RAM help needed, please

recently as ive had more running services, some programs have to shut down . when i boot up my virtual memory is already full. i plan to get more RAM tomorrow, id just like to ask your opinion on this, as its a subject i know nothing about. i have disabled every service that can safely be stopped. ive even disabled the only two luxury, none security applications i ran -cursor xp and themes.
with some programs, when i check, they say i have 128 of RAM, however, most say i have 96. i rang up the shop today, and a very uninterested man said that that sounds correct, as my graphics card would be taking from the 128 and leaving 96 left. is he right?

im going to get more RAM, but is there anything else that i can do or get while im there? thanks

 

What graphics card are you using?

 

If you can get up around 512mgb's of ram or more you should see a major increase in performance. Having a small amount of ram on xp is not good at all.

 

hello, Detox.

its a S3 Graphics ProSavageDDR

 

Well; I'm no expert here but I don't see why a graphics card that has it's own memory (as opposed to a graphics driver which appropriates system RAM for gfx) would be using up some system RAM. I know none of mine ever have anyway.

 

yea, i know. ive almost been embarrassed to tell you all how little amount of RAM i have. but, with so much disabled you'd a little surpised how relatively quickly it can run. but, just recently ive been getting errors that programs have had to close because of the RAM problem.

 

could it be possible that i really do have 96? i'll have a quike look at system properties, and take a screeny, as i think thats where it says i have 128

 

Hi,

If you're going to buy new RAM, make sure that you have the specs of your motherboard, your existing RAM, free slots for RAM on your motherboard, and so on.

Some free programs that will inform you about this issues:

Everest (home-edition) from Lavalys:
http://www.lavalys.com/

Belarc Advisor:
http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html

If you don't have experience with putting in new RAM :
Let the shop do it !!!
That also puts the responsibility at the shop in case something goes wrong

Succes !!!
Warm regards, Jan.

 

i ment system infomation. this is what it says - below

 

You are just running out of ram an upgrade should make you happy

do make sure you know if you use sdram or ddrram

 

Yep, I agree with Curt :

It looks like you have 128 MB RAM and only available 8.47 MB.
You need more RAM

 

On Board Video (OBV) can dynamically allocate up to 128MB of physical memory. If you let windows AUTO manage the pagefile, then you shouldn't run out of VIRTUAL MEMORY.

Go to TASK MANAGER/PERFORMANCE and list the Total Physical Memory. Next, can you post pictures of your SERVICES and STARTUP items (in MSCONFIG)? Using the Classic start menu and a bare desktop with no background will save more RAM. For reference, I'm running WXP Pro with a FW and email AV scanner. My peak memory load after reboot is 62MB. Note that this number can be as high as 190MB if I have OBV.

I would also like to see a screen shot of your windows task manager/performace and windows task manager/processes AFTER you reboot the system.

 

thanks Jan. i did once have a tech around my house, and he showed me where the RAM sticks go, so i think i could do it. however, from what you said, it may be better to let them do it, just incase something goes wrong.

would they still be able to do it if i take out the HD? i dont want them snopping around it. i just had alook using everest, if i take it to the place i got it from they will know the specs of the computer. but if i take it to a place just around the corner from me what infomation will i need to give them? all the things in the black square in the screenshot?

 

I'd add a 256MB module. 128MB is not enough to run WXP.

 

It is a good idea to have them install the RAM, as they can boot the machine to make sure it is compatible. The other reason is many shops will not accept returns due to the possibility of static electricity damaging the RAM.

Better for it to remain in as the system can be booted.

Nothing, they won’t care, they’ll just plug in the new RAM and boot your PC.

Hope this helps…

Cheers

 

If this is a brand name PC, then you can visit crucial.com to purchase more RAM. Celeron 2.4 don't use PC100, PC133, or Rambus memory. You can also take out the old stick of RAM and bring it to the store for matching.

They don't need to turn on the PC to install the memory. However, they may boot into the BIOS and OS to verify proper detection. Shouldn't take more than 5 min.

 

nod, heres a screeny of task manager. i have no wallpaper already, you should have seen task manager before i disabled themes etc

i'll post a sreenshot of msconfig next, is that what you want or is there anything else? thanks

 

In Everest :
(On my system it is showing in Dutch, so I have to guess a little bit for the English words...)

Motherboard > motherboard
this will tell you which motherboard you have.

Motherboard > motherboard > motherboard technical info > RAM slots
this will tell you how much RAM slots your motherboard has.

Motherboard > SPD
this will tell you how many and which RAM modules you have at the moment.

As for your question:
"would they still be able to do it if i take out the HD? i dont want them snopping around it."

Don't take the HD out of it !!
Reason: the shop cannot test it
Putting in new RAM takes very little time for a shop (assuming they know what they are doing).
You can just stay there and watching them what they're doing in case you are worried about that.

Yep, I agree, you need more RAM !!
If you can afford it, you might like to think about completely replacing your existing RAM with two modules of 256 RAM, so you will have 512 total.

 

the PC is an Albacomp, as i was a total newbie when i got it i didnt realise that i could have got a Dell with much better specs for the same prize, i didnt even know what RAM was than

Blackspear by this-

Quote:
Originally Posted by iceni60
…if i take it to a place just around the corner from me what infomation will i need to give them?
Nothing, they won’t care, they’ll just plug in the new RAM and boot your PC.

do you mean i shouldnt take it to them as they'll just put some RAM in whether its good or not?

nod - i dont have a scrolling sreencapturer, which i think i need for the services and startups you asked for, i can quickly go and download one i know of, or can i use something like startup list? or HJT's startuplist, or even part of a HJT log. any ideas?

i'll have a quick re-read of the thread incase ive missed someones question out. thanks for being so helpful to me all.

also i dont mind letting them have access to my HD as everything important is encrypted or shreaded

 

Windows is reporting 96MB or physical memory. Did you rebooted before taking the screen shot? You have too many processes running in the background. Your peak memory load is above your physical RAM. This forces windows to use the virtual memory (pagefile) for RAM.


This is my system with FF, ZA, OE, and email scanner running...

Totals
-handles...3884
-threads...205
-processes...17

Commit charge (K)
-Total...108696
-Limit...617268
-Peak...109464

Physical Memory (K)
-Total...392740
-Available...236768
-System cache...189616

 

Hi iceni60,

You have to get more RAM. The more the better. Your "commit peak" is greater than your total physical memory (RAM) and is getting close to your "commit limit" (RAM + paging file size). How much free disk space do you have and what size is your paging file set to?

Nick

 

Expand the services menu and take a snapshot of that page. Scroll down to the lower 1/2 and take another snapshot. Post both of them.

 

Here's the link to Crucial with Albatron as the mfr. Is this the mfr of your PC?

http://www.crucial.com/store/ListModel.Asp?mfr=Albatron&cat=RAM

 

Here's a list of my services...

M=Manual
A=Automatic
D=Disable

Settings for WXP (all M except):
Automatic updates...D
Background intelligent transfer service...D
Clipbook...D (if running SP2)
COM+ event system...D
Error reporting...D
Event log...A
HID input service...A
IMAPI CD burning...D
Indexing service...D
Logical disk Manager...(D) you may also set to A
Messenger...D
Network Connections...A
Network location awareness...D
Plug and Play...A
Print spooler...(D) you may also set to A
Protected storage...A
Remote access auto connection manager...D
Remote access connection manager...A
Remote procedure call...A
Remote registry...D
Security accounts manager...A
Security Center...M (if running SP2)
Shell hardware...A
SSDP discovery service...D
System event notification...A
Task scheduler...A
Telephony...A
Terminal services...D
Universal plug and play device host...D
Windows audio...A
Windows image acquisition...M
Windows management instrumentation...A
WIndows management instrumentation driver extensions...M
Windows time...D
Workstation...A

WARNING: Record your previous settings before tweaking!!!

 

OK. sorry, if im abit slow in replying i'll take it one post at a time, straight after one another, if i miss out a question, please let me know, its not deliberate

JAN post#18 thanks i'll get the info. i need from your post thanks

Nod post#20 no i didnt reboot, i last rebooted much earlier today, the only other thing i can think of that i can disable is alg.exe even though it isnt enabled, theres also the right-click features of my on-demand scanners.

Nick post#21 used disk space - 4.36 GB free disk space - 19.4 GB
total paging file size - 144 MB