B
Bob I
My money is on the "temporary internet files" "folder", try clearing
that and see what happens.
that and see what happens.
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J
johndog
I have a frustrating recurring problem on my machine, running XP SP2, of
apparently running out of memory or system resources, when as far as I can
tell there should be plenty of them.
I have 1GB of memory, and use a 1.5GB swap file (I've set a limit at 2GB).
When the problem shows, Process Explorer typically shows VM at around a 50%
committed state, and shows that plenty of physical memory is available
(100+MB). It shows the kernel pools decently far from their limits (Paged
130/160MB, Non-Paged 38/210MB). And my hard drives all have at least 5GB
free. Again, these stats are taken as I am looking at an error message that
says an application couldn't do something.
To trigger the problem, I can do something like the following:
- Fill the taskbar with my typical array of programs; a couple of IDEs and
source editors, Microsoft outlook, some build windows, MSDN, 5-6 IE windows,
etc.
- In outlook, Hit Ctrl+N to create a new message 5-6 times until it yields
an error that is presumably due to running out of resources (the error
message is usually more ambiguous).
At this point, I can launch practically nothing in the system successfully.
I can launch a script, but createprocess on cmd.exe will fail, usually due
to an obscure reason like a failure to load a DLL. I can launch task
manager, but it may fail, or it may create the main window with controls or
entire tabs missing. Windows may fail to paint, etc, etc.
With all the windowing issues, I used to suspect driver involvement (since
supposedly GDI has no limits in XP), but when cmd.exe fails to create, I
have to conclude it's even closer to the kernel than that.
I've read that the kernel has a virtual memory limit that is calculated on
bootup, and not dynamically resizable. Is it possible the kernel memory is
so insanely fragmented at this point that it can't satisfy basic program
needs? Is the 30MB clearance (nearly 20%) possibly not enough? Are there
any tools that will show or visualize virtual memory fragmentation?
What else could the problem be?
Thanks,
John
apparently running out of memory or system resources, when as far as I can
tell there should be plenty of them.
I have 1GB of memory, and use a 1.5GB swap file (I've set a limit at 2GB).
When the problem shows, Process Explorer typically shows VM at around a 50%
committed state, and shows that plenty of physical memory is available
(100+MB). It shows the kernel pools decently far from their limits (Paged
130/160MB, Non-Paged 38/210MB). And my hard drives all have at least 5GB
free. Again, these stats are taken as I am looking at an error message that
says an application couldn't do something.
To trigger the problem, I can do something like the following:
- Fill the taskbar with my typical array of programs; a couple of IDEs and
source editors, Microsoft outlook, some build windows, MSDN, 5-6 IE windows,
etc.
- In outlook, Hit Ctrl+N to create a new message 5-6 times until it yields
an error that is presumably due to running out of resources (the error
message is usually more ambiguous).
At this point, I can launch practically nothing in the system successfully.
I can launch a script, but createprocess on cmd.exe will fail, usually due
to an obscure reason like a failure to load a DLL. I can launch task
manager, but it may fail, or it may create the main window with controls or
entire tabs missing. Windows may fail to paint, etc, etc.
With all the windowing issues, I used to suspect driver involvement (since
supposedly GDI has no limits in XP), but when cmd.exe fails to create, I
have to conclude it's even closer to the kernel than that.
I've read that the kernel has a virtual memory limit that is calculated on
bootup, and not dynamically resizable. Is it possible the kernel memory is
so insanely fragmented at this point that it can't satisfy basic program
needs? Is the 30MB clearance (nearly 20%) possibly not enough? Are there
any tools that will show or visualize virtual memory fragmentation?
What else could the problem be?
Thanks,
John
J
johndog
It was a shot, but it didn't help.
I just reproduced the problem on my 1.5GB server. Plenty of capacity,
plenty of drive space.
This time, I had to use outlook to open a whopping 73 new message windows,
but it refused to create a 74th, giving the same error message as on my
other machine. At this time, the other symptoms are present as well.
Looking at process explorer system information, *none* of the stats changed
significantly before and after opening 73 new message windows. The biggest
change was Current/Limit commit charge went up from 62.94% to 63.88%,
clearly not a factor. On this machine kernel memory shows 84/360 Paged
Virtual usage, which blows my theory about fragmented kernel memory out of
the window. The operations I'm performing place little or no demands on
kernel memory.
I submit that *anyone* can reproduce this, using Outlook 2003 with Wordmail
enabled (probably any application will do, it's just a matter of stressing
it a bit). Just create new messages until it won't do it anymore (sometimes
it can't even display the inaccurate error message dialog). At this point
you can play around with the system and observe other symptoms. But now the
challenge: figure out what "resources" it is running out of. Process
Explorer can't seem to tell you.
Clearly, not being able to create 75 new message windows isn't a big deal.
But it's useful being able to reproduce this on demand, so I can have a
chance figure out what is preventing me from creating even one when I need
to.
Thanks,
John
I just reproduced the problem on my 1.5GB server. Plenty of capacity,
plenty of drive space.
This time, I had to use outlook to open a whopping 73 new message windows,
but it refused to create a 74th, giving the same error message as on my
other machine. At this time, the other symptoms are present as well.
Looking at process explorer system information, *none* of the stats changed
significantly before and after opening 73 new message windows. The biggest
change was Current/Limit commit charge went up from 62.94% to 63.88%,
clearly not a factor. On this machine kernel memory shows 84/360 Paged
Virtual usage, which blows my theory about fragmented kernel memory out of
the window. The operations I'm performing place little or no demands on
kernel memory.
I submit that *anyone* can reproduce this, using Outlook 2003 with Wordmail
enabled (probably any application will do, it's just a matter of stressing
it a bit). Just create new messages until it won't do it anymore (sometimes
it can't even display the inaccurate error message dialog). At this point
you can play around with the system and observe other symptoms. But now the
challenge: figure out what "resources" it is running out of. Process
Explorer can't seem to tell you.
Clearly, not being able to create 75 new message windows isn't a big deal.
But it's useful being able to reproduce this on demand, so I can have a
chance figure out what is preventing me from creating even one when I need
to.
Thanks,
John
B
Bob I
Yes there are limits, they are just a lot higher than the Win9x versions
had. Memory isn't the only constraint, tables for tracking the open
programs threads,pointers ,etc also have limits.
had. Memory isn't the only constraint, tables for tracking the open
programs threads,pointers ,etc also have limits.