Virtual Memory Error

[Bob Carver]

I have 8 Windows 2k Professional workstations tied to a
Windows 2003 Server (Standard) all in a workgroup for a
POS application. The protocol is NWLink IPX/SPX/NetBIOS
Compatible Transport. (We've also had it on TCP/IP but the
system's more reliable on the previous mentioned protocol.)

The workstations are randomly coming up with the "Running
Low on Virtual Memory" warning on the task bar. The
systems have 256MB of ram and are only running a single
application, along with a touchscreen driver for the
monitors, they auto-restart nightly. The server's all
Intel, 2.8GHz P4, Intel Server NIC card, 1GB Ram.

The Windows scheme is Windows Classic, nothing out of the
ordinary really, but I'm trying to determing the cause of
the Low Virtual Memory messages. This isn't an unusual
layout for us, we have other locations with more
workstations, and some with less. Any ideas?

 

[Jason Hall [MSFT]]

--------------------

Content-Class: urn:content-classes:message
From: "Bob Carver" <[email protected]>
Sender: "Bob Carver" <[email protected]>
Subject: Virtual Memory Error
Date: Mon, 17 May 2004 09:30:40 -0700

I have 8 Windows 2k Professional workstations tied to a
Windows 2003 Server (Standard) all in a workgroup for a
POS application. The protocol is NWLink IPX/SPX/NetBIOS
Compatible Transport. (We've also had it on TCP/IP but the
system's more reliable on the previous mentioned protocol.)

The workstations are randomly coming up with the "Running
Low on Virtual Memory" warning on the task bar. The
systems have 256MB of ram and are only running a single
application, along with a touchscreen driver for the
monitors, they auto-restart nightly. The server's all
Intel, 2.8GHz P4, Intel Server NIC card, 1GB Ram.

The Windows scheme is Windows Classic, nothing out of the
ordinary really, but I'm trying to determing the cause of
the Low Virtual Memory messages. This isn't an unusual
layout for us, we have other locations with more
workstations, and some with less. Any ideas?

------------------------

It looks like you may be experiencing a memory leak. This can be caused by
an application or an application, and a Performance Monitor log will be
able to tell you which one.
1. Create a new Counter Log
2. Add all counters (and all instances where possible) from the following
performance objects: Processor, Memory, Process, Thread
3. Use a 1 minute interval and monitor for an entire day
4. Analyze the log data:
- Counters from the Memory performance object (Available Mbytes, Pool
Nonpaged Bytes, Pool Paged Bytes) will show if a
trend exists in memory usage that could be responsible for the errors
you are seeing.
- If you see an upward trend in Pool memory usage:
Check the Pool memory usage of processes in the Process performance
object, you may be able to find a culprit
(if you don't find a culprit, then the leak is in Kernel Mode, and a
tool like Poolsnap will help you. See Internet for usage)
- If you see a downward trend in Available Mbytes:
The Working Set counter in the Process performance object (monitor
All Instances of this counter), is a great indicator of a process that is
using up too much memory.
- Note, sometimes a memory leak found in Memory counters cannot be
explained by a similar memory usage in an individual process.
In this case, using the %Processor Time counter for the processes
may be helpful in finding out which process is more active at a time
coinciding with a "stair-step" in the Memory counter

I understand that this is a very broad overview of leak detection, if you
have further questions let me know. Also, check out the below article:
Using Performance Monitor to Identify a Pool Leak
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;q130926

I hope this helps

--
~~ JASON HALL ~~
~ Performance Support Specialist,
~ Microsoft Enterprise Platforms Support
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