virtual memory low?

by phredman Jun 22, 2004 7:09AM PDT

What is the best thing to do when you get a message that is telling you, your virual memory is low?

Thank you for your help on this.

Discussion is locked

y'all....

1. <UL TYPE="1"><LI>For your convenience, <u>clicking a hot-link(s)</u> (normally blue underlined words are) I furnish will <b>always open a site in a separate window</b>. Closing that window will correctly pop you back to this message where you were previously. Be advised that clicking a second link, with the first still open, will open it in the same window. Netscape users may find this an exception.

2. For any Windows version before Win2K and NT, you will always have to pay attention to what you do in order to conserve system resource usage - there is only so much available. You should study Fred Langa's article, "Resource Leaks, Part One" and descide not only: 1) what the system resources percentage is; 2) what uses them; and then 3) what you can do without to keep the percentage high -- the higher the better.

3. For your reading pleasure and further understanding:

a. "Computer Speed and Performance Decreases (Q259161)."

b. "SmartComputing Editoral - Monitor & Conserve System Resources."

c. "Using the System Configuration Utility:."

d. "System File Checker", and "Using System File Checker."

4. Download and use, "Startup Cop: PC Magazine's, version 1.01"

Bill Gaston

Pardon ma ACKsent, ah'm frum Austin, Tex_As, USA

....its been my policy to view the Internet not as an 'information highway,' but as an electronic asylum filled with babbling loonies.

y'all....

Technically, the WinXP system itself - now that we know that - shouldn't render an error concerning low virtual memory, but it doesn't mean that something else might not -- several articles on the MSKB indicating that. As Kees mentioned, the amount of memory your system has and what you've indicated you're doing, either up it or eliminate things currently sitting in memory doing nothing or causing memory leaks -- how may does your system have?

1. The article "Computer Speed and Performance May Decrease (Q310419)" explains - among other things - that running services and programs started automatically when you start your computer typically run all the time and uses a portion of your computer's system resources that cannot be used for any other task. The more used the slower your computer gets -- makes sense.

2. Are unnecessary Counter Logs used? Are they really necessary?

a. Click Start, Programs, Administrative Tools and then click Performance.

b. Double click Performance Logs and Alerts, Counter Logs and note what is listed in the details pane. A green icon indicates that a log is running; a red icon indicates that a log has been stopped.

c. If desired, you may also right-click a blank area of the details pane and click New Log Settings, enter a name for a log to create in the Name box:, and then click OK. Click General, Add, and select the counters wanted too. If you want to change the default file and schedule information, make the changes on the Log Files and Schedule tabs.

d. To remove whatever you wish to circumvent running/logging simple highlight the name of the counter in the legend in the System Monitor details pane and press the Delete key.

3. After Internet Explorer and Internet Tools are installed, the Internet Explorer Customization Wizard can be run to use the wizard's AVS feature to obtain any updated or new components released by Microsoft that have become available since deploying Internet Explorer, which then becomes part of the everyday updated browser package. Do you want this running all the time? The update notification page notification can be turned off using the IEAK Profile Manager:

a. Click Start, Programs (in Windows XP, click All Programs), Microsoft IEAK 6, IEAK Profile Manager.

b. Click File, Open, and then open the .ins file for the custom browser package.

c. On the left side, under Policies and Restrictions, click Internet Settings, Advanced.

d. On the right side, clear the Automatically check for Internet Explorer updates check box.

e. Click File, Save as: and type a name for the file, keeping its .ins file extension.

Note: After disabling, it can still be turned on in the browser. To disable the page completely so it cannot be enable it in the browser, set the Update check interval to a value of zero.

4. Supplemental reading: (Clicking a link opens it in a separate window for your convenience. Clicking a second link also opens it in that same one)

a. "Disabling AutoUpdate Service in Control Panel Does Not Shut Down the Service (Q283151)."

b. "Description of the Windows XP Logman.exe, Relog.exe, and Typeperf.exe Tools (Q303133)."

c. "Failure Events Are Logged When the Welcome Screen Is Enabled (Q305822)."

d. "HOW TO: Configure Recovery Techniques in Windows XP (Q307973)", concerning severe errors (also called a fatal system error, or stop error)

e. "HOW TO: Set Performance Options (Q308417)."

f. "HOW TO: Use Computer Management in Windows XP (Q308423)."

g. "HOW TO: View and Manage Event Logs in Event Viewer (Q308427)."

h. "HOW TO: Set Up Administrative Alerts in Windows XP (Q310490)."

i. "Windows XP May Slow Down If Users Are Logged On with Fast User Switching (Q31205

."

5. After enabling the Run logon scripts synchronously policy setting, Windows directs the system to wait for the logon scripts to finish running before it starts the interface program and creates the desktop and these Scripts May Not Run Before Windows Explorer Starts Even Though the "Run Logon Scripts Synchronously" Setting is Enabled (Q304970) and occurs because a logon performance enhancement is enabled by default. This enhancement causes the computer to not wait for Group Policy processing before an environment is initialized.

6. Services (click to see an example screenshot) are programs that run when the computer is booted and continue to run as they aid system functionality. You will find many services loaded and are simply not needed which take up memory space and CPU time. Circumventing those unneeded services will free up system resources and speed up overall computer operation.

a. Click Start, Run type services.msc and then press Enter.

b. The Services applet will load listing services currently in session/use. What you have to consider/decide is which service(s) is/are not right for you -- good luck.

c. Please review the topics:

(1) The article "HOW TO: Perform Advanced Clean-Boot Troubleshooting in Windows XP (Q316434)" provides a partial list of core operating system services that load and varies according to the services that are installed and the version of Windows XP used. If automatic events and services constantly run and eat up system resources, perhaps eliminating those consider extraneous and unnecessary could help improve system performance. Remember, they can always be reinstated.

(2) "Default settings for services."

(3) "A Description of Svchost.exe in Windows XP (Q314056)."

d. To configure how a service is started:

(1) Open Services and right-click the service to configure, and then click Properties.

(2) On the General tab, in the Startup type box, click either Automatic, Manual, or Disabled.

(3) To specify the user account that the service can use to log on, click the Log On tab, and then do one of the following:

(a) To specify that the service use the LocalSystem account, click Local System account.

(b) To specify that the service use the LocalService account, click This account, and then type NT AUTHORITY\LocalService.

(c) To specify that the service use the NetworkService account, click This account, and then type NT AUTHORITY\NetworkService.

(d) To specify another account, click This account, click Browse, and then specify a user account in the Select User dialog box. When you are finished, click OK.

(e) Type the password for the user account in the Password box and in the Confirm password box, and then click OK.

e. Interesting reading:

(1) "System Services for the Windows Server 2003 Family and Windows XP Operating Systems." Read the topic "Workstations" specifically, and if it is not needed, disable.

(2) Black Viper's Windows XP Services Configurations.

(3) Windows XP Tweaking Guide - VIA/Arena.

f. Please note, that if a service runs for catalog indexing such as Cidaemon.exe that is discussed in the Win2k article [Q156756], further discussed in [Q308202] for both Win2k and WinXP, it is suggested that some testing be conducted to perhaps check whether certain services are necessary and used, after reading the article, "HOW TO: Use Computer Management in Windows XP (Q308423)."

7. Remember "Find Fast" which everybody immediately turned off in other versions of Windows because it was a system drain? "Indexing" for Windows XP is about the same and can be turned off. The Indexing service however speeds up and improves file searches by maintaining an index of the files that are on the hard drive. However, they can also be safely deleted.

a. From My Computer, right-click the hard drive and select Properties.

b. Note the entry at the bottom labeled "Allow indexing service to index this disk for faster searches".

c. Uncheck the box and then click OK.

d. An applet will pop-up prompting whether to apply this option to all folders and subfolders.

8. A "memory leak occur" when a memory pool allocates some of its memory to a process and the process does not return the memory. When this happens repeatedly, the memory pool is depleted, [Q130926]. Are there any on your system which create this anomaly?

9. The "System Configuration Utility (MSCONFIG.EXE) (Q310560) can be used to prevent unnecessary items from loading when a system is started (Click here to see an example screenshot).

Note: If you change any startup setting by using System Configuration Utility, the following message appears the next time you log on to the system:

You have used the System Configuration Utility to change the way Windows starts.

The System Configuration Utility is currently in Diagnostic or Selective Startup mode, causing this message to be displayed and the utility to run every time Windows starts.

Choose the Normal Startup mode on the General tab to start Windows normally and undo the changes you made using the System Configuration Utility.

10. Hint: It is not necessary for a user to log off the computer since a user's account is always logged on and the user can switch quickly between all open accounts. For example, Dad comes home and starts using his machine. He opens Microsoft PowerPoint

virtual memory low?

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