Memory Usage

[Curtis Vaughan]

I am comparing 2 laptops both running Vista Home Premium.
One is a Dell with something like 1.7 GHz Dual Intel processor and 1+ G
RAM. The other is an Acer with a 1 GHz AMD and 1 G RAM. So the Acer is has
less processor speed and RAM than the Dell. Both are new. The only major
difference between the two that may be effecting memory usage, is that the
Dell has McAfee, while the Acer has CA's virus protection.

I have turned off all Aero features on both and set performance over
anything else. BTW, the sidebar is also disabled on both.

Despite this, according to Task Manager the Dell when idle continually
sits at 800+ Mb memory, while the Acer is always around 400+. Why? Any
ideas?

I realize I still have a lot of stuff to compare between the 2 computers,
but was hoping someone might provide me with some insight as to where else
to look. For example, I going to go through all the processes on each
computer and compare.

 

[Jon]

I am comparing 2 laptops both running Vista Home Premium.
One is a Dell with something like 1.7 GHz Dual Intel processor and 1+ G
RAM. The other is an Acer with a 1 GHz AMD and 1 G RAM. So the Acer is has
less processor speed and RAM than the Dell. Both are new. The only major
difference between the two that may be effecting memory usage, is that the
Dell has McAfee, while the Acer has CA's virus protection.

I have turned off all Aero features on both and set performance over
anything else. BTW, the sidebar is also disabled on both.

Despite this, according to Task Manager the Dell when idle continually
sits at 800+ Mb memory, while the Acer is always around 400+. Why? Any
ideas?

I realize I still have a lot of stuff to compare between the 2 computers,
but was hoping someone might provide me with some insight as to where else
to look. For example, I going to go through all the processes on each
computer and compare.

There are various memory usage related columns available in Task Manager
(View > Select Columns), as well as in 'Reliability and Performance Monitor'
that can help you to determine how memory is being allocated

 

[Cy!on]

I am comparing 2 laptops both running Vista Home Premium.
One is a Dell with something like 1.7 GHz Dual Intel processor and 1+ G
RAM. The other is an Acer with a 1 GHz AMD and 1 G RAM. So the Acer is has
less processor speed and RAM than the Dell. Both are new. The only major
difference between the two that may be effecting memory usage, is that the
Dell has McAfee, while the Acer has CA's virus protection.

I have turned off all Aero features on both and set performance over
anything else. BTW, the sidebar is also disabled on both.

Despite this, according to Task Manager the Dell when idle continually
sits at 800+ Mb memory, while the Acer is always around 400+. Why? Any
ideas?

I realize I still have a lot of stuff to compare between the 2 computers,
but was hoping someone might provide me with some insight as to where else
to look. For example, I going to go through all the processes on each
computer and compare.

When idle, Vista will cache things in memory that it predicts you will use
so that they may load more quickly. If you do something different, it
releases the memory and loads the other files instead. It may be that the
one laptop has had more usage doing more memory intensive things that it is
pre-caching into memory.

Hey, it's idle... what you do you want loads of memory for if it's not DOING
anything

 

[Curtis Vaughan]

Hi Curtis,

If one of the laptops has integrated video, then a portion of your RAM
is set aside for it's use. You can look in your BIOS to see if it is
and to adjust how much RAM your video can use.

Another item is "Superfetch". A feature of Vista that loads your RAM
with data that it thinks you will need soon. This is different for each
computer depending on your usage habits and what programs you have
installed. You can look at this link for more details on "Superfetch".

http://tinyurl.com/3bpq8h

Your RAM can also be used up by which "Services" you have enabled or
disabled to. Each service you have enabled will have a portion of
memory dedicated to it. You can look in "Task Manager" under the
"Processes" and "Services" tabs to see how much memory they use. A real
good site that tells you what each service is for and has
recommendations for disabling is at this link below.

'SpeedyVista.com - Windows Vista Services - Summary/Details Page'
(http://www.speedyvista.com/services.html)

Hope this helps,
Shawn

Shawn's suggestions were most helpful. I turned off a couple of services
and now my memory will "idle" around 400+ Mb. I am going to turn off
Superfetch and see how that effects the sytem.

 

[Curtis Vaughan]

Shawn's suggestions were most helpful. I turned off a couple of services

and now my memory will "idle" around 400+ Mb. I am going to turn off
Superfetch and see how that effects the sytem.

Actually I spoke early. In general it's now running just under 800 Mb. I
disabled Superfetch, but it actually wasn't running. Right now I have a
Dell Rep looking at my system. I'll report anything they discover.