Show running Proccesses and Memory Usage

[Toni]

I need to see how WinXP is using memory. I used to use CachMan XP, but it doesn't work
on XP SP3 & the company stopped supporting the product.

Can anyone tell me where in Win XP Pro SP3 is a program that will list all running
processes and the MEMORY used by each process?

Thanks!!!

 

[John John - MVP]

Use the Task Manager.

John

 

[Lem]

I need to see how WinXP is using memory. I used to use CachMan XP, but it doesn't work
on XP SP3 & the company stopped supporting the product.

Can anyone tell me where in Win XP Pro SP3 is a program that will list all running
processes and the MEMORY used by each process?

Thanks!!!

um ... Task Manager?
To open Windows Task Manager, right-click an empty space on the taskbar,
and then click Task Manager.

If you don't see a column headed "Mem Usage" click the View menu and
select it.

--
Lem -- MS-MVP

To the moon and back with 2K words of RAM and 36K words of ROM.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_Guidance_Computer
http://history.nasa.gov/afj/compessay.htm

 

[Jose]

Use the Task Manager.

John

And, while your using the Task Manager (on the Processes tab) look
under View, Select Columns, and check the box for the little known but
important Virtual Memory Size column.

Drag the edge of the window to see all the columns.

You can double click to sort the display by VM Size from most to least
and then you can see where your Virtual Memory is going (instead of
just guessing) when you get the running low on virtual memory message
sometime later, and decide who is doing it and consider what to do
about it.

That silly Spybot TeaTimer is a killer.

 

[Tim Meddick]

As "John" says, use 'Task manager' (right-click on an empty area of the
taskbar and choose 'Task Manager').

Then click on the column-heading 'Mem Usage' (of not present select
'View' from the top menus and then 'Select Columns') to arrange the list
of running processes in order of amount of memory usage.

However, there is a far more detailed (and free) program available from
Microsoft called 'Process Explorer' that can give you a much broader
picture of what is happening on your computer.

Running processes can be sorted into a variety of different views,
showing their associated 'threads' and dll files.
The program can be configured in lots of different ways and can even
replace 'Task Manager' as the program that is called from the taskbar >
right-click > 'Task Manager' option.

You can download M$ 'Process Explorer' at :
http://download.sysinternals.com/Files/ProcessExplorer.zip


==

Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London.

 

[Toni]

As "John" says, use 'Task manager' (right-click on an empty area of the taskbar and
choose 'Task Manager').

Then click on the column-heading 'Mem Usage' (of not present select 'View' from the
top menus and then 'Select Columns') to arrange the list of running processes in order
of amount of memory usage.

However, there is a far more detailed (and free) program available from Microsoft
called 'Process Explorer' that can give you a much broader picture of what is
happening on your computer.

Actually, that's what I have installed on my system! Cool!

What Process Explorer column tells me memory usage for a process? Is it the column
called "Private Bytes"?

 

[WhiteTea77581]

And, while your using the Task Manager (on the Processes tab) look
under View, Select Columns, and check the box for the little known but
important Virtual Memory Size column.

Drag the edge of the window to see all the columns.

You can double click to sort the display by VM Size from most to least
and then you can see where your Virtual Memory is going (instead of
just guessing) when you get the running low on virtual memory message
sometime later, and decide who is doing it and consider what to do
about it.

That silly Spybot TeaTimer is a killer.

Thanks for the info. Learned something pretty valuable.

I have a program that plays DVDs and I used your method and got these
results.

CPU Usage = 71
Mem Usage = 10764K
Peak Mem Usage = 16,000K
VM Size = 15,112K

I have a P-3 733 Mhz with 256M RAM.

My processor is upgradeable to at least a 1.1 GB.
I could also double my RAM.

Pagefile is set at a fixed 250MB.

Do you have any recommendations?

Thanks,
Andy

 

[Gerry]

Toni

You might look at this method or a modification to suit your needs. The
memory figures in Process Explorer an Task Manager are indicative and do
not really give you the true picture when you want information as to the
total impact of opening and closing programmes.

Having more than one Internet Explorer tab open at any one time can slow
performance where it pushes the system to use the pagefile rather than
ram. Thus having two tabs open is the equivalent of having two copies of
Internet Explorer running. Each copy of Internet Explorer, without much
in the way of Add Ons, uses about 50-60 mb so two tabs equal 100-120 mb
of memory.

Do you have an IE shortcut in the Quick Launch Tray? If not drag an IE
shortcut from your Desktop to the Quick Launch tray.

The next paragraph explains how to observe various way of using Internet
Explorer and how it can impact on memory usage.

With Internet Explorer closed do a Ctrl+Alt+Del to load Task Manager and
select the Performance tab. Towards the bottom left of the Window in
Task Manager are three figures under Commit Charge. Total, Limit and
Peak. Make a note of the Total figure. Click on the IE icon in the Quick
Launch Tray and then recheck the Total figure in Task Manager. The
increase is the memory being used by Internet Explorer. Now open the
Internet Explorer window and select from the menu Tools, Manage Add-Ons.
You can Enable and Disable Add-Ons under Toolbars and Extensions and
compare the effect on the Total figure. The figures are just the basic
extra memory increased by the Add-Ons used when you load Internet
Explorer. If you load a second Internet Explorer tab then you will see a
noticeable increase in the Total figure. It is broadly the equivalent of
opening Internet Explorer twice.


--


Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Tim Meddick]

Toni,
I am thinking that the column header that is the equivalent to
'Mem Usage' in 'Task Manager' it is actually : "Working Set" in
'Process Explorer'

==

Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London.

 

[Lem]

...

Actually, that's what I have installed on my system! Cool!

What Process Explorer column tells me memory usage for a process? Is it the column
called "Private Bytes"?

If you're interested in in-depth memory usage information, see this
article in the current issue of MSDN Magazine. It focuses on memory
management in the context of .NET applications, but the tools it
discusses (VADump and PerfMon) give a lot of insight into memory usage.
You may need to do a bit of homework before you're able to understand
what these tools show.

Memory Usage Auditing For .NET Applications
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/dd882521.aspx

--
Lem -- MS-MVP

To the moon and back with 2K words of RAM and 36K words of ROM.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_Guidance_Computer
http://history.nasa.gov/afj/compessay.htm

 

[Tim Meddick]

I don't mean to be rude, Lem, but how about just answering the question?

While I quite agree with you about how some extensive research may be
needed to get a firmer grip on the subject (I need to do this myself),
there's nothing stopping you from [also] answering the OP's [simple]
query.


==

Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London.