memory & processing

[leo]

I consistently running out of memory. I have 1GB of memory plus 4GB of
virtaul memory, I still have programs giving me memory errors and abort.

Sometimes, some programs also taking way too much CPU time that make doing
even Ctrl+Alt+Del an impossible task. I thought XP would be smart enough to
reserve some CPU time for it's own UI process, but not!

 

[Zishan Javaid]

Change your paging file drive to the drive other than system and boot
partition

Zishan Javaid
(MCSE)

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

In

I consistently running out of memory. I have 1GB of memory plus 4GB of
virtaul memory, I still have programs giving me memory errors and
abort.

Sometimes, some programs also taking way too much CPU time that make
doing even Ctrl+Alt+Del an impossible task. I thought XP would be
smart enough to reserve some CPU time for it's own UI process, but
not!

Have you checked for viruses, spyware, etc.?

 

[leo]

In


Have you checked for viruses, spyware, etc.?

Well, the program that hug the system is StuffIt. I managed to lower the CPU
process time slice. I think XP would have the mechanism to hold back some
CPU time for itself.

 

[Guest]

leo,

Here is all you need:
How to Optimize Windows XP for the Best Performance:
http://www.fixyourwindows.com/optimizewindows.htm

Good Luck!

 

[CS]

Well, the program that hug the system is StuffIt. I managed to lower the CPU
process time slice. I think XP would have the mechanism to hold back some
CPU time for itself.

No wonder. Stuffit is a memory hog and is really not needed in XP
anyway. If you must use compression, convert your file system to NTFS
and use the built in compression offered by XP. Just don't compress
your boot\system files or anything in the Windows folder!

 

[Ron Martell]

leo,

Here is all you need:
How to Optimize Windows XP for the Best Performance:
http://www.fixyourwindows.com/optimizewindows.htm

Good Luck!

While there are some good suggestions on that site there are also some
that are risky or which could have a negative effect on overall
performance.

Be careful as to what you use from that site, and get a second opinion
on anything you are not absolutely certain about.


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]

I consistently running out of memory. I have 1GB of memory plus 4GB of
virtaul memory, I still have programs giving me memory errors and abort.

These may be old Win3 or DOS 16 bit programs that require running at
least in part in the conventional memory of the DOS emulator. By
default that is more restricted than in earlier systems. For best DOS
conventional memory, edit the windows\system32\config.nt and autoexec.nt
files.

In config.nt have (apart from the large number of REM lines) just
EMM = B=4000 RAM
(note the exact spaces - either side of the first = and before RAM,
none next to the second =) and

dos=high, umb
device=%SystemRoot%\system32\himem.sys
files=40
(or higher files= if needed)

and in autoexec.nt have

REM Install DPMI support
lh %SystemRoot%\system32\dosx

with other earlier lh lines REM ed out, and then any SET or PATH lines
that may already be present at the end.

This should give about 612K for a program, run from a shortcut made to
its .exe file. R-click the shortcut, Properties and on the Memory page
you can set an explicit value - rather than Auto - for any EMM or XMS
memory it may need, and for initial environment space

 

[Alex Nichol]

While there are some good suggestions on that site there are also some
that are risky or which could have a negative effect on overall
performance.

Be careful as to what you use from that site, and get a second opinion
on anything you are not absolutely certain about.

In particular it is bad advice to disable System Restore and *very* bad
advice to disable virtual memory, except for very restricted and
specific purposes