Low system resources [?]
- Thread starter Maurice
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howard_hopkinso
Posts: 21,238 +17
Hello Maurice.
Because you only have 256mb of ram and depending on how many programmes you have running at startup, it may well be that you are running low on ram.
Next time you start your computer leave it a minute or two to make sure it has finished loading the programmes it uses on startup.
Alternatively you could ask Glen to put you some more ram in.
How much free space have you got on your hard drive?
Regards Howard
Because you only have 256mb of ram and depending on how many programmes you have running at startup, it may well be that you are running low on ram.
Next time you start your computer leave it a minute or two to make sure it has finished loading the programmes it uses on startup.
Alternatively you could ask Glen to put you some more ram in.
How much free space have you got on your hard drive?
Regards Howard
80gb HD;-Plenty of space.
I did say that there is a couple of minutes before I use it, so that's OK
Satified with 256mb, & in any case, I can't get it to Glen at the moment, not supposed to lift heavy items, I mentioned this when I told him about a faulty power-on button, but he's SO busy, this time of year.
I did say that there is a couple of minutes before I use it, so that's OK
Satified with 256mb, & in any case, I can't get it to Glen at the moment, not supposed to lift heavy items, I mentioned this when I told him about a faulty power-on button, but he's SO busy, this time of year.
Electrick Gypsy
Posts: 74 +0
Have a look in your System Tray Maurice. (Down by the clock)
You'll probably find a lot of things running down there that you don't use often, or can be started manually as and when you need them.
i.e. Quicktime agent, winamp agent, etc etc.
On low RAM systems I only keep the essentials running on startup down there to free things up a little, and increase boot time.
You'll probably find a lot of things running down there that you don't use often, or can be started manually as and when you need them.
i.e. Quicktime agent, winamp agent, etc etc.
On low RAM systems I only keep the essentials running on startup down there to free things up a little, and increase boot time.
blaacksheep
Posts: 69 +0
Are you running Win98? If so, it doesn't matter if you have 5 gigs of RAM - the OS can't use it effectively above 64 Megs. You will have to trim down your startup programs. All those things in the tray that you never use should get shut off. Winamp, AIM, Realplayer, etc. should all be shut off until you turn them on.
No, blaacksheep, I'm running XP Home, [have a look at my profile] which is weird at times, as everybody knows, I think, but yes, I have a lot of tray icons, eighteen on the left, & thirteen on the right, [I can almost hear gasps of horror from the guys] what is the average, perhaps members reading this thread could tell me how many they have?
How about desktop icons, would too many there, have the same effect, I have over thirty there, [groan] what other effects, do all these make? slowing down of connections etc., ?
I anticipate many members clamouring to comment on this.
Maurice
How about desktop icons, would too many there, have the same effect, I have over thirty there, [groan] what other effects, do all these make? slowing down of connections etc., ?
I anticipate many members clamouring to comment on this.
Maurice
olefarte
Posts: 1,314 +13
Thirteen on the right by the clock? Gasp, Groan!!!!!!
That's probably most, if not all of your problem. You need to stop most all of them from starting when you boot up. As has been said above, just start those apps that you need to run, such as your virus scanner and firewall, and maybe a couple of others that you think you might need to run. The others you can start whenever you need them, no sense in them running all the time, and as a bonus, you will get much faster startup times. I only have two running, my virus scanner and my firewall.
On the left in the Quick Launch bar I only have three apps.
As far as desktop icons, only have twelve, including three games I'm playing. As in the Quick Launch bar, I only have what I use on a regular basis, and leave everything else in the start menu.
That's probably most, if not all of your problem. You need to stop most all of them from starting when you boot up. As has been said above, just start those apps that you need to run, such as your virus scanner and firewall, and maybe a couple of others that you think you might need to run. The others you can start whenever you need them, no sense in them running all the time, and as a bonus, you will get much faster startup times. I only have two running, my virus scanner and my firewall.
On the left in the Quick Launch bar I only have three apps.
As far as desktop icons, only have twelve, including three games I'm playing. As in the Quick Launch bar, I only have what I use on a regular basis, and leave everything else in the start menu.
Electrick Gypsy
Posts: 74 +0
I don't think the Quick Launch (on the left) or your desktop icons are going to cause you a lot of trouble Maurice . . . BUT the 13 on the right is a major problem.
Post a list of what you have in the system tray (on the right) and i'm sure we can sort out your system resources (or lack of).
Don't fret too much . . it's painless.
For me anyway
~
Post a list of what you have in the system tray (on the right) and i'm sure we can sort out your system resources (or lack of).
Don't fret too much . . it's painless.
For me anyway
~I have deleted some icons;
L/H tray 12 [was 18]
Desktop 20 [was 33]
R/H tray, still the same at 13, they are;
Updates/Local area connection ["always unplugged"], I never have reason to use it] /Event Planner [Hallmark] InCD/3D audio config/Safe removal of hardware** /Volume/PC cillin/AVG/Ulead calendar checker/ Utility tray, what are your views on what to keep & what to delete of these?
**Safe removal of hardware has me puzzled, & don't think I'd ever need "Local area connection", I think it means linked computers[?]
I also have two "phone" dial-up symbols, do I need two?, I can't see why.
Should I also delete all three areas of deleted icons from the Recycle Bin, would doing this as well, make a significant difference, as I may want to restore some later?
Maurice
L/H tray 12 [was 18]
Desktop 20 [was 33]
R/H tray, still the same at 13, they are;
Updates/Local area connection ["always unplugged"], I never have reason to use it] /Event Planner [Hallmark] InCD/3D audio config/Safe removal of hardware** /Volume/PC cillin/AVG/Ulead calendar checker/ Utility tray, what are your views on what to keep & what to delete of these?
**Safe removal of hardware has me puzzled, & don't think I'd ever need "Local area connection", I think it means linked computers[?]
I also have two "phone" dial-up symbols, do I need two?, I can't see why.
Should I also delete all three areas of deleted icons from the Recycle Bin, would doing this as well, make a significant difference, as I may want to restore some later?
Maurice
Mictlantecuhtli
Posts: 4,049 +13
Low system resources are caused by running out of memory because of memory leaks or too many applications running at the same time. You might have unnecessary services eating up memory too.
Desktop and quicklaunch icons don't affect this.
You can remove network & dialup connection icons from system tray by going to network properties and clicking properties on the connections, the checkbox should be on the first tab in their properties window.
Desktop and quicklaunch icons don't affect this.
You can remove network & dialup connection icons from system tray by going to network properties and clicking properties on the connections, the checkbox should be on the first tab in their properties window.
Electrick Gypsy
Posts: 74 +0
As Mictlantecuhtli suggests above Maurice.
Also I don't really think you need to have 2 virus scanners working do you?
PCcillin and AVG. Keep the most recent.
Safe Removal of hardware has me a little puzzled too. Never seen that one before.
Unless you can't live without them, I'd remove the Hallmark Event Planner and the Ulead Calendar Checker too.
Hope this has got your system resources back under control.
Also I don't really think you need to have 2 virus scanners working do you?
PCcillin and AVG. Keep the most recent.
Safe Removal of hardware has me a little puzzled too. Never seen that one before.
Unless you can't live without them, I'd remove the Hallmark Event Planner and the Ulead Calendar Checker too.
Hope this has got your system resources back under control.
blaacksheep
Posts: 69 +0
I agree. Usually 'Safe Removal of Hardware' shows up if you have a PCMCIA card installed on a notebook, or also for some USB devices including printers and scanners.
blaacksheep said:
Now I think about it, blaacksheep,this was probably loaded from my lap-top, I had someone set-up my desktop, & he must have tansferred this along with the rest, by blue tooth, I'll get rid, unless it's really needed for printer & scanner??
E.G., I'll get rid of Ulead, but keep the event planner, it's brilliant, I get reminders all year about bills to be paid, birthdays, hospital appointments etc., wait until you're old, you might need one also!
Thanks, guys,
Maurice
Howard, your's & other guys reference to RAM; I used to know how to find out the amount of RAM, I did keep a running record on the level at any one time, & kept a wary eye on it, I remember that it is simple to access, could somone remind me how to do it please.
Thanks, Maurice
Thanks, Maurice
Maurice said:Howard, your's & other guys reference to RAM; I used to know how to find out the amount of RAM, I did keep a running record on the level at any one time, & kept a wary eye on it, I remember that it is simple to access, could somone remind me how to do it please.
Thanks, Maurice
Any luck finding this out for me?, I know, it's "old hat" for 99.999% of Techspot members, & most are falling about with mirth
Maurice
howard_hopkinso
Posts: 21,238 +17
Hiya Maurice.
Right click my computer and select properties the first page you will see will tell you how much RAM you have in mega bytes.
Regards Howard :grinthumb
Right click my computer and select properties the first page you will see will tell you how much RAM you have in mega bytes.
Regards Howard :grinthumb
howard_hopkinso
Posts: 21,238 +17
Same to you mate. I hope you have a good one and all the best for 2005.
Regards Howard
Regards Howard
Applications only take up memory when they are run, or rather need to run. There windows reserves a portion of memory to run. When you open a program, usually it reserves a memory space. Regardless of how much it actually needs. In a properly working state the reserved amount is equal to, or greater than what the app needs to run. So, if you at some point ran several apps that reserved a large amount of memory space, or an app that got a reference that was too small of a page to run, windows or the app will try to compensate by giving that app a further reference. Thus increasing the reservation size in memory. Just because an app is no longer running, does not mean it has released the referenced page. When the app continues to reserve references and not release previous ones this is commonly called a memory leak. If nothing is in that reserved space, the program is not actually running, it may show as free. After all why would windows report taken space for an app that is not running. It will assume that the space will be free.
That is my understanding anyway.
One way OSs take care of RAM issues is a swap file. In windows it's called a paging file. The swaps acts as extended RAM, but it is located in a reserved file on your harddrive. You may want to increase your paging file's size. This will only temporarily fix your issue if you have a memory leak as it too will be taken by the offending app.
Anyway I could be wrong.
Oh, and system resources encompasses more than just ram. It's just that RAM is possibly the biggest contributor. Drive speed, drive free space, and CPU speed among others all contribute as well.
Hope this helps
Sorry for the poor sentence structure. I'm tired. G'night yoz.
Forgot to mention this:
Another way to see your RAM amount is the perfomance tab in task manager.
You can also find it by typing 'winver' in a run box.
That is my understanding anyway.
One way OSs take care of RAM issues is a swap file. In windows it's called a paging file. The swaps acts as extended RAM, but it is located in a reserved file on your harddrive. You may want to increase your paging file's size. This will only temporarily fix your issue if you have a memory leak as it too will be taken by the offending app.
Anyway I could be wrong.
Oh, and system resources encompasses more than just ram. It's just that RAM is possibly the biggest contributor. Drive speed, drive free space, and CPU speed among others all contribute as well.
Hope this helps
Sorry for the poor sentence structure. I'm tired. G'night yoz.
Forgot to mention this:
Another way to see your RAM amount is the perfomance tab in task manager.
You can also find it by typing 'winver' in a run box.
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