How can I identify a possible memory leak?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Chris
  • Start date Start date
C

Chris

I'm finding that after using my PC (running Vista Ultimate SP1) for a few
days, I'm unable to launch certain larger programs; i.e., Excel 2007, Word
2007, etc.

When I attempt to launch Excel, I get an 'EXCEL.EXE is not a valid Win32
application' error.

When I attempt to launch Word, nothing appears to happen. Task Manager
reveals that WINWORD.EXE loads and then immediately unloads.

Task Manager indicates that there is plenty of physical memory available for
use. No new events are recorded in any of the Event Viewer logs when I
perform these actions.

When these symptoms begin to occur, I also notice that locking the desktop
results in just a black screen instead of the normal locked desktop. The only
thing on the screen is the cursor blinking where the 'enter password' textbox
normally appears; still, I am able to unlock the desktop.

When these symptoms begin to occur, I also notice that performing an action
that normally displays the UAC dialog box makes the screen simply go black;
still, I'm able to press Alt-C to accept the prompt.

My only recourse is to reboot.

I've been noticing this for about a month or so. I suspect a 'memory leak'
somewhere--perhaps with another application, perhaps with the video driver.
Could this be a result of installing Vista SP1? Any suggestions on how to
determine what the problem is?
 
I'm no expert, but why do you suspect a memory issue? The programs you
mention are a part of MS Office, so have you tried doing a repair
installation through Control Panel? I realize that you have other issues,
but you might start there first. Other thoughts are that you run "chkdsk
/f" and/or "sfc / scannow" from an elevated command prompt.
 
Thanks, David. I suspect a memory leak because Word and Excel work fine upon
reboot and continue to work until these problems start to manifest themselves.

I haven't tried an Office repair but I will.

Running both "chkdsk /f" and "sfc / scannow" do not return any problems.
 
I can produce the same result on my Windows XP SP3 tablet. I never had this
issue until I upgraded from Office 2003 to Office 2007. It appears to be
confined to the Excel 2007 application - if I open two or more workbooks and
let them sit in the background for a length of time (just happened over
lunch) and then I try to edit or close the workbooks I get a "System does not
have enough resources to continue" error combined with screen redraw problems.
 
While "The Case of the Frozen Clock Gadget" does not match your situation,
what it does give you is a good starting point for investigating memory
leaks using a nice little app called Process Explorer ... this may help get
you going in the right direction ... good luck ... vanilla

The Case of the Frozen Clock Gadget ... (one of my favorite "Case Of ..."
articles) ...

http://blogs.technet.com/markrussinovich/archive/2007/10/15/2178879.aspx

Best link I could find for current version of Process Explorer ...

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896653.aspx
 
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