memory usage

  • Thread starter Thread starter martin sanabia
  • Start date Start date
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martin sanabia

i need help in being able to control my memory usage when
my computer starts. when my computer starts it is using
about 140-160 mgb of memory i would like to know what are
the nonesential tasks that i need running so that do that
i can stop the rest,but i am still able to run windows xp
home, and all its esential tasks, please help.
 
i need help in being able to control my memory usage when
my computer starts. when my computer starts it is using
about 140-160 mgb of memory i would like to know what are
the nonesential tasks that i need running so that do that
i can stop the rest,but i am still able to run windows xp
home, and all its esential tasks, please help.
Click to expand...


There's nothing to help with. You apparently want to minimize the
amount of memory Windows uses, but that's a counterproductive
desire. Windows is designed to use all, or nearly all, of your
memory, all the time, and that's good not bad. Unused memory is
wasted memory. You paid for it all and shouldn't want to see any
of it wasted.

Windows works hard to find a use for all the memory you have all
the time. For example if your apps don't need some of it, it will
use that part for caching, then give it back when your apps later
need it.
 
i went to my task manager and looked at everything that it
shows running. i don't know which of these are third-party
software and which come from MS and are essential for my
system to run properly. please let me know which ones you
know would come w/ XP as a MUST-RUN for MS Windows 2000
Professional (also include any services from MS that i may
be running that i wouldn't want to close).

thanks
 
let me refrase the question and no i dont have nor think i
have a performance problem. let me explain. I run a 2.6
pentium 4 ,512 ram 120 gigabytes of harddrive, when my
windows starst up it runs all the programs that came with
the computer including the essintials to run (Windows XP)
operating system and also other programs that i am not
fond of . like spamguard and windows messenger,yahoo
messenger etc. now what im tryin to do is let my computer
know that i dont want it to run these other programs that
are not essential to running my operating system for
windows xp. so that i have a faster start up and that it
is much runs much smother than before. but i dont want to
delete the programs themselves . know if i want to run the
program i woul like to do it on my own and then terminate
its process when i see fit. i understand that my computer
can handle more than 140-160mgb but i like to lower the
number so that i have more available memory when i want to
use it for bigger programs like dvd burmers or Playing
videogames, big programs that require alot of memory. i am
asking this because a friend of mine did this and he gets
better performance out of his pc, but he does not know
what tasks a essential and non essential siince a freind
of his that departed did it for him, now do you gys think
its possible or is he blowing smoke up my *ss
hopefully this clarified it a little more , and no i dont
have a problem now but like i said i dont want it to runs
progams/tasks that i am not using or dont need at the time
because they are just taking up my memory i could use for
something else. thanks sorry for the trouble
 
it sounds like the quetion was not asked right. it
appears that the person wants to speed up the boot
process. many people experience the same frusrations, as
they install many software programs which are
automatically installed to start up upon booting. not
many people are experienced enough to know how to disable
the unwanted programs during boot. Also msconfig will
allow you to disable a program during start up, but it is
more complicated to remove the item, and when they boot,
msconfig will popup and state there are changes, ask you
to confirm and exit with or without restart. A lot to
comprehend for beginners. I am far from an expert, but I
bet even though you disable something from starting
during booting, some services are still loaded
unnecassarily and may also be loaded onto the task bar
for faster access. It may help to explain how to remove a
program from the msconfig menu and the taskbar so that
system boot is faster. I understand that some things are
accessed in the registry upon boot, but some others may
not be.
 
martin said:
i need help in being able to control my memory usage when
my computer starts. when my computer starts it is using
about 140-160 mgb of memory
Click to expand...

That is nothing at all to be bothered with. Windows tries its best at
all times to find *some* use for *all* of RAM - if it has ever any left
itt is to be taken as RAM for which there is currently no possible use
whatever. Just after boot, it will be caching every file so far used.
Read up more at www.aumha.org/win5/a/xpvm.htm
 
Walter said:
And what if the OP is using those services? Do you know that they aren't?
Click to expand...

You can go into Properties of the service for a description of what it
does, and click on the Dependencies tab to see what services are
dependent on it and what services it is dependent on. If you shutdown a
service and experience problems, restart the service and see if that
helps. The services I listed are often not needed on a PC.

--
-the small one

All postings carry no guarantee or warranty, expressed or implied.
Proceed at your own risk, and perform system and data backups prior to
making changes to your system, and on a regular basis, to protect your
system.
 
WiFi discovery not needed on a wireless network? Hmmmmmm.......... Are you
sure he's not running wireless? Although admittedly, some do and some don't
and it's not necessarily needed in all instances and in some instances must
be disabled.
Are you sure he's not doing web publishing?
How do you know he's not running themes?

etc.

In default configuration portable media serial number is already set to
manual.

You dodged the question rather lamely. Did you ask the OP what he was doing
with the machine? Remember that in this forum your assumption can be an
absolute disaster for the reader.


Giving advice on what services are not necessary without asking a single
question is extremely risky. Another issue is with cascading dependencies.
Disable/set to manual certain services and you wind up disabling more than
you bargain for with the possible result that the machine is not bootable.
And in some instances the loss of functionality isn't immediately apparent.
If you're into gaming, some games actually depend on the indexing service.
Although you can see *some* of the dependencies, not all are readily
apparent contrary to popular opinion. Disabling 3rd party services is
generally a non-issue, but start playing blindly with MS services and you're
begging for a world of hurt.

--
Walter Clayton - MS MVP(WinXP)
Associate Expert
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone
Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
http://www.dts-l.org
http://support.microsoft.com/servicedesks/fileversion/default.asp
 
I agree with your assessment of my post; it could have been better, but
unlike you I don't have the time to get that detailed. In retrospect, I
probably shouldn't have answered the post without getting more info or
providing more info.

Since you seem to believe you have all the answers, why don't you
follow-up with him about these services I listed?

--
-the small one

All postings carry no guarantee or warranty, expressed or implied.
Proceed at your own risk, and perform system and data backups prior to
making changes to your system, and on a regular basis, to protect your
system.
 
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