memory usage

[Ponch]

Hello,

I have a windows xp pc with 1.5GB Ram
When i start my pc there is 150 Mb Ram in use.
If i open many programs, somethimes there is more the 1GB Ram Usage.
If i close the programs, the memory is not cleared.
Can i force xp to give the memory free ( not with reboot )

Tx,

 

[R. McCarty]

Which programs ? - It's a normal condition for XP to retain
some components in memory for a period of time. Are you
saying that the applications don't eventually relinquish memory
back to the available pool ? If that's the case then you've got
issues with the application and not XP.

There is a Registry key "AlwaysUnloadDll", but goes against
the normal memory handling operation of XP. Be careful with
tweaking/twiddling with Memory Management.

 

[Curt Christianson]

Hi Ponch,

Ditto everything Mr McCarty has said,and much better than I could have.

Another problem can be poorly written programs, that refuse to release
memory when they are closed.

--
Curt BD-MVBT

http://dundats.mvps.org/
http://www.aumha.org/

 

[Pop`]

Hello,

I have a windows xp pc with 1.5GB Ram
When i start my pc there is 150 Mb Ram in use.
If i open many programs, somethimes there is more the 1GB Ram Usage.
If i close the programs, the memory is not cleared.
Can i force xp to give the memory free ( not with reboot )

Tx,

The way XP is written, it attempts to use as much memory as possible in
order to make things work faster. Whatever it thinks may be needed next is
rolled out to RAM and thus is ready if it's needed.
IF the data in RAM isn't needed but something else is, as soon as the new
requirements are known, RAM is again filled with data related to that, thus
replacing what was there previously. This is part of the reason XP is
faster than the older versions.

In other words, it's normal. Freeing that memory would actually slow things
down because it'd have to be freed every few milliseconds as new data was
rolled out to RAM.
I'm on expert so that's as close an explanation as I can fathom<g> but
it's a reasonable analogy.

HTH
Pop`

 

[Rock]

Hello,

I have a windows xp pc with 1.5GB Ram
When i start my pc there is 150 Mb Ram in use.
If i open many programs, somethimes there is more the 1GB Ram Usage.
If i close the programs, the memory is not cleared.
Can i force xp to give the memory free ( not with reboot )

Are you experiencing a problem or just trying to maximize free RAM? If the
former please give some specific details of the problem. If that latter
that's a waste of time. XP tries it's best to find a use for all the RAM.
Unused Ram is wasted. XP dynamically assigns RAM as it's needed.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

I have a windows xp pc with 1.5GB Ram
When i start my pc there is 150 Mb Ram in use.
If i open many programs, somethimes there is more the 1GB Ram Usage.
If i close the programs, the memory is not cleared.
Can i force xp to give the memory free ( not with reboot )

Wanting to minimize the amount of memory Windows uses is a counterproductive
desire. Windows is designed to use all, or nearly all, of your memory, all
the time, and that's good not bad. Free memory is wasted memory. You paid
for it all and shouldn't want to see any of it wasted.

Windows works hard to find a use for all the memory you have all the time.
For example if your apps don't need some of it, it will use that part for
caching, then give it back when your apps later need it. In this way Windows
keeps all your memory working for you all the time.

 

[R. McCarty]

I'd qualify the memory usage recommendation to include that not
everything that runs on a Windows XP computer is desirable. On
many you'll find numerous items that consume both memory &
system resources that are better used elsewhere. So it's not just a
minimizing principal but to control what is actually allowed to run.
Saying you should use all your memory gives an impression that a
user shouldn't be conscious of what is running and ignore loading.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

I'd qualify the memory usage recommendation to include that not
everything that runs on a Windows XP computer is desirable.

That's certainly true, but I think largely irrelevant to the question.
Stopping undesirable things from running doesn't necessarily increase the
amount of free memory, for the reasons I explained.

On
many you'll find numerous items that consume both memory &
system resources that are better used elsewhere. So it's not just a
minimizing principal but to control what is actually allowed to run.
Saying you should use all your memory gives an impression that a
user shouldn't be conscious of what is running and ignore loading.

It's also true that it's very important to know what you have running and to
make sure that only what *you* want to have running is doing so is. But
again I see that as a separate issue, distinct from how much memory you have
free. The main point here, once again, is that by and large, all (or almost
all) of your memory should be and will be in use all the time, and that's
true whether you have nothing undesirable running or lots undesirable
running.

 

[R. McCarty]

Using all available memory will certainly be a "Truism" using Vista.
On my notebook with 1-Gig of RAM - it (Vista) uses 670 Megs
just for itself. If you use Perfmon, the Pagefile counter reads "Zero".
Some really radical memory changes with Windows Vista.