As with all of us eMachiners, you definitely need a ram upgrade. Google
"<your computer model> + ram upgrade" and you can find some pretty good
bargains, but I'd stick with the majors backed up by strong reviews from
purchasers (Kingston was my choice - their value ram is flawless and I found
2 gigs for $40 after google checkout bonus on buy.com). Pay close attention
to your Windows Experience Index results and System Diagnostics report which
reveal a lot of fixes for low memory (edit graphics, turn off Aero and
indexing).
I found a great download from System Requirements Lab that is my upgrade
guide now for my eMachines T5234 with Vista Premium. It rates all of your
hardware and drivers for how they will perform on Vista, with cool tabs for
Minimum, Recommended and Optimal requirements. I learned after the ram
upgrade that the weak spot is my graphics card, and which ones to consider.
I also learned more about my computer than any of the Windows diagnostic
tools I have been using daily.
Here's the link:
http://www.systemrequirementslab.com/referrer/nzone_all?registration_option_id=3596