How to get more memory for my iMac

Sounds like what you are talking about here is storage space on the hard drive. A 10 gig drive is actually smaller than 10 gigs (because of differences in how marketing and the computer itself counts what a gigabyte is). Then, you system software is going to take up a fair amount. iTunes is taking up a large portion too. One thing I'll do when I have a question aobut what's taking up my space is to dp a search for all files over, say, 1 megabyte. this will lead me to the largest files and let me see if there's some extraneous items I don't need.

My question to you is what has prompted this question. Are you getting an error message? Is it asking about memory, by which it usually means ram, or is it asking about available storage space, which is usually referencing the hard drive.

First of all, what kind of iMac do you have? Memory installation ("real" memory, rather) varies according to model. Upgrading the RAM for a 600 Mhz is much, much easier than installing memory into, say, a 333 Mhz. Too, you don't mention how much RAM you currently have installed . . .

If your question centers around virtual memory, the rule of thumb is atleast 10% of your hard drive capacity should be left open for the system to use as virtual memory. I would think that if you only have a 10GB drive, it would be paramount that you have at least that much.

Too, how in the world would iTunes occupy 3.5GBs? That, in my opinion, sounds a bit high. I have about 100+ songs and a few videos (Monk fan) and I'm not using nearly that much! Have you thought about backing it up to CD/DVD and saving space on your drive?

I'd consider upgrading your drive (especially if you're using so much space for iTunes) . . . nowadays you can get 80GB for a very reasonable price. If you let us know the model iMac you have, I'm sure we can help you with the installation procedure . . .

Regards,
Connie

100 songs is nothing. Many, many people have itunes collections much larger than that. 3.5 gigs = 3500 megs which is less than 1000 songs. Considering they sell iPods at 60 gigs, 3.5 is pretty reasonable amount of drive space for iTunes.

Upgrading the drive or adding an external is certainly a good idea.