Are Cache-Management software named Cacheman worth anything

[New]

I’ve read this MS’s Help and Support article
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-gb;835645
it’s about Windows 98 Memory management and I saw the program called
Cacheman in this article.

I would like to have your opinions on using this program under Windows
XP..

Are Cache-Management software named Cacheman worth anything for
Windows XP ?
AFAIK, and my understanding that the auto-recovering RAM of this
program is not supposed to be used in Windows XP. How about the
Cache-Management part of the programs. Are they any good ?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Guest]

Are Cache-Management software named Cacheman worth anything for
Windows XP ?

AFAIK, and my understanding that the auto-recovering RAM of this
program is not supposed to be used in Windows XP. How about the
Cache-Management part of the programs. Are they any good ?

Ask yourself this question, which is the key fo evalluating all programs of
this type: when XP reports that most of your available RAM is being used in
either applications or system cache, is this a good thing or a bad thing?
Programs like Cacheman work primarily by reducing the amount of system cache
memory that XP uses, which results in having more memory available to run
your programs. But from a performance standpoint, is this a good thing or a
bad thing? What are the consequences when code is flushed out of the system
cache? Where does it go, and if your computer needs it again, where does it
get this code?

The short answer is that flushing the system code too quickly is a bad
thing. Your physical RAM is much faster than your hard drive. When code is
added to the system cache, the computer will look there first rather than
your hard drive, resulting in much faster file access. To see how this
works, try this: reboot your computer, open a program you use regularly such
as Word, Outlook, or Internet Explorer, close it, then open it again. The
second time it will usually open much faster. The reason is because the
second time, the computer uses the system cache in RAM (where the program
remained even after you closed it) rather than your hard drive.

Or to put the same point negatively, free RAM is wasted RAM. If your
computer needs additional RAM to run your programs, it will flush your oldest
accessed files in the system cache anyway long before it starts using the
pagefile (which was a huge performance problem with earlier versions of
Windows, but not XP). So, a program like Cacheman that promises to free up
available memory sooner than XP does is definitely something you don't want
to put on your machine, at least not if faster perfomance is your goal.

Ken

 

[Ron Martell]

I’ve read this MS’s Help and Support article
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-gb;835645
it’s about Windows 98 Memory management and I saw the program called
Cacheman in this article.

I would like to have your opinions on using this program under Windows
XP..

Are Cache-Management software named Cacheman worth anything for
Windows XP ?
AFAIK, and my understanding that the auto-recovering RAM of this
program is not supposed to be used in Windows XP. How about the
Cache-Management part of the programs. Are they any good ?

Thanks in advance.

Cacheman and all other software of similar ilk are pure unadulterated
crapware that are totally incapable of performing any beneficial
function for any computer under any circumstances.

For a more technical evaluation of these programs see
http://www.radsoft.net/resources/software/reviews/redux/

Good luck


Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

"The reason computer chips are so small is computers don't eat much."

 

[Alex Nichol]

Ask yourself this question, which is the key fo evalluating all programs of
this type: when XP reports that most of your available RAM is being used in
either applications or system cache, is this a good thing or a bad thing?
Programs like Cacheman work primarily by reducing the amount of system cache
memory that XP uses, which results in having more memory available to run
your programs.

It did it on earlier systems. XP does it itself; all important system
components are not pageable, and others are low in priority for paging
out. You can in System - Advanced - Performance - Settings rebalance in
favor of caching, but it is not often advisable. These programs, where
not actual scams, work in ways that have a pure cosmetic effect and may
have adverse effect on performance, notably a run-away page file