how much ram does my macbook pro have?

You can find out your Mac's memory by going to the Apple menu > About this Mac > Memory.

However, "ram memory" is not where your photos, apps, videos, and music are stored; they are stored on your hard drive which may be upgradeable. You can view more information about your hard drive usage at Apple menu > About this Mac > Storage.

Click on the Apple in the upper left hand corner ... "Abouth this Mac" ... it is the "memory" line in the display.

"Only has 2 GB left". More apps use more memory and will reduce available memory. RAM is temporary space in a MBP, because the applications are stored on the hard disk and active portions of the application are swapped into memory when in use.

Moving files on/off external disk only helps when your hard disk is full, and can make things worse. When the application is stored not on an internal disk but an external disk, access is slower and running the application is slowed down.

More RAM: Yes. MBP can use up to 16 GB, but currently 16 GB is about $1000 -- too steep for me. But 8 GB is about $80 at OWC (macsales.com). There is an onlie guide to tell you the best memory for your model and OWC will even pay you for your old memory i you want to send it in.

You said in your first post that you are using Mac OS X 10.7.1 however your most recent post says 10.6.8. The instructions I gave won't exactly work.

If you only have 2.93GB left then your hard drive is quite full. You have a number of options, including offloading and archiving little-used Apps/data or contacting an Apple authorized dealer about having your hard drive upgraded.

Finder -> Select "Macintosh HD", then select the gear symbol at screen top. "Get Info".

Should tell you how much capacity on the disk and how much free.

It is recommended that you keep 15% of the HD free for the OS to have "play space".

If you need a larger hard disk, then this discission will be taking a different path. New hard disk and transferring the image from your current HD to a new disk is easy enough, but requires more specific instruction than what has been provided so far.

But 2 GB is a little low (my opinion) to run many applications at the same time.

First ... what is the disk capacity and how much free?

I followed the same path in 10.6.8, and I found that About This Mac ... More Info ... Serial ATA ... that will show the information under Macintosh HD. Also that list has "memory" which shows you RAM information.

And the answer to disk space is .... ?

You may need a new HD with more space.

But first a critical question: When was the last backup you have performed in Time Machine?

First -- stay calm. You did not lose the hard disk catastrosphically. You just need to perform some disk management tasks.

Time Machine is part of the OS. I makes an "image" of the "startup disk" (the disk that has the OS -- just introducing you to phrases you will soon be using). It will first make a "base image" if the disk, and then add smaller incremental changes to the backup based on changes you make in the startup disk.

When you have a good Time Machine backup, you can restore the entire OS to the point you have it now (all software, all files) if you need to install a new hard disk.

So, have you just made copies of specific files on an external disk?

Time Machine backup disks should be external ... separate from the computer.

Several places sell external disks that are already formatted for Mac. Others tell you that external disks not formatted for Mac can be reforatted, but save yourself the grief for now and buy Mac-ready.

Buy a *new* disk, in my opinion. Do not reuse an old disk.

Some can suggest certain brand names as "better", but even the best disk-brand will have bad apples in the mix.

If any others have a convenient link for Time Machine Tutorial, please provide. I have learned enough alreay, generally through trial and error on my own.

But focus on getting that first backup done within the next 2 days.

As to "probably need a new HD", perhaps you can move enough off to an external disk. Cross that bridge after you get the backup.

If you get the sense that critical things are done first and that you should save yourself complex things like "how to replace a harddisk" for later, you are reading my posts correctly.

Report back when the backup is done. More information will be provided then.