Sudden jump in PF usage

[Enrico]

I just got a Dell Inspiron 600m laptop with 1.3MHz
Centrino processor and 768MB DDR RAM. So far it's been
great, until the last couple of days when it started
slowing down. Before, I was able to run 3-5 programs at
the same time and the available RAM was still up around
500MB, but lately I noticed that the available RAM would
suddenly jump from near 700MB to a mere 4MB. I also
noticed that at this time, the page file usage would jump
up drastically from its usual level of about 200MB to a
staggering 1.06GB!!! Does anyone know what could be
causing this problem and how I would go about fixing it?

Thanks.

 

[cimex]

You may have picked up a software "hitchhiker," in the form of some
malicious code. When your RAM gets overloaded, PageFile must increase. When
this happens, go to the Processes tab in the Task Manager, and see what is
running.

 

[Chuck]

I just got a Dell Inspiron 600m laptop with 1.3MHz
Centrino processor and 768MB DDR RAM. So far it's been
great, until the last couple of days when it started
slowing down. Before, I was able to run 3-5 programs at
the same time and the available RAM was still up around
500MB, but lately I noticed that the available RAM would
suddenly jump from near 700MB to a mere 4MB. I also
noticed that at this time, the page file usage would jump
up drastically from its usual level of about 200MB to a
staggering 1.06GB!!! Does anyone know what could be
causing this problem and how I would go about fixing it?

Thanks.

You may need more diagnostic detail than Task Manager can provide.
Port Explorer from http://www.sysinternals.com is free, and can
provide you with a configurable display of what's running on your
computer. When you find the culprit, you can find out who wrote it.

Check security on your browser, you may have picked up malware.
http://www.jasons-toolbox.com/BrowserSecurity/
http://bcheck.scanit.be/bcheck/index.php
https://testzone.secunia.com/browser_checker/

Get Spybot S&D and HijackThis (both free). You'll need expert help to
interpret the HijackThis findings, so start here for both programs:
http://forums.spywareinfo.com/index.php?showtopic=5187

Are you using a router or personal firewall? You should have one or
both.
http://www.homenethelp.com/
http://www.wown.com/
http://www.practicallynetworked.com/

Protect yourself, and the rest of us. A layered defense strategy is a
good idea.


Chuck
I hate spam - PLEASE get rid of the spam before emailing me!
Paranoia comes from experience - and is not necessarily a bad thing.