virtual memory problem

[scott]

ok ...here goes...i recently have been having multiple
problems with my comp....so i reinstalled win XP and went
to auto updater and re downloaded all the updates,
drivers etc. I then went and and made sure i had all the
latest device drivers for all my components via
manufacturers websites. I then ran CHKDSK C:/R/F and
found i had 3 bad clusters on my hard drive and that
chkdsk attempted or did fix the data in those clusters or
marked them as bad ,unusable or something. Normally, I
have my virtual memory set on custom straight 768mb ( i
have 512 mb ram) I reinstall my favorite software and
games...everything seems to be going OK...then.... Iget
LOW VIRTUAL MEMORY warning...so i go to control panel,
system, etc and when i push the advanced tab, another
message appears stating that my virtual memory (ie. page
file) is set too low and windows is setting up a
temperary memory file that may be larger than what i have
set. So i then continue into the advanced section of
the memory manager and see that my settings ( min 768
max 768) are still there, hit set and reboot. I get the
same messages again upon checking my memory settings. So
I decide to fire up REGEDIT based upon an earlier reply
from someone on this newsgroup, I follow the instructions
to set my pagefile.sys manually and delete the temporary
page file key..OK I exit regedit and reboot.....upon
reboot i enter regedit to check and see if my settings
were saved, and they read: Pagefiles REG_MULTI_SZ
C:\pagefile.sys 768 768. there is no temp pagefile key
so i think im ok then i play a game and wham low
virtual mem again..enter mem manager and windows sets up
a temp pagefile for me again...enter regedit and see the
temp pagefile key there along with the regular pagefile
key that i had set to 768. ?????????? I am at a loss hehe
and pullin my hair out..im the only one that uses this
comp ie i am the admin and all that and somewhat tech
savy but i can't figure this one out and would reall
appreciate some help or ideas....thanks in
advance...Scott

 

[Paul B T Hodges]

Hey Scott,

Have a look in taskmanager/process

Whats got the largest numbers in the Mem Usage and VM size colums.
You may have to add these columns through View/select columns at the top of
the TM window.

Do you scan regularly for viruses, there are some out there known to eat
memory !

Paul

 

[scott]

(continued from my 1st post) I also found something else
out thats weird...when win XP boots up it sticks on the
welcome screen till i push ctrol-alt-delete keys..then it
goes to the desktop...if I completely disable my virtual
memory, the system does not hang at the welcome screen,
but continues on to the desktop as it would normally...im
perplexed

 

[Guest]

-----Original Message-----
Hey Scott,

Have a look in taskmanager/process

Whats got the largest numbers in the Mem Usage and VM size colums.
You may have to add these columns through View/select columns at the top of
the TM window.

Do you scan regularly for viruses, there are some out there known to eat
memory !

Paul

Hey paul thanks for listenin,... in task manager process
my largest numbers are: explorer :18,740k
vm:11,236k ;svchost (system): 14,468k vm 10,104k ;
iexplore: 11,268k vm 8,412k ;winlogon : 1,256k vm
5,572k

any ideas? and no i have not scanned lately gonna try
that asap tho thanks

 

[Paul B T Hodges]

Now that is strange ! Is the disk badly fragmented or getting full (less
than 20% free space)

Tell you what, how about making it go straight to the desktop anyway, and
enabling virtual memory and see if it still sticks.

Make it log in automatically

start/run
control userpasswords2

Click on the user you wnat ot log in automatically, then unchedk the "users
must enter a password" box, and click apply, it'll ask you for the password
for the user you selected.
It will now boot straight to the desktop. Enable the pagefile and see if it
still hangs.

As soon as you see the desktop use ctrl-alt-del and see if anything is
hogging cpu.

You might also want to run msconfig and see what is getting started when the
system boots

start/run
msconfig

Look under the startup tab.

Theres also your start/all programs/startup program group where processes
can get started.

If it consistently sticks with a pagefile enabled, and your pagefile is set
at a fixed size, then perhaps the pagefile is badly fragmented. You can
fragment in situ as its in use, but you can run without a pagefile,
defragment and then re-enable it. If you have more than one partition, try
setting the pagefile to a different partition and see if the problem still
occurs. Putting it on a different partition while you defragment is also a
good idea.




Paul

 

[Paul B T Hodges]

Hey Scott,

How come you've changed into (e-mail address removed) ?

There is certainly nothing in the list that jumps out, the largest is only
18MB

Can you post the sets of numbers in the task manager performance screen
under, Commit Charge, Physical Memory and Kernel Memory.

I'm curious !

Paul

 

[Ron Martell]

ok ...here goes...i recently have been having multiple
problems with my comp....so i reinstalled win XP and went
to auto updater and re downloaded all the updates,
drivers etc. I then went and and made sure i had all the
latest device drivers for all my components via
manufacturers websites. I then ran CHKDSK C:/R/F and
found i had 3 bad clusters on my hard drive and that
chkdsk attempted or did fix the data in those clusters or
marked them as bad ,unusable or something. Normally, I
have my virtual memory set on custom straight 768mb ( i
have 512 mb ram) I reinstall my favorite software and
games...everything seems to be going OK...then.... Iget
LOW VIRTUAL MEMORY warning...so i go to control panel,
system, etc and when i push the advanced tab, another
message appears stating that my virtual memory (ie. page
file) is set too low and windows is setting up a
temperary memory file that may be larger than what i have
set. So i then continue into the advanced section of
the memory manager and see that my settings ( min 768
max 768) are still there, hit set and reboot. I get the
same messages again upon checking my memory settings. So
I decide to fire up REGEDIT based upon an earlier reply
from someone on this newsgroup, I follow the instructions
to set my pagefile.sys manually and delete the temporary
page file key..OK I exit regedit and reboot.....upon
reboot i enter regedit to check and see if my settings
were saved, and they read: Pagefiles REG_MULTI_SZ
C:\pagefile.sys 768 768. there is no temp pagefile key
so i think im ok then i play a game and wham low
virtual mem again..enter mem manager and windows sets up
a temp pagefile for me again...enter regedit and see the
temp pagefile key there along with the regular pagefile
key that i had set to 768. ?????????? I am at a loss hehe
and pullin my hair out..im the only one that uses this
comp ie i am the admin and all that and somewhat tech
savy but i can't figure this one out and would reall
appreciate some help or ideas....thanks in
advance...Scott

Wow. That is a really tough read. Try letting a little "air" into
your posts (e.g. paragraphs). Proper use of capitals would help as
well.

Try increasing the Maximum setting for virtual memory to 1.5 or
perhaps 2 gb. It is possible that you are using the computer in such
a way that a 768 mb page file is actually not big enough. Then check
and see what the actual size of the pagefile is while you are using
the computer.

If that does not resolve the issue then see MVP Alex Nichol's article
on virtual memory in Windows XP at http://aumha.org/win5/a/xpvm.htm
especially the section dealing with problems.

Good luck



Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

"The reason computer chips are so small is computers don't eat much."