Low system resources

Y

Yusuf S. Rajab

When I try to open MS word Version SR-1 in a computer
using Windows Me, I get a message "The system is
dangerously low in resources". How can overcome this
problem?

Thanks in advance
 
G

Gene R Wilbourn

Yusuf, I read the following from a site www.komando.com. I
believe it will answer your question. She has some good
info to share in her daily newsletter, you may want to
subscribe to it - it's free!!

Q. Windows ME keeps telling me that the system resources
are low.
I added more memory to the computer but I am still getting
this
error. Please help!

A. You'd think that adding more memory to a computer would
free up
system resources, but that's not the case. A bum resource
issue has
nothing to do with the amount of RAM in a computer. Crazy,
I know!

What are these resources that Windows is talking about?

They're the fonts, buttons, colors, etc. used by Windows
and
other programs. If you fill up that area, you get error
messages
or, worse, a crash. There are basically two ways to fill
the system
resources--either too many programs are running, or closed
programs
left too much stuff behind.

Windows ME (and 98, too) set aside 128 kilobytes of memory
to store
resources. That number does not change, regardless the
amount of
RAM in your machine.

If you have too many programs running, you may not even
know
it. Some programs put themselves in your Startup list when
they're installed. They run when you start Windows, even if
you're not using them.

To see what is starting automatically, click Start>>Run.
Enter msconfig
in the box. Click OK. Select the Startup tab. Uncheck the
boxes of
programs that you don't need to have running.

Important Windows features will be listed here. So only
clear those
you're sure about. For instance, Systray or System Tray is
a Windows
feature and must be checked. America Online is not, and
can be cleared.

Also, check the items under Startup in the Programs list.
Click
Start>>Programs>>Startup. If there is anything there you
don't need,
right click and select Delete. So, if you have weird
pictures or other
toys running on startup, you're eating resources. Dump it
all.

Even with Startup cleaned, you can eventually get this
message. That's
the second problem: As you close programs, they don't
completely clear
the resource area. After awhile, enough stuff builds up to
require you
to reboot. When you restart the computer, the resource
area is cleared.

If you are in and out of Internet Explorer all day, for
instance, avoid
closing it. Minimize it instead, then open it when you
need it.

Microsoft fixed this problem in Windows NT, an ancestor of
XP. So XP
users shouldn't get this message. The system resource area
expands
as necessary. That's one reason why you can run XP for
long periods
without shutting it down. Theoretically, you could run out
of RAM if
you had enough programs open. But that is unlikely,
especially if you
have a minimum of 256 MB of RAM.
 

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