How can I force w2k to utilize more RAM?

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Jisha

How can I force w2k to utilize more RAM?

I have 2gb sitting here doing practically nothing... task manager always
shows memory usage under 10%... and rarely budges unless the system is
rebooting from a bug-check or I'm some intense editing on digital images...

Performance monitor has so many available counters for memory... I can't
decide what to look at first :(.

TIA
Chris
 
Jisha said:
How can I force w2k to utilize more RAM?

I have 2gb sitting here doing practically nothing... task manager always
shows memory usage under 10%... and rarely budges unless the system is
rebooting from a bug-check or I'm some intense editing on digital images...

Performance monitor has so many available counters for memory... I can't
decide what to look at first :(.

TIA
Chris
Click to expand...

Memory utilization (at least up to Win2K's 2GB per-process
limit) is entirely up to the application, not Win2K. What app(s)
are you running that you think should be using more memory?

Rick
 
How much RAM does the server total? You might have to use the /3GB or the
/PAE switch in the boot.ini file.

--
Doug Allen
Windows 2000 MCSE
Microsoft Enterprise NT4/Win2k/XP/Win2k3 Setup Support

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
 
Hey Rick,

well... yes of course... good point.

Whether the computer sitting idle

or I have my typical MS Word, Excel, Outlook, CAD software, various instant
messengers and other utilities, Photoshop, etc, all open and spread across
my monitors... it never budges unless I'm pushing it with Photoshop...

I suppose it's possible that ALL of these apps together require less RAM
than I think they should...
....but then why do I still get "out of memory" messages which suggest I
close some apps?

....very frustrating sometimes.

Chris.
 
Jisha said:
Hey Rick,

well... yes of course... good point.

Whether the computer sitting idle

or I have my typical MS Word, Excel, Outlook, CAD software, various instant
messengers and other utilities, Photoshop, etc, all open and spread across
my monitors... it never budges unless I'm pushing it with Photoshop...

I suppose it's possible that ALL of these apps together require less RAM
than I think they should...
...but then why do I still get "out of memory" messages which suggest I
close some apps?

...very frustrating sometimes.
Click to expand...

Again it depends on how the apps are written.. You'll need to
give specifics on when you're getting these out of memory errors,
e.g. I've seen this happen with Photoshop, when its scratch disk
runs out of room, or if Windows' pagefile is too small or runs
out of room.

Rick
 
Hi Doug...
I just saw another post where the /3gb switch was mentioned...
....that's what got me thinking about my RAM.

My instinct tells me that my RAM could be used more aggressively,
especially when I still receive "out of memory" messages on occasion.
I've also gotten this same impression by looking at Memory usage statistics
in Perfmon, even though I don't fully understand most of what I can actually
monitor there.

BTW, this is w2k pro... not server (if it matters).

Total RAM is 2gb... (4) 512mb chips, plus about 1/2 gig floating around on
video cards etc which I don't expect to come into play in this situation.

I have no idea how to use the /3gb or /PAE switches.... or really anything
much else to do with boot.ini, except that I can look at it with visual
studio. :((

Here's the entire contents of my Boot.ini file:

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="Microsoft Windows 2000
Professional" /fastdetect

Could you give me the correct syntax (or a few variations) of what to add or
modify?
A URL to something to help me understand these (and other switches?) work
would be fabulous!
....meanwhile, I'll try googling around for a bit.

THANKS
Chris
 
Jisha said:
Hi Doug...
I just saw another post where the /3gb switch was mentioned...
...that's what got me thinking about my RAM.

My instinct tells me that my RAM could be used more aggressively,
especially when I still receive "out of memory" messages on occasion.
I've also gotten this same impression by looking at Memory usage statistics
in Perfmon, even though I don't fully understand most of what I can actually
monitor there.

BTW, this is w2k pro... not server (if it matters).

Total RAM is 2gb... (4) 512mb chips, plus about 1/2 gig floating around on
video cards etc which I don't expect to come into play in this situation.

I have no idea how to use the /3gb or /PAE switches.... or really anything
much else to do with boot.ini, except that I can look at it with visual
studio. :((

Here's the entire contents of my Boot.ini file:

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="Microsoft Windows 2000
Professional" /fastdetect

Could you give me the correct syntax (or a few variations) of what to add or
modify?
A URL to something to help me understand these (and other switches?) work
would be fabulous!
...meanwhile, I'll try googling around for a bit.
Click to expand...

The /PAE and /3GB switches only make in difference in Win2K
Advanced Server and Datacenter, not in Win2K Professional
which is limited to a max of 2GB. The /3GB will make it appear
to drivers that more than 2GB is available, but memory above
2GB will not be used. The switch is used for testing purposes
only in Win2K Professional.

Rick
 
Well for instance Excel 2000 can only USE about 100 meg regardless of
what you have installed and will quit loading additional sheets at that
point and complain about memory.
 
OK... makes sense... and I have gotten that Photoshop scratch disk
message...

I'll start logging these memory errors and come back after a few weeks or
so.

Thanks,
Chris
 
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