Memory/Resource Leaks in XP - Use 3rd party memory manager?

[_DS]

I'll admit it, I tend to open way too many windows at the same time.
But XP's memory manager should be able to recover ram and resources
when the windows are closed again.

Basically, it seems that XP reaches a magic point where it slows to a
crawl, maybe due to the way the swap file is implemented. That's
understood. But there's no turning back from there. Got to reboot.

This seems to happen to XP in general, with both (SP1 and SP2).
Machines have about 1.5GB Ram. Swap file is set to 'System Managed'
(I haven't had good luck with custom sized, even large files). Swap
file's drive has about 10GB space available.

Are there any 3rd party memory managers that will help? I've always
assumed that those were worthless, and would not be able to do
anything XP couldn't do, but I'm starting to wonder.

 

[Vagabond Software]

I'll admit it, I tend to open way too many windows at the same time.
But XP's memory manager should be able to recover ram and resources
when the windows are closed again.

Basically, it seems that XP reaches a magic point where it slows to a
crawl, maybe due to the way the swap file is implemented. That's
understood. But there's no turning back from there. Got to reboot.

This seems to happen to XP in general, with both (SP1 and SP2).
Machines have about 1.5GB Ram. Swap file is set to 'System Managed'
(I haven't had good luck with custom sized, even large files). Swap
file's drive has about 10GB space available.

Are there any 3rd party memory managers that will help? I've always
assumed that those were worthless, and would not be able to do
anything XP couldn't do, but I'm starting to wonder.

Don't use third party memory managers; they're worthless at best and
destructive at worst.

I don't know how many windows is "too many", but you probably have an
application that is causing the problem. My average day is spent with
Outlook Inbox, Calendar, and Journal Windows open with another one to three
task windows open. In addition, I have two or three instances of Visual
Studio 2003 running. Also, I have a Project open in MS Project 2003 on and
off and at least one UML document open in Visio at all times. Visual Source
Safe is open any time I have a development project open in VS 2003. Of
course, I have SQL Server and IIS 5.1 running in the background in addition
to the standard anti-virus and anti-spyware stuff.

With 1GB of RAM, I've never had any trouble with swapping.

I think you have a bad application.

carl

 

[Unk]

I'll admit it, I tend to open way too many windows at the same time.
But XP's memory manager should be able to recover ram and resources
when the windows are closed again.

Basically, it seems that XP reaches a magic point where it slows to a
crawl, maybe due to the way the swap file is implemented. That's
understood. But there's no turning back from there. Got to reboot.

This seems to happen to XP in general, with both (SP1 and SP2).
Machines have about 1.5GB Ram. Swap file is set to 'System Managed'
(I haven't had good luck with custom sized, even large files). Swap
file's drive has about 10GB space available.

Are there any 3rd party memory managers that will help? I've always
assumed that those were worthless, and would not be able to do
anything XP couldn't do, but I'm starting to wonder.

Memory Managers do nothing except make money for their creators.

You might want to check the event logs to see if anything is amiss:
Right click on "My Computer" and select Manage.
Expand the Event Viewer category and look through each of the three sub-categories for the red
flagged error records. Double click on an error record to see the details of the error.

See if this helps:

Window has a feature that will unload dlls when the program using them is closed, but that is
not the default. To keep Windows running more efficiently you can set it to unload the dlls that
are not in use. Create a new text file called "Unload.txt"
Select the below text beginning with the 'R' in REGEDIT4 and ending with the end of the blank
line. Copy it to the clipboard and paste it into the text file. Rename it to Unload.reg, and
double click it to modify the registry.

------------- copy below this line -----------------------
REGEDIT4

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\explorer\AlwaysUnloadDLL]
@="1"

------------- copy above this line -----------------------

 

[Guest]

Try diffrent settings,open regedit,HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\system\CurrentControlSet
\Control\SessionManager\then open memory management.L.click on DisablePaging
Executive Go to edit,modify,set to 1 from 0 Close out regedit.This sets the
paging exec to ram instead of the page file.Performance from intel Thiers
also
a hotfix for xp memory leak #890196

 

[Gerry Cornell]

DS

You may have adequate CPU, memory and hard disk space. However,
to what extent is the page file being used?

Try Ctrl+Alt+Delete to select Task Manager and click the Performance Tab.
Under the words Commit Charge what is the Total, the Limit, and the Peak?

You may check on pagefile (virtual memory) usage with Page File Monitor
for XP:
http://www.dougknox.com/

Make sure you study the readme.txt file carefully to ensure
you get the utility to work as it should.

What readings are you getting towards the end of a session?

--

Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England

Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[_DS]

Memory Managers do nothing except make money for their creators.

One would think. I couldn't figure out what they would do that was
not considered by MS's top engineers.

You might want to check the event logs to see if anything is amiss:
Right click on "My Computer" and select Manage.
Expand the Event Viewer category and look through each of the three sub-categories for the red
flagged error records. Double click on an error record to see the details of the error.

I have a desktop shortcut for Event Viewer for tracking other types of
errors. I've never seen this particular problem generate so much as a
warning, even when the CPU is snail slow.

To the other poster: The main culprit, if any, would be IE (version
6.0.2800.1106). I often get carried away when researching something
and end up with over 20 IE windows open (task bar is expanded to two
rows).

When the system slows, Task Manager will usually report that one of
the IE windows is using lots of CPU and memory. When that IE window
is closed, the high CPU/Ram figures move to another IE window. I
figured this was due to shared use of the IE Com object or shared
DLLs. But that would indicate the there's some errant base process
running local to the DLL itself.

Not sure if a multipage browser like Avant Browser would help this.
Maybe. But I'd rather find the cause. XP should theoretically be
able to recover and stop thrashing the swap file.

See if this helps:

Window has a feature that will unload dlls when the program using them is closed, but that is
not the default. To keep Windows running more efficiently you can set it to unload the dlls that
are not in use. Create a new text file called "Unload.txt"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\explorer\AlwaysUnloadDLL]
@="1"

Now there's something I didn't know about. I wonder why that isn't
the default. Probably slightly slower startup of some programs, but
that seems a small price to pay.

 

[Vagabond Software]

I have a desktop shortcut for Event Viewer for tracking other types of
errors. I've never seen this particular problem generate so much as a
warning, even when the CPU is snail slow.

To the other poster: The main culprit, if any, would be IE (version
6.0.2800.1106). I often get carried away when researching something
and end up with over 20 IE windows open (task bar is expanded to two
rows).

When the system slows, Task Manager will usually report that one of
the IE windows is using lots of CPU and memory. When that IE window
is closed, the high CPU/Ram figures move to another IE window. I
figured this was due to shared use of the IE Com object or shared
DLLs. But that would indicate the there's some errant base process
running local to the DLL itself.

Not sure if a multipage browser like Avant Browser would help this.
Maybe. But I'd rather find the cause. XP should theoretically be
able to recover and stop thrashing the swap file.

I have my doubts that it is actually IE, but it could be a plug-in, toolbar,
search assistant, or even a virus scanner that supposedly monitors browser
traffic.

I'm a political junkie and when researching a subject, I have had many many
browser windows open. I've never had any problems and have less RAM than
you. Do you have any of those things I mentioned above?

carl

 

[_DS]

Try diffrent settings,open regedit,HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\system\CurrentControlSet
\Control\SessionManager\then open memory management.L.click on DisablePaging
Executive Go to edit,modify,set to 1 from 0 Close out regedit.This sets the
paging exec to ram instead of the page file.

Any idea what happens then when RAM is depleted? I have 1.5GB but I
bet that's gone by the time a lot of windows are opened.

Performance from intel Thiers
also
a hotfix for xp memory leak #890196

Not sure I follow, Andrew. Do you have a link to the info?

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Any idea what happens then when RAM is depleted? I have 1.5GB but I
bet that's gone by the time a lot of windows are opened.

The advice from Andrew E is terrible, as usual, and should be disregardeed.
He's one of our resident dispensers of regularly bad information. I.m not
sure whether he gives out bad advice maliciously or just because he doesn't
know any better, but it doesn't matter. Just ignore him.

 

[_DS]

The advice from Andrew E is terrible, as usual, and should be disregardeed.

Done. That was an odd recommendation, to be sure. I was wondering.

So...someone has to follow Andrew around and post disclaimers? If he
doesn't know what he's doing, then it's amazing that he knew about
that key to begin with. Probably intentional.

 

[_DS]

I have my doubts that it is actually IE, but it could be a plug-in, toolbar,
search assistant, or even a virus scanner that supposedly monitors browser
traffic.

I'm a political junkie and when researching a subject, I have had many many
browser windows open. I've never had any problems and have less RAM than
you. Do you have any of those things I mentioned above?

I'm starting to think that Acrobat may have something to do with it.
Inevitably I'll run across a link that opens it. The Acrobat process
stays active after I've closed the window.

I do run NOD antivirus and it monitors unusual http port usage, but it
has always been pretty good in other respects.

 

[_DS]

DS

You may have adequate CPU, memory and hard disk space. However,
to what extent is the page file being used?

Try Ctrl+Alt+Delete to select Task Manager and click the Performance Tab.
Under the words Commit Charge what is the Total, the Limit, and the Peak?

Task Manager usually won't open when the system exhibits the symptoms
I described, but I'll keep trying.

I did open quite a few windows just to see the result
Performance: Total: 500M, Limit 3GB, Peak: 700MB.
But that's not completely stressed.

It does seem that PF Usage goes up to about 500M and never comes back
down from there. Haven't set the reg key for unloading DLLs yet, so
maybe that's part of it.

I did encounter one stall (perhaps due to Acrobat) and Task Mgr opened
slowly, but with only two tabs: Apps and Processes. I halted the
orphaned Acrobat process and the system seemed to come back. Was able
to open all tabs in Task Mgr afterward. Perf readings were back to
those above.

If the peak value of 700MB is accurate, then this doesn't seem to be
caused by RAM shortage. Maybe resource space. I'm not sure how
that's handled in XP, but I know it was a problem in the past. Any
way to make sure resources are freed when programs are closed?

 

[_DS]

I have my doubts that it is actually IE, but it could be a plug-in, toolbar,
search assistant, or even a virus scanner that supposedly monitors browser
traffic.

Oh, another odd symptom: IE's toolbars get rearranged. Even though
they're locked, the Google toolbar gets moved to the bottom, under the
address bar. The Links toolbar gets crammed into a single space
(turned into a dropdown, with no links visible) to the right of the
address bar. This is always the way they get rearranged...no variance
from that.

All subsequent IE opens have the messed up toolbar arrangement.

This would also seem like an out-of-resource problem, right?

 

[Gerry Cornell]

DS

I am not clear whether you have tried Page File Monitor yet.
Are you quoting from this utility or from Task Manager?

You need to remember that Task Manager records allocations
of memory not usage! Use Page File Monitor to ascertain usage.
http://aumha.org/win5/a/xpvm.htm

It is usage to need to monitor to see whether it goes up and
down as you load and close programmes. If it is for ever
increasing you may have a memory leak.

However, it is photo and video editing that tends to cause high
pagefile usage. The undo feature in these programmes being
one reason for high usage.

An alternative to Adobe is Foxit.
http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/rd_intro.php

Far less hassle than Adobe!


--

Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England

Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Vagabond Software]

Oh, another odd symptom: IE's toolbars get rearranged. Even though
they're locked, the Google toolbar gets moved to the bottom, under the
address bar. The Links toolbar gets crammed into a single space
(turned into a dropdown, with no links visible) to the right of the
address bar. This is always the way they get rearranged...no variance
from that.

All subsequent IE opens have the messed up toolbar arrangement.

This would also seem like an out-of-resource problem, right?

I would say that is more of a problem with something trying to cram itself
onto the toolbar or add its own toolbar.

I like your thought about Adobe, it is certainly a pig of an application.
If you want to try something different, I recommend the Foxit Reader:

http://www.foxitsoftware.com/default.htm

It is very light and very fast and in my year of using it, I have only
encountered a single PDF document that gave it problems.

http://www.foxitsoftware.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=526

Also, have you tried the MS AntiSpyware Beta? It actually does a great job
of defending IE against leechware.

carl

 

[_DS]

I am not clear whether you have tried Page File Monitor yet.
Are you quoting from this utility or from Task Manager?

The numbers I quoted were from Windows own Task Manager,
Performance page.

You need to remember that Task Manager records allocations
of memory not usage! Use Page File Monitor to ascertain usage.
http://aumha.org/win5/a/xpvm.htm

I thought that 'Commit Charge' Total was current usage.

I've also run the other two monitors. The two Bill James utils report
about the same:

Bill James Utils:
Current usage: 17MB
Session Peak Usage: 98MB
Current Pagefile Size: 1535MB

Contrast this with XP's Task Manager:

XP Task Mgr Commit Charge
Total: 500MB
Limit: 3000MB
Peak: 950MB

Those readings were done after the system was running for a while.
Only about 15 windows open, but something was wrong. Shortly after
getting the readings I found that I couldn't open any additional
windows or Task Manager. Attempting to run Bill's util reported 'Out
of Memory' or something similar (not as a diagnostic message...it
meant that the program itself could not run).

Given that, it looks like XPs Commit Charge figures would be more
accurate. Or there's something else going on. Probably resource ram
allocation.

It is usage to need to monitor to see whether it goes up and
down as you load and close programmes. If it is for ever
increasing you may have a memory leak.

Memory usage does decrease at times, but after it gets to about
500MB or so, it will only drop to 300MB when windows are closed
(again, figures from XP Task Mgr)

However, it is photo and video editing that tends to cause high
pagefile usage. The undo feature in these programmes being
one reason for high usage.

Not running anything like that currently.

An alternative to Adobe is Foxit.
http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/rd_intro.php
Far less hassle than Adobe!

Looks good so far.

Does anyone have any idea about the other clue I posted: IE's
Toolbars getting rearranged (despite being locked). Buttons on the
toolbars are intact. Just the toolbars themselves (Address bar,
Google Bar, Links) get repositioned. I'd love to have a utility that
could restore the positions. It's getting to be a pain doing that
manually.

 

[_DS]

Still having trouble with the memory/resource problem (below).

I've used NOD32 to scan the main system that's having trouble (though
similar problems occur on two other systems). Unfortunately I can't
run MS's Defender, as I don't have SP2 installed (and don't want to
unless I have to). I did install Defender on another machine and
scanned the drives over a network. I don't see any suspicious hooks
via Hijack This (though Soundblaster software might always be regarded
as 'suspicious' <g>)

I don't think CPU or RAM usage alone accounts for the slowdowns and
lockups that I've seen. But I remember that earlier Windows had
'resource ram' that was an entirely separate issue from normal RAM
usage. Does this still figure in with XP?

It certainly seems like a resource problem, as menus are the main
pre-lockup warning sign. IE's toolbars get rearranged. Often
Explorer windows appear with no icons on a toolbar. Etc.

Given the affected menus and toolbars, does that help to narrow down
possible problems? What else can I try?