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Sick and tired of all those Windows (yes, the following information is related to Windows systems - sorry Mac users) crashes and "blue screens of death"? Tired of your system telling you that you’re out of memory or resources after buying that brand new 1 gigahertz machine with 128 megs of RAM? Tired of having to reboot your computer several times a day to get a "fresh start?" If you are not having any of these problems, congratulations and keep doing what you’re doing (and stop reading now). But, if any of these apply, I’d like to pass on some information and tools that might be helpful. These are just my impressions, so buyer beware - use these suggestions at your own risk.
In the past I’ve preached the benefits of subscribing to Fred Langa’s newsletter (www.langa.com) or at least checking out his articles at www.winmag.com. Over the last six weeks, he’s written three articles addressing resource leaks. (To review these excellent articles, go to www.winmag.com, click on columns, and click "Explorer" which will reveal the 5/22, 6/5, and 6/19/00 articles.) In my opinion, there was an incredible base of information, and the articles also included discussion forums with even more information. Since I was having some problems with my Micron Millennia 800 with 128 megs of RAM crashing, I decided to follow some of the steps. Since my system has been running with fewer crashes, I thought I pass on the information.
First, I will choose to assume some basics: at least weekly you’re using Windows defrag or even better Norton SystemWorks to defrag and optimize your system. This is important, so don’t overlook it. Next, I’ll assume that your system is not crashing because of hard drive problems, a bad power supply, or other hardware related problems. Finally, I’ll also (probably incorrectly) assume that you keep your Windows drivers up-to-date; you know, printer drivers, scanners, etc. If you’d like a nifty program to easily check for the most recent drivers, check out Hardware-Lynx (www.bascin.bizland.com/software/) which provides links to most companies and their web pages listing current drivers/updates.
I’m sure you keep your eye on system resources, user resources, and GDI resources throughout the day? It doesn’t matter how much RAM you’ve got, some programs you open use system resources, and even after you close the program(s), resources may be hogged (aka memory leaks). Some programs are worse than others, e.g., I’ve found Internet Explorer 5.0 and Outlook 2000 to both use a lot of resources and not always release the resources used. So, to keep an eye on resources, I’d suggest using Windows Resource Meter (Accessories, System Tools) or a free program that uses very little of the resources called TclockEX 1.4.2 (users.iafrica.com/d/da/dalen) which can be configured to show time, available system resources, GDI resources, CPU usuage, etc. From what little I’ve learned so far, problems will likely start when your system resources drop below 30%, and I’ve heard that if they drop below 10%, watch out! Better to reboot at that point.
What are all those programs running that use the resources? How many little icons are showing on the bottom right hand side of your screen (if 8 or more, you’ve probably got way too many)? Well, you can do the ctrl-alt-delete routine to see what’s running, or check out OptiX (my.tele2.ee/eugene/eng/index/html). This is another free program that can tell you (OptiLaunch) what programs are running, how much of the resources are being used, and allows you to shut them down without restarting Windows. There are other features including OptiMem, but I’ve not used most of them. (OptiMem adjusts your virtual memory for optimal performance, and there are articles by Fred Langa (see www.winmag.com/columns/explorer/1999/0913.htm) that address the importance of not using Windows Virtual Memory settings, but adjusting virtual memory based on the amount of RAM you have installed.) Through experimentation, I learned that there were several programs loading that I might need every now and then, but generally can just "unload" them at the beginning of each day, and free up 10-13% of my system resources - from 70 to about 83%!
While Windows 98 is said to do a decent job of managing cache, one program highly recommended by several writers if Cacheman 3.8 (www.outertech.com). This easy to use program adjusts cache based on how you use your machine. You can play with these settings, e.g., 3D Games, Power User, Low Memory System) and find one that works best for you. Adjusting your Virtual Memory and cache settings can help a great deal.
While some programs "hog" resources and create memory leaks, there are some nice (free) programs can adjust RAM and reportedly help reduce crashes. I use MaxMem (www.analogx.com) which I use periodically to check my free RAM and "defrag" my RAM if needed. This doesn’t effect the system or GDI resources, but does improve system stability from my experience so far on my two systems. Another program recommended, but I’ve not used is RAMPage (www.jfitz.com). A number of people swear by it. If you use it, I’d like to hear what your thoughts are about it. From my experience, this genre of programs does give a system that "just booted" feel.
One program that claims to prevent Windows 95/98/NT/2000/Millennium ". . . from crashing at all" is AntiCrash 3.0 (www.crosswinds.net/~mikail/). Langa said it probably did nothing at all, but I’ve been running it now for about 2 weeks. Maybe it’s a placebo effect or maybe it’s the other tweaks I’ve done, but I have had fewer crashes. Again, try if you want - it’s free, and let me know.
These are just some of my thoughts and the result of some recent experimenting. Recently some members of the listserv have been kind enough to pass on information about some programs to me, and I appreciate this. So, if you’ve got some hints of your own, I’d love to hear about them (nottingham@bellsouth.net).
Happy and safe computing.