Windows stop opening when ram is over 55% useage

[Guest]

So I have home premium, and I find that windows just stop opening sometimes
when my ram is over 55% used.

For example...
-Cant open new tabs in IE.
-Cant open folders after I click "computer"
-Cant right click.

Other things happen that I cant really think of...but im looking for some
help...anyone know?

 

[Guest]

Maybe try a memory check - i beleive Vista has a built-in tool for checking
memory & that it is quite fussy with chips

 

[Guest]

Hi Noob Rex,

Do you have 32-bit or 64-bit? The 32-bit system has a 4GB memory limit, so
the amount of memory in your machine might be the problem. Another problem
might be that the individual memory sticks might not be compatible with each
other or the
motherboard, particularly if using them in a dual channel configuration. I
agree with JethroUK in that you should use a memory checker. A better memory
checker than Vistas built in tool can be obtained from Memtest86+ at
www.memtest.org. This
program fits on a floppy and is operating system independant. To run this
program, simply reboot your machine from the floppy. Allow to run for several
full cycles to fully check your memory. What you need to do next will depend

 

[Guest]

I have the 32 bit. I ran the memory diagnostic tool for vista and it didnt
find any problems. The mobo recognizes them according to CPU-Z. I dont have
a floppy so I cant run memtest....I dont get it, it goes up past 55% and
windows wont open. Usually its IE7 thats taking up like 25% ram, when I
close it everything works normally again. Any other ideas?

 

[Michael]

Could your settings for pagefile have been hosed somehow?

RC computer,
properties
advanced system settings (left pane)
advanced tab
performance settings button
advanced tab
virtual memory area - change button
should have automatically manage page files size ......

Michael

 

[Guest]

Thanks for your help Michael, but it is indeed checked. =(

 

[Guest]

Hi Noob Rex,

You state that your memory checks are OK, so that eliminates that option.
You then say that IE7 takes 25% of ram and when you close it everything works
normally again. It sounds as though an add-on for IE is causing your
problems. What you need to do is to start IE7 as normal then click Tools,
Manage Add-ons, Enable or Disable Add-ons. In the display that appears
showing Add-ons currently loaded in Internet Explorer, change the status of
all Add-ons to disabled. Click OK. Close and restart IE7. Use your computer
and browse the internet as normal - note that you will have reduced
functionality because of the disabled Add-ons. Repeat the above procedure,
gradually enabling Add-ons until the problem reappears. Check this by
disabling the offending Add-on again. Don't forget that more than one Add-on
might be causing problems, so if you find one you should still continue this
procedure. Set the problematic Add-on to disabled and repeat the above
procedure until you have checked all Add-ons. If an Add-on is the cause of
the problem then you have 2 choices. Either you manage without it or see if
you can locate an updated version. Use Google to help you locate this.
Dwarf

 

[Guest]

Thank you for your help Dwarf, I took a day to test and retest this to make
sure of what was happening.

Anyway, I had no luck...I disabled the things and it seemed to be running
alright, but JUST NOW I reached about 54% memory usage, tried to open
photoshop, and it quickly flashed the screen and then automatically closed
it. Same thing happened when I tried to click "computer" from the start
menu, it opens and closes really fast.

I did have internet explorer open (it seems to be the only way I get 55%
usage) for a long time. When I closed it my memory usage went down to 45%.
I clicked to open photoshop and it opened without a problem....

This is REALLY annoying because I end up bookmarking the tabs that I was
browsing and having to close and reopen IE just to do anything...

Does anyone have any more suggestions?

 

[Guest]

Hi Noob Rex,

Thanks for your reply. I notice that the date of your first post in this
thread was the 16th. Did you have problems with this before then, and if so
when did they start? Another possibility could be an update that has
downloaded but failed to install correctly. Use the current version of the
Belarc Advisor from www.belarc.com to check the status of your updates. If
you find any that have not installed correctly, make a note of their KB
numbers and uninstall them. Then, using the information in the post
'Problematic Updates in Windows Vista', also in this newsgroup, reinstall
these updates. Check the status of these updates again using the Belarc
Advisor. Yet another possibility is malware on your machine. Activation of
malware can have a number of triggers, the most common being the opening of a
specific program or a program accessing a specific DLL file. They can also be
triggered by other means, such as memory useage level. Check this by opening
as many programs as possible, but not IE7. If you find that you start having
problems when your memory useage has risen, then I suggest that you carry out
a full scan of your system with your anti-virus software. Indeed, I would
recommend that you did this anyway. For best results, make sure that you have
the latest definitions and reboot your machine and run the scan in safe mode.
Also, you might like to disconnect from the Internet whilst you do this scan
as some malware can automatically download replacements for itself if any
part is altered in any way (which would obviously happen when you scan).
Dwarf

 

[Guest]

Thanks again for the reply Dwarf.

Yeah I had problems before this, but it seemed to be more on and off...I
downloaded Belarc and there are no "X's" for any of the windows updates, so
i'm all good there. I have Norton 360 and did a full scan and only found a
tracking cookie or something. I am going to try updating my BIOS and see if
that fixes the problem, I am reading the notes for the latest one and it says
"Enhance memory compatibility" so maybe that will remedy the problem.

I was also thinking, since I custom built this PC, that my voltage may be
too high for the RAM. Im guessing that it could possible be too much voltage
for the amount of load on the ram when it is above 55%? Though this seems
unlikely because I am running them at the factory 2.2 volts.

I am going to give both of these a try and hopefully one of the 2 will fix
the problem.

 

[Guest]

Hi Noob Rex,

A little bit more information may help. Download CPU-Z from www.cpuid.com -
the latest version is 1.41. Run the tool and on the about tab click on HTML
Dump. Save the file in your Public Documents folder. Open the folder and open
the cpuz document that you have just saved. Press Ctrl+A to select all of the
text, then Ctrl+C to copy it. Paste it to a reply and post it back. I am
wondering if perhaps you have got the voltages wrong for your ram, so the
information from this should help.
Dwarf

 

[Guest]

I have the Corsair Dominator PC2 8500. I have it running at 2.2
volts...seems like the newer models are run at 2.1 volts.

Anyway I have yet to lower the voltage or update my bios (I have alot of
work to do). Here is the CPU-Z readout. Yes, it is overclocked.

Also, you can see under memory it is reading it at PC2 6400 (400mhz) , even
though I have it running at 8500 (533mhz) speeds. Like I said in my previous
post I am hoping the BIOS update will show it as it really is.


CPU-Z 1.40 report file

Processor(s)

Number of processors 1
Number of cores 2 per processor
Number of threads 2 (max 2) per processor
Name Intel Core 2 Duo E6600
Code Name Conroe
Specification Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU 6600 @ 2.40GHz
Package Socket 775 LGA
Family/Model/Stepping 6.F.6
Extended Family/Model 6.F
Core Stepping B2
Technology 65 nm
Core Speed 3000.1 MHz
Multiplier x Bus speed 9.0 x 333.3 MHz
Rated Bus speed 1333.4 MHz
Stock frequency 2400 MHz
Instruction sets MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, EM64T
L1 Data cache 2 x 32 KBytes, 8-way set associative, 64-byte line size
L1 Instruction cache 2 x 32 KBytes, 8-way set associative, 64-byte line size
L2 cache 4096 KBytes, 16-way set associative, 64-byte line size

Chipset & Memory

Northbridge NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI SPP rev. A2
Southbridge NVIDIA 680i SLI MCP rev. A2
Graphic Interface PCI-Express
PCI-E Link Width x16
PCI-E Max Link Width x16
Memory Type DDR2
Memory Size 2048 MBytes
Memory Frequency 533.3 MHz (5:8)
CAS# Latency (tCL) 5.0 clocks
RAS# to CAS# (tRDC) 5 clocks
RAS# Precharge (tRP) 5 clocks
Cycle Time (tRAS) 15 clocks
Bank Cycle Time (tRC) 30 clocks
Command Rate 2T

System

System Manufacturer System manufacturer
System Name System Product Name
System S/N System Serial Number
Mainboard Vendor ASUSTeK Computer INC.
Mainboard Model P5N32-E SLI
BIOS Vendor Phoenix Technologies, LTD
BIOS Version ASUS P5N32-E SLI ACPI BIOS Revision 1002
BIOS Date 03/28/2007

Memory SPD

Module 1 DDR2, PC2-6400 (400 MHz), 1024 MBytes, Corsair
Module 2 DDR2, PC2-6400 (400 MHz), 1024 MBytes, Corsair

Software

Windows Version Microsoft Windows Vista (6.0) Home Premium Edition (Build
6000)
DirectX Version 10.0

 

[Guest]

Hi Noob Rex,

Thankyou for your prompt reply. You say that your system is overclocked. I
think that this could be the root of your problem. Reduce your Bus speed to
266MHz and set your memory voltage to 2.1V. This will have 2 main effects,
the first one being that your processor will run much cooler and the second
being that the memory frequency will still be 533MHz but at a ratio of 1:2
instead of 5:8. Memory is always happier when it is run at its rated
frequency and when that frequency is a binary multiple of the system bus.
This leads to more efficient data transfer between processor and memory.
Remember that an unclocked and stable system is more productive than an
overclocked (and potentially unstable) one.
Dwarf