebook.

Here is an info link for how to use the cloud recovery tool...

https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c06162205