Trying to release free RAM

[BD]

I have Vista64, on a new machine (AMD Phenom2 quad-core@3GHz), with
4GB of RAM.

I am surprised at how Vista refuses to release memory. I have disabled
Supercaching entirely, and still I find that free RAM drifts from 0 to
50MB quite regularly.

Way back in the day, I used to use an app called CacheMan - it would
prompt the system to release physical RAM back to the system. It
worked very well. The folks who develop CacheMan are working on a
Vista64 version, but it's not quite cooked yet.

I'm looking for recommendations on mechanisms to prompt the release of
this RAM.

The reason for this is that I am trying to troubleshoot occasional
mouse lockups, which feel like the system's swapping. Unfortunately,
my HDD LED isn't working and my hard drives are pretty much silent. So
if the system is actually swapping, I have no way to know aside from
keeping a PerfMon session running all the time.

I see various shareware apps out there to release RAM on demand or on
schedule - I'm looking for recommendations. Once CacheMan is ready for
Vista I'll give that a go.

Thanks!!

BD

 

[Mike Torello]

I have Vista64, on a new machine (AMD Phenom2 quad-core@3GHz), with
4GB of RAM.

I am surprised at how Vista refuses to release memory.

[snip]

It will attempt to use as much as it can until it NEEDS to release
some. It is doubtful that RAM is the problem with your mouse.

 

[Mike Hall - MVP]

I have Vista64, on a new machine (AMD Phenom2 quad-core@3GHz), with
4GB of RAM.

I am surprised at how Vista refuses to release memory. I have disabled
Supercaching entirely, and still I find that free RAM drifts from 0 to
50MB quite regularly.

Way back in the day, I used to use an app called CacheMan - it would
prompt the system to release physical RAM back to the system. It
worked very well. The folks who develop CacheMan are working on a
Vista64 version, but it's not quite cooked yet.

I'm looking for recommendations on mechanisms to prompt the release of
this RAM.

The reason for this is that I am trying to troubleshoot occasional
mouse lockups, which feel like the system's swapping. Unfortunately,
my HDD LED isn't working and my hard drives are pretty much silent. So
if the system is actually swapping, I have no way to know aside from
keeping a PerfMon session running all the time.

I see various shareware apps out there to release RAM on demand or on
schedule - I'm looking for recommendations. Once CacheMan is ready for
Vista I'll give that a go.

Thanks!!

BD

CTRL + Shift + Esc will bring up Task manager.

Click on the Processes tab.

Click on the CPU tab twice to get processes taking up CPU time to the top..

Now you know what your computing is doing most..

 

[CBoom]

First of all with 4gb of ram you should not have zero free.. unless you are
doing some heavy duty photoshoping or 3d animation.

seems to me your computer needs cleaning - optimization and to be checked
with a program like process explorer (google that, its free from microsoft)
for programs that have memory leaks and eat your ram.

ram cleaner - releasing programs are a scam!!!

The degrade performance, the number you see as free ram does not equal
increase in speed.

see here
http://lifehacker.com/5033518/debunking-common-windows-performance-tweaking-myths

Clean, Defrag and Boost Your RAM With SnakeOil Memory Optimizer

Just take a quick look at any download site, and you'll find hundreds of
products that claim to "optimize RAM to make your computer run faster". Give
me a break! Almost all of these products do the same things: they call a
Windows API function that forces applications to write out their memory to
the pagefile, or they allocate and then deallocate a ton of memory quickly
so that Windows will be forced to page everything else.

Both of the techniques make it appear that you've suddenly freed up memory,
when in reality all you've done is trade in your blazing fast RAM for a much
slower hard drive. Once you have to switch back to an application that has
been moved to the pagefile, it'll be so slow you'll be likely to go all
Office Space on your machine.

Windows expert Mark Russinovich agrees:

At best, RAM optimizers have no effect, and at worst, they seriously
degrade performance.

 

[BD]

CTRL + Shift + Esc will bring up Task manager.

Click on the Processes tab.

Click on the CPU tab twice to get processes taking up CPU time to the top...

Now you know what your computing is doing most..

--
Mike Hall - MVP

Mike's Window - My Blog..http://msmvps.com/blogs/mikehall/default.aspx- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I actually use a 3rd-party tool instead of Task Manager (the stock one
frankly sucks at killing runaway processes); Regardless, my CPUs are
effectively idle. CPU was never the concern, it was the fact that I'm
not used to (nor comfortable with) how Vista uses physical RAM. I know
it's an education issue on my part, but until I sort out this mouse
weirdness, I just have to try to change stuff.

The mouse behavior is very occasional, and did appear to get better
when I reinstalled the driver (I'm using a Logitech MX Revolution).
But still, occasionally, it hitches up for a second. Didn't do so
under XP.

I'll continue to monitor and troubleshoot. Kind of grasping at straws
here, because everything else seems pretty darned stable at this
point.

Tx,

BD

 

[BD]

Windows expert Mark Russinovich agrees:

Windows expert Mark Russinovich hasn't had the same experiences I've
had - I've found my system boots *considerably* quicker and quieter
with a cleaned-out registry.

Interesting, most of the comments following that article are from
people who also disagree with him. I'm with them.

But thanks.

 

[Mike Hall - MVP]

Mouse freeze can be caused by a variety of things but not generally by lack
of RAM..

There has to be process running which is paralyzing the system, and if the
mouse has not always behaved in this way, it must be a down to a recent
change or installed program..

You might also want to try a different mouse, if only to eliminate that
possibility..

 

[BD]

Mouse freeze can be caused by a variety of things but not generally by lack
of RAM..

Actually, I think I'm onto something - I went onto the Logitech
forums, and apparently the MX Revolution has been plagued with
intermittent lockup issues, on both Vista and XP, since its release
(it seems). Lots of people with the same issue. The recommendation I'm
trying now is to put the USB receiver off a USB extension cable
instead of right in the mainboard - the theory being that the issue
concerns interference with the radio (or whatever) signal, and
physical distance from the mainboard will help.

So we'll see. Good thing I bought the thing used for $45, instead of
the $120 retail cost.

 

[CBoom]

If you clean a registry, you free up a few kb (at the most).

You don't need a registry cleaner, THEY ARE DANGEROUS TOO!

What you need is to know how to clean up start up programs and entries
manually.

Understanding is always better than brute force.... most people come to me
with problems after they used a registry scanner.

If you ask most IT people who know what they are doing, they will tell you
clearly to stay away from registry cleaners.

The comments in the articles might be from simple users, .. that have the
placebo effect. Thinking that somehow their pc is faster after a registry
scan.

 

[John]

I've found my system boots *considerably* quicker and quieter
with a cleaned-out registry.

That's registry cleaner software doing Jedi mind trick on you.