Monday, July 02, 2012

Installing more memory into a Lenovo Edge E320 laptop

Installation

A quick step by step guide to upgrading the memory on a Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E320 laptop. First step is to completely shutdown the laptop, flip it over upside down and remove the battery. Next remove the access panel from the bottom of the laptop. It's held in place by three screws.


Remove the three screws and the lift the large access panel off.



The laptop has two memory slots and ships with one 4 GB memory module installed.


We'll install another 4 GB module to give us a total of 8 GB of memory. The extra module will also mean that the laptop will go from a single to dual channel memory configuration which should give us a nice performance boost. The memory module I installed was a Kingston KTL-TP3B/4G.

The new memory module fits into the top most slot. Slide the module into the slot and then apply gentle downward pressure until the top and bottom metal clips engage to hold the module in place.

Replace the access panel, securing it back in place with the three screws. Re-install the battery and reboot.

Performance

Once the computer has rebooted, bring up the system properties dialog. This will indicate that you now have 8 GB of installed memory and that the Windows Experience Index needs to be updated.



"Refresh Now" will refresh the Memory (RAM) subscore

The Memory subscore increases from 5.9 to 7.3

If you "Re-run the assessment" you'll also see a boost to the Graphics subscores since the integrated graphics controller in this laptop uses the same (faster) memory.

Overall the Windows Experience Index has increased from 4.9 to 5.8. A nice improvement and the laptop is definitely a little faster to use on a day to day basis.




Monday, February 27, 2012

Combined THEMIS and ground-based observations of a pair of substorm-associated electron precipitation events

Combined THEMIS and ground-based observations of a pair of substorm-associated electron precipitation events

JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH, VOL. 117, A02313, 12 PP., 2012
doi:10.1029/2011JA016933
Key Points
  • Combined instrument observations of substorms
  • Determination of the flux and spectrum of electron precipitation during substorm
  • Observations of substorm precipitation characteristics and evolution
Mark A. Clilverd
British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, UK
Craig J. Rodger
Department of Physics, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
I. Jonathan Rae
Department of Physics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
James B. Brundell
Department of Physics, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
Neil R. Thomson
Department of Physics, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
Neil Cobbett
British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, UK
Pekka T. Verronen
Finnish Meteorological Institute, Helsinki, Finland
Frederick W. Menk
University of Newcastle, Callaghan, Australia
Using ground-based subionospheric radio wave propagation data from two very low frequency (VLF) receiver sites, riometer absorption data, and THEMIS satellite observations, we examine in detail energetic electron precipitation (EEP) characteristics associated with two substorm precipitation events that occurred on 28 May 2010. In an advance on the analysis undertaken by Clilverd et al. (2008), we use phase observations of VLF radio wave signals to describe substorm-driven EEP characteristics more accurately than before. Using a >30 keV electron precipitation flux of 5.6 × 107el. cm−2 sr−1 s−1 and a spectral gradient consistent with that observed by THEMIS, it was possible to accurately reproduce the peak observed riometer absorption at Macquarie Island (L = 5.4) and the associated NWC radio wave phase change observed at Casey, Antarctica, during the second, larger substorm. The flux levels were near to 80% of the peak fluxes observed in a similar substorm as studied by Clilverd et al. (2008). During the initial stages of the second substorm, a latitude region of 5 < L < 9 was affected by electron precipitation. Both substorms showed expansion of the precipitation region to 4 < L < 12 more than 30 min after the injection. While both substorms occurred at similar local times, with electron precipitation injections into approximately the same geographical region, the second expanded in an eastward longitude more slowly, suggesting the involvement of lower-energy electron precipitation. Each substorm region expanded westward at a rate slower than that exhibited eastward. This study shows that it is possible to successfully combine these multi-instrument observations to investigate the characteristics of substorms.