System memory allocation

[PantherPaul]

What would you folks is the best memory settings for a computer? Does the computer simply allocate memory when it needs it or should you change it upfront? Here is a screen shot of my PC after hitting Ctl/Alt/Del

 

[mathmajors]

You got a gig of RAM. What are you worried about?

 

[PantherPaul]

You got a gig of RAM. What are you worried about?

I am still experiencing PC slow down when running shrink. It never slowed down like this before. I mean I can't surf the internet and rip a movie at the same time.

 

[mathmajors]

I am still experiencing PC slow down when running shrink. It never slowed down like this before. I mean I can't surf the internet and rip a movie at the same time.

Oh, that.

 

[builder]

I am still experiencing PC slow down when running shrink. It never slowed down like this before. I mean I can't surf the internet and rip a movie at the same time.

Sometimes, mine gets all bogged down too, but a reboot usually speeds it all up. Have you upgraded to IE7? The one that I have is REAL slow when I have other programs like Shrink or Nero running.

 

[PantherPaul]

Sometimes, mine gets all bogged down too, but a reboot usually speeds it all up. Have you upgraded to IE7? The one that I have is REAL slow when I have other programs like Shrink or Nero running.

Yeah this has been an ongoing problem since Christmas time. It coincided with my daughter getting a couple of PC games (SIMMS). I was wondering if they may have made a change with some setting to improve game play but having a bad side effect. Yes I am running IE7.

I have been snooping around DVD copy sites and I ran across enabling DMA as a possible cause. Is anyone familar with this? Here is how to do it?

http://www.dvdplusvideo.com/dvdguide005.html

 

[Superfluous_Nut]

if you're talking about your pagefile size, i always set mine to be a fixed size. typically i go for twice the ram size -- so if i've got 1g, i make 2g pagefile. but make sure you defrag your pagefile! you don't want it scattered all over the disk. most defrag programs will let you schedule a boot-time defrag that'll handle the pagefile since you can't defrag it while windows is running.

i don't think your shrink problem is memory, tho.

 

[PantherPaul]

if you're talking about your pagefile size, i always set mine to be a fixed size. typically i go for twice the ram size -- so if i've got 1g, i make 2g pagefile. but make sure you defrag your pagefile! you don't want it scattered all over the disk. most defrag programs will let you schedule a boot-time defrag that'll handle the pagefile since you can't defrag it while windows is running.

i don't think your shrink problem is memory, tho.

So I need to first defrag the page file. I know about system tools and then defrag, where is the page file located and is there some obvious option to defrag it? It doesn't sound like it takes a long time if you schedule it pre Windows boot up. Where can I find the pagefile setup so I can also set it for fixed. I am on my laptop and shrinking a movie with no problem as I surf. Frustrating one box but not another

 

[PantherPaul]

Here is a guide to do it
http://www.windowsdevcenter.com/pub/a/windows/2004/11/23/defrag_pagefile.html

 

[Superfluous_Nut]

Here is a guide to do it
http://www.windowsdevcenter.com/pub/a/windows/2004/11/23/defrag_pagefile.html

yeah, that might work. i don't find the built-in defragger to be so great, but give it a go. there are trial versions of defraging software out there if you wanna d/l and install one for this purpose (i use "diskeeper" which i think has a free trial version).

it might take a while to run and might even fail if you don't have enough free space. how much free space you got, anyway?

diskeeper will also report overall disk performance (estimates) to see just how problematic your fragmentation might be.


that dma thing you mentioned earlier sounds plausible. have you tried uninstalling/reinstalling your dvd drive?


edit: oh, and if you follow that how-to. don't let windows manage the size or you'll need to defrag again after a while. just set it to be a fixed size and it'll stay allocated and never move. disk space is cheap -- no reason to have it shrink from 2gb down to 1gb. if you're dying for 1gb of space, you've got other problems you need to sort out.