Laptop RAM increase advice

hi guys i got a lap top hp pavilion ze4500(AMD athelon xp-m- 192 mb of ram and 1.79 ghz )and it orginally had windows xp home edtion . Lately i put windows xp pro inside my lap top and upgraded it to windows xp pro service pack2 .But now it is dam slow! My lap top starts and turns off very slower then before. Many friends suggest that i go for memory upgrade. I want to ask you guys if this problem can be solved by memory increse?Furthermore,is it easy to increase the ram if i purchase the right RAm or do i need some expert to do it for me.Do i need to add extra memrory to what i got or replace the 192 mb with bigger one ? What memory size your guys suggest?should the RAM be made by hp or any type of RMA can be used ? I be happy if an expert give me some suggestion.Thanks

I have a ze5400, and it came with 512Mb of RAM. It too slowed down with SP2, so I don't think there is a lot you can do about start up times. I think you have 256Mb in yours, with some used by system resources. Mine shows up as 457Mb while Windows Home is running. It is best to have the same size RAM installed, so either get another 256. I don't think it's too hard to replace, but I'm not sure. I let my neighborhood guy take care of most of my hardware problems with the laptop. I do desktops, and that's a piece of cake. It depends on how accessible it is, but I think it's in the bottom.

Try a Google search on: memory hp pavilion ze4500
you'll get lots of memory upgrade sites that will help you figure out max mem, # of slots, type etc.
Make sure you check several sites so you'll have more confidence in the info, because sometimes they can simply be wrong.

Note that sometimes a system will have 2 memory slots, each filled, e.g. you might have 2 128MB modules, which means you'd have to throw out 1 or both modules to make room for a/both new larger one/s.

Otherwise, once you have the right module in hand, replacing it is very easy and usually detailed well in the user's manual.

Have fun, DaveBo