memory optimizer are they worth it?

hi, i dont like installing unnessary software because of clutter even when you uninstall something so i though i would ask here first about a program that is avalable today on give away of the day website.

the memory tool is TweakRAM 7.1 and i was wondering if it could really help the computer be faster. i am running windows 7 x64 have 4gb of memory and core i7 processor. this is roughly what it says on there website. it is free also but i thought id ask first what is more experienced computer guys thoughts on this memory app.

-http://www.elcor.net/tram.php-

 

i don't know.

maybe these things were useful during the Win 95 days.
i don't feel they are necessary with Win7.

 

Certainly you don't need it, such programs are probably useful for computers running on 512mb ram or less.

 

I would say you don't need it also.... useless nonsense.

 

First thing is first, be careful with GOTD, most of the offerings are junk. On to the topic, no, you don't need it. One could argue you didn't even need it in the "good old days" of 512Mb. Programs just didn't use that much memory back then, because they couldn't, and nobody had hundreds or more programs because they simply couldn't fit them on the disk.

If you tried to do all that many of us do on a daily basis on computers of that time, the poor things would sprout arms and unplug themselves. Now though, memory is plentiful, CPUs have a lot of oomph, even in the lower price ranges, and hard drives are so big it isn't even funny. There's no reason to "optimize" memory now, at 4Gb you're rarely ever going to use half that in one sitting, unless you're doing heavy photo/movie jobs.

 

Some of them can do harm or limited beneficial effect, none are really "necessary".

If you really want to use a safe one, just to keep things as tidy as possible (like me), I would recommend CleanMem (freeware) or System Mechanic's included Memory Mechanic (shareware).

It's important to not use more than one, or you will experiment slowdowns.

 

Windows does an alright job as it is. These programs end up taking up more resources than they save.

 

Couldn't have said it better.

Ziaul

 

Memory management has been improved a lot in Windows. Unless you have less than 500mb ram, I don't think it's necessary

 

All such programs are crap. Period.

 

I'd say no, but I use CleanMem to get rid of wasted/leaked memory.

 

ok thanks guys and i have one other question.
i have a SSD hard drive so iv disabled the pagefile as one of the recommended things to do however i have noticed each hard drive in the pc could have a page file. and i only have one SSD hard drive. should pagefile be disabled on all the hard drives or just the SSD drive. / c:

 

If you disable the pagefile through the system's settings it shouldn't be on any drive.

 

With one exception, they are all garbage IMO. Most just ironically make less memory available to programs, while giving nice graphs that suggest they've done their job.

On any reasonably modern machine with 1gb+ memory, there's no reason for the average user to need one even if they did work.

Cleanmem actually seems to be the only one that helps, but really only needed on old machines with less than 1gb RAM. Any competent user can make XP run comfortably on 512mb, but 1gb gives some room for people who have no idea about autostarts.

 

I wouldn't even disable the pagefile on the SSD. Just leave enough space on the system partition that the SSD spreads the writes around. The experts I listen to suggest that an SSD is ideal for the pagefile to reside on for performance, given the speed of reads and the ratio of reads:writes.

 

If you want performance you'll want it removed entirely. An SSD will certainly allow for faster paging than a HDD but it can't compare to RAM.

Of course, you can get OOM's if you're not careful/ use really RAM intensive stuff. I've never had that happen to me.

 

I've disabled pagefiles as a test, and TBH not noticed a single difference in performance in general usage.

The issue to be aware of is that some programs can be hardcoded to refer to the pagefile, in which case they'd return an error if one wasn't present. This is true for many games for instance. There are benchmarks out there showing a real difference in performance for such games when the pagefile is on a faster medium (including RAMdisks!).

 

Memory Optimizers could be viewed as valid pre-XP. But memory management of Windows has improved so much that there isn't a point in installing and would just be a waste of space on your hard disk. (personal opinion)

 

I stand by my previous statement: all such programs are useless. No exceptions. I've already explained in another topic why CleanMem is also useless so I won't go into details here. Besides, it's not like I can convince anyone anyway, so why waste time.

 

Strange. The only benchmarks I've seen for pagefiles being disabled have shown improvements in performance.

 

Night_Raven, link me to your explanation? I agree with you that they're useless but I'd still like to see it.

 

Last I checked, the recommendation to be safe was to only disable the pagefile on a system with 12gb of RAM or more. YMMV of course.

As for when applications require a pagefile, logically it's going to be faster on a RAMdisk or an SDD - what I object more to is when people move the (necessary) pagefile to a slower hard drive, instead of utilising the SSD.

 

I don't think so. A very good and useful services. Very good and serious software being offered for free.
The user just need to hold his/her impulsiveness and use the software he/she wants, not all of them.
But, I won't call the software, junk.

 

You won't get a much a better way to use an SSD than with the pagefile. It is exactly the type of use for which it was designed. A perfect match imo

 

I'd read the thread awhile ago.

Night_Raven makes some valid points regarding smart use of memory with autoruns and installing better quality programs, but I believe came at the author of Cleanmem with a prejudice he was unwilling to let go of:
https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=290036&highlight=cleanmem

It's a debate I've seen many times with Cleanmem, as I was initially skeptical of Cleanmem and did a lot of searching. A skeptic is willing to consider the evidence, whereas a rationalist starts from the idea that something can't possibly be true.

There's very few I trust to understand Windows memory management comprehensively enough to give a definite opinion on it - there's always going to be an aspect that someone hasn't considered which could change everything. What I do trust are the real world results, which Cleanmem delivers (on old machines with low memory).

I've used dodgy 'memory optimisers' in the past and seen the performance problems they cause - ironically making programs rely more on the pagefile, and producing instabilities. There's no such issue with Cleanmem, and it's a great addition to the usual tricks when cleaning up an old machine.