The Official Computer Tech Support Thread

[debaserr]

i don't think that is the case. i really doubt memturbo is the issue here. but i haven't ever gotten a "out of memory" error(never heard of such an error, i would think it would just use the pagefile). and i don't know of what program i would run to max out my memory, do you? i did some googling a while back and this is a problem that other W7 users have had. some program is messed up and keeps taking more ram. plus, i have the pirated version of memturbo so i doubt it even more. i actually like the program a lot. good to keep track of, especially with only 4gb running w7.

[Freebase Dali]

Originally Posted by trace87

i don't think that is the case. i really doubt memturbo is the issue here. but i haven't ever gotten a "out of memory" error(never heard of such an error, i would think it would just use the pagefile). and i don't know of what program i would run to max out my memory, do you? i did some googling a while back and this is a problem that other W7 users have had. some program is messed up and keeps taking more ram. plus, i have the pirated version of memturbo so i doubt it even more. i actually like the program a lot. good to keep track of, especially with only 4gb running w7.

1. Your pagefile is limited, and it is not a replacement for RAM. Programs use it regardless of whether your RAM is maxed out or not, but can only use it for stuff that doesn't need to be accessed quickly. Hard-drive storage is insanely slower than RAM storage. It's why programs run from your RAM. If you are actually out of space in your RAM, you will know it. Being out of RAM can be thought of as pouring water into a bottle and when it's full, it can no longer contain any water.
If the programs that are running on your computer are using all your RAM... you will absolutely not be able to open a new program. You would get an error.

2. You don't know you have a problem until you actually have a problem. If I were you, I would let it run until you have a problem. When you have a problem, that's when you should worry.
But for the sake of wanting to figure out why it seems your RAM is consistently being filled up by some unknown program leaking code into it or something, Try uninstalling the ram program you've installed and monitoring your RAM usage from the task manager. If it STILL shows the same thing, you might want to do the obvious first and scan for viruses and spyware, then take it from there.

3. The reason you would want to uninstall the ram program you have, or at LEAST not run it while you're monitoring your ram usage is because all deviousness aside, it could be the very program causing the RAM leak. Best to start there... as I'm assuming you never had any issues until you noticed the "problem" after you installed the program, correct? Or...

[debaserr]

the problem i notice when the ram monitor goes low is that my computer gets very slow. i always thought that the pagefile was only used when the RAM was maxed out. and i noticed that my computer would sometimes get very slow before i installed the program to monitor it. i didn't just install it on a whim.

edit: i haven't ever noticed it showing my ram at lower than 600mb or so.

edit 2: i don't have viruses/spyware(and spyware wouldn't cause this).

[Freebase Dali]

Originally Posted by trace87

the problem i notice when the ram monitor goes low is that my computer gets very slow. i always thought that the pagefile was only used when the RAM was maxed out. and i noticed that my computer would sometimes get very slow before i installed the program to monitor it. i didn't just install it on a whim.

edit: i haven't ever noticed it showing my ram at lower than 600mb or so.

edit 2: i don't have viruses/spyware(and spyware wouldn't cause this).

Nah, I have the same amount of RAM as you and I can look in the task manager and see the page file being used right now, and all I have running is 1 instance of firefox, Rocketdock, and the obligatory system processes plus my antivirus and firewall. And I'm nowhere near using up all my RAM.

I used to use Serious Samurize, which is a customizable monitor sort of like the program you use, except it just monitors and does nothing else. It's definitely a good thing to have if you want to see what's going on, and far better than the skimpy info task manager gives you. So I can relate there. But aside from already knowing the page file gets used without maxing the ram, you can see it clearly with a decent monitor.

But if your problem truly is a memory leak from a legitimate program, you might just have to do it the old fashioned way by process of elimination. I guess what would make it easier is if you can remember about when you started having the issue and try to remember which programs you've added since then. Then just disable them, like you said, until the problem stops.

It's a legitimate troubleshooting technique.

Btw, what virus program do you use?

[debaserr]

the weird thing is, sometimes i am fine for days on end with my memory. but other times, it gradually decreases. maybe i should use that serious samurize instead(i don't really use the defrag/free as it usually only frees up 100-200mb or so), i assume it is freeware? if it is a legit memory leak i dunno, probably don't wanna bother with that. i have had this problem for a long time and i haven't really added any programs for a long time so that isn't gonna help me much. i use ESET Smart Security.

[Seltzer]

Originally Posted by LoathsomePete

Huh... my bosses husband has the same computer as me and is far less computer literate yet he's running a duel monitor pretty well. He might of had his son fix it without him really knowing what his son was doing... Oh well I need to make a few minor upgrades to this piece of junk anyways. Thanks for the quick reply.

It's not a Dell by any chance, is it? The vast majority of splitters are restricted to duplicating a signal; i.e. they can clone the first display, but not extend it. However, I've heard that there are some proprietary Dell splitters that can actually extend the first display. And there are products like this which do a similar sort of thing for other videocards as well. I wouldn't call them splitters though.



As for the memory problem... I see 2 possible explanations. The first is that you have some poorly written program which is leaking memory (i.e. being allocated memory but never releasing it) - Firefox used to be notorious for this. But I seriously seriously doubt it could account for that much memory unless you're running your system for days at a time without restart. The second, more likely explanation is that you have some malware which is intentionally hogging memory.

And some programs insist on using the page file, even if your system hasn't allocated all of the RAM available. I'd try the program Freebase mentioned to figure out which process is the culprit.


EDIT: You say you do run your system for days at a time?

[debaserr]

the thing is, i have reinstalled multiple times within the past year so i really doubt it is malware. i have had the issue quickly after reinstalling every time. the program i am the most suspicious of is jdownloader, but it is so convenient for downloads. what programs do you guys use as download helpers(automatically wait for time limits to expire and automatically start download links?).

[debaserr]

this is the probable culprit. do you guys have a similar program? it's amazing.

[Seltzer]

Oh that's a bummer. My flatmate had a problem with his Win7 system randomly restarting, which persisted through several formats. The only way he could diagnose it was by doing a fresh format and installing each of his 'regular' programs (Firefox, uTorrent, MS Office etc.) one at a time to detect which was the culprit.

I'm not using any download manager atm, but I used to use JDownloader and it seemed fine.

[Sljslj]

Originally Posted by Freebase Dali

Then this thread might interest him: Help me with this Delta The PlayStation AutoRunner! - Emuforums.com

While simultaneously insulting him.

I tried to look at this page earlier, but for whatever reason it would only load the first post of the thread. It loaded this time, though. It helped; I'm still a little confused, but less so.