another ram question

[jtn3833]

i'm running a HP Pavilion with 700Mhz celeron and upgraded to 256 RAM a while back. when i open up a bunch of programs it slowly eats away at my available ram as it's expected to. the thing is, after i close down these programs my ram remains low. it kinda makes sense, in that those programs are maybe still in the memory or something, but is there a way to flush out the memory without restarting so i can free up that memory.

thanks.

JTN

 

[SavvyLady]

you need to run a cleanup of your temps... easy way is wehen the IE browser is open go to tools & internet options/General ... you may also get there from start/settings/control panel/internet optionsGeneral.....

then click on delete files in temporary internet files ... also click the box of the second window to delete from there as well.

I do this often.

Then there is cleanup http://www.piersontech.com/07-CleanHardDrive.htm
a more intense cleanup!

Savvy

PS.. Also you should know that ALL items in startup are using up your resources as well.
You need to eliminate anything from the startup thats not needed when you boot up with the system.

 

[Bryan]

Your right Windows will leave certain processes open after the applications are closed and eat up the RAM. While I don't personally use it since the apps I use don't have that effect, I've heard good things about <a href=http://www.sci.fi/~borg/rambooster/> RamBooster</a>.

And it's still good advice to clean up your system too as SavyLady suggested.

 

[ratchet]

I agree with savvy lady & bryan, but have found that every thing you run leaves a cling on.
You could probably free up some of your RAM by going to http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_content.htm. Even after altering your startup you should go to close program ( CTRL, ALT, Delete) close everything execpt explorer and systray to find your true system resourse, or before installing any new programs.
Every progran you run leaves a cling on.

 

[SavvyLady]

ratchet your link isn't working... check and see if you made a typo

Savvy

 

[ratchet]

try this
http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_content.htm

Sorry about the link

 

[WhitPhil]

What you are seeing is absolutely normal.
It is the file cache (vcache) that continues to use memory. Running a program like Rambooster will "free" the memory, but there is no reason to do this.
First, windows does not need free memory in order to run.
Second, these types of programs do NOT find any more memory to free than windows would
And lastly, when and if, windows requires memory, it will shrink vcache and/or start moving inuse memory areas to the swapfile.

The whole purpose of having memory, is to use it. Having free memory (or forcing free memory) is a waste.

BTW You can test one of the benefits of having vcache. Run a program like Excel. Note how long it takes to initiate. End the program, and run it again, noting the time.
The second run will appear to be almost instantaneous. This is due to vcache. You don't want to artificially shrink it. AND, the first thing that occurs when you run a Rambooster type program, is that Windows, shrinks vcache. Exactly what would happen if a "real" program needed memory.